Catherine Keller, theologian extraordinaire, at Drew University wrote an important book some years ago entitled Apocalypse Now and then. The premise of the book is that we are always at the threshold of apocalypse; that each inflection point of history is an apocalypse. Most often the word smacks of ‘end times’ when there will be a divine reckoning and judgement, but the word simply means, ‘revelation,’ or, ‘unveiling.’ If we so choose, the apocalypse now, as it ever has been, can be a profound invitation into creative possibility, maturity, and transformation.
To be sure, there are times, amid the cyclical unfolding of history, that are more poignant, more daunting than others, when revelation seems all the more palpable. It seems that revelation may well be proportional to suffering. These are such times. But there is nothing all that unique about our present crisis. There have been throughout history, plagues, tyranny, and the powerful serving their own interests on the backs of the poor and the least. Thumb through a book of history and you will see the pattern of humankind’s inhumanity to humankind, and pandemics that altered civilizations. The tyranny of our national leadership, or sordid lack thereof; the Corona Virus pandemic; and the virulent extroversion of racism… all intimately connected, have called us to a reckoning, just as all crises call us to a reckoning. John the Baptist, in his own time of crisis, called it repentance… a reorientation towards ‘reasonableness.’
Our role as people of faith is to pay careful and honest attention, to be vulnerable and open to what our world is saying to us, to what God is saying to us. I don’t believe that God inflicts suffering, but I do believe that God is perhaps most creative amid historical moments of crises such as these. The Black Plague in Europe gave way to the Renaissance; the collapse of the Nazi regime in Germany gave way to the Marshall Plan and NATO. History is rife with the dynamic between death and rebirth. Ours is to stand with the integrity of the truth in the process.
As W.B. Yeats puts it, “Surely some revelation is at hand!” Revelation is always at hand. One revelation it seems to me, is that now more than ever in our lives, we are to love our neighbor. And I mean that beyond a personal platitude. Now is the time to carry that love into the systems of our public life. As with all crises, the ramifications of suffering and revelation are far reaching; every aspect of our common life is up for our consideration and scrutiny… Now is the time to assess how well our government represents us, and act with knowledge to improve it. Our prison system is in shambles; how we police our citizenry is in dire need of reform; Immigration reform has lost its urgency, but sorely needed; it is long past time for equal justice for our brothers and sisters of color. You can add to the list, but, to be sure, to ignore the apocalypse in our midst is to choose our undoing.
As followers of Jesus, we are up to this. We know that Love is stronger than any crisis. We know that truth will conquer falsehood and willful ignorance. Ours is to choose the right side of history… which is to say: the Way of Jesus. Remember the words Jesus gave to his apostles on the day of resurrection: “Shalom be with you.” To live the apocalypse in the faith is to know the peace and well-being that passes understanding. One thing is true of the Apocalypse both now and then. We have nothing to fear.
