The End of Time

Recently, I’ve been doing some thinking about The End of Time.

I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to get nervous. It seems like the Present Day is nearing some kind of precipice -- and we’re running out of backing-up room.

Pandemics. World heating up. Reports of UFOs nearly every day. Gun massacres. Social division and political insurrection. Threats of nuclear war. Etc. etc.

To me, it seems there is so much crap happening at the same time that Something Big may be in the works.

I dunno. Will it be human-caused or some incredible natural disaster, like a giant asteroid suddenly emerging from the depths of space and taking out the Earth one last time?

I admit it: I’m an Old Guy who often sees the World Situation sort of “going to Hell in a hand basket,” as My Elders used to say.

I’m also a hopeless optimist who believes most “Everyday People” are pretty decent and kind – if given a chance. (And if they don't talk politics or religion.)

But will there be an End of Time? And what would that really mean?

Would Everything/Time simply just stop one day – as if some unknown force suddenly turned off a cosmic switch?

Or would it be a lingering Final Curtain, as one of the above-mentioned nasty scenarios takes precedence – say, another pandemic even more virulent than COVID -- followed quickly by climatic calamity, and ultimately total social breakdown?

Of course, no one can say how it might play out. And no matter how depressed and disappointed we as individuals may become, there will always be people who love life and want to help make the World a Better Place, no matter how much fecal matter may be raining down at any given moment.

When I think about all of the above, I am also reminded of the Dark Times that me and my fellow late-20th century generations went through.

Back in the second half of the 20th century, things were actually pretty grim, too. After the end of World War II (my parents' Dark Times, including the Depression), the U.S. and Soviet Union were locked in a worldwide battle for the future of the Human Race, with itchy nuclear trigger fingers on both sides.

Just focusing on the U.S., in the late-60s and early 70s the nation was torn apart over the pointless Vietnam War, and any guy of draft age with a low draft number was looking at a possible death sentence if sent to Vietnam.

Naked racial discrimination and intimidation – and not just in the historically racist South. Riots in the streets. The proliferation of gangs and hard-core drugs. And kicking off the 21st century, the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

But look: Things can always look bleak. That seems to be the Essential Human Condition, no matter what era we live in. But is it worse now than ever before? When it comes to the ongoing existential challenge of global warming, well ... maybe so.

Each day, the media screams out how bad things are getting. But what we rarely hear is the good news happening in our communities. It’s a cliche, I suppose, to remind everyone that good-hearted people are helping other people in need every day.

Perhaps that will postpone The End of Time for awhile longer. And all of us can do our part just by choosing to be friendly and positive instead of nasty or indifferent.

And – ultimately – Humanity can take another baby step ... upward.

For our kids and their kids' sake, let's hope so.