I Can’t Stand the Heat

I feel like my enthusiasm for blogging is drying up. I think I’m just tired of this world. Seems like every time I turn around, I see an angry man in a dress or some other indication that we live in a world of unsavable people. I keep seeing indications that the system is increasingly rigged to exclude Christians and drive them to renounce their salvation in exchange for the ability to participate in our economy. Or in exchange for Facebook likes, which are extremely important.

In 2022, it is literally impossible to interact with many important companies unless you own a smartphone. Not just a cell phone; a smartphone. Of course, phones can be stolen and hacked, so chips will be next. It will turn out to be possible to hack and even cut out other people’s chips, but never mind. They won’t talk about that until after we have them. Articles are popping up on the web saying we will definitely be chipped; the only question is when.

They’re telling us a digital currency is in the works. I don’t see why that’s a big deal, because our currency is already digital. Yes, you can go to your bank and get cash, even though there is not much need for it, but most American dollars are imaginary. They don’t exist as gold, paper, or coins. Only a small percentage are in cash. The rest are moved around among computers. That’s digital, no matter what you want to call it. DIGITAL digital currency will simply be somewhat worse. They can already freeze, refuse, or confiscate your imaginary money, but you can store up cash as a defense. When we go full-throttle digital, the government will tell us our cash is no longer legal tender, so whatever you have in your mattress will be ready for the landfill.

Today my wife said something about the Euphrates drying up. She said it had been prophesied, and it was starting to happen. I looked it up. The Revelation says an angel will pour out a vial, and the Euphrates will run dry. News stories say both the Tigris and Euphrates are disappearing, and they are predicting the Euphrates will be gone in 20 years unless things change.

It’s really happening. The end, I mean. The apocalypse used to be fodder for kooks, but now it’s actually underway. Signs are everywhere. Satan is tightening the noose around the necks of sane people, and we are about to see a big showdown between the godless and those who refuse to become part of the new totalitarian cyborg world. People will be forced to choose, and those of us who don’t want to join will be characterized as haters of everything good.

I’m blogging right now because a couple of strange things have happened, and I felt I should report them. I blogged earlier in the day because I felt obligated to write about a recent trip. I don’t know when I’ll blog again. Maybe I’ll just write about trivial things. Pizzas and barbecue.

Night before last, I dreamed I was in my dad’s house in Coral Gables. I was at the stove, cooking. My dad came in, put his arms around me, and held me tight so I couldn’t move. He said a nonsense word: “ditewide.” For some reason, I believed this meant the world was ending.

It’s an anagram for “wide tide,” which could refer to the rapture, which will be a global tide that rises and lifts God’s children out of the reach of the godless and Satan. I don’t know. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything at all.

My dad was holding onto me the way a father would hold onto a child while waiting for something like a fatal explosion.

I looked toward a computer monitor on the kitchen counter, hoping to see news. I figured there would be stories coming out if the world were ending. I had the feeling nuclear weapons were being used. I didn’t see any news.

Last night, before I went to bed, I started hearing something in my head, over and over: “tetelestai.” I wasn’t sure what it meant. I thought it came from the Bible, but I couldn’t remember. I had a feeling it meant, “It is finished,” and that it was what Jesus said just before he died.

I looked it up, and sure enough, it’s what he said. It’s a Greek word. I know I have heard it in the past, but if you had put a gun to my head yesterday and commanded me to tell you what Jesus said before he died, I would have come up blank. I would not have been able to recall. If you had spoken the word, told me where it came from, and asked me what it meant, I would have given you the right answer, but it would have been a guess.

According to a source I looked at, tetelestai is something a worker might say to his boss at the end of the day, indicating that his work is done. Or you might say it to indicate a bill has been paid. Both readings make sense in the context of the crucifixion.

Jesus said “tetelestai” because his job on Earth was over. He had completely defeated Satan and all his other enemies. He had provided salvation for all the people the Father had selected for him. Similarly, the job of the church will eventually end. We are living in the age of the church, which started when Jesus rose. Our job is to evangelize and fight Satan. One day, God will declare that our job is done, and he will rapture us because leaving us here no longer serves a constructive purpose.

Is God telling me our job is over? Is he telling me it’s very nearly over? I don’t know, but I know I didn’t start repeating “tetelestai” in my head on my own.

God tends to give people a lot of warning, so even if my experiences came from him, I don’t know when the end will happen. When God says “soon,” he may mean two centuries from now.