In Case You’re Wondering

I’m a little creeped out.

When Mike came down here and we went to church together, the subject of the sermon was signs of the Rapture. I don’t get all that excited about the Rapture, because there is no reason to. You can’t do anything to stop it or make it happen. It causes a lot of venomous arguments, so talking about it isn’t much fun. And knowing it’s coming isn’t all that helpful. You should be ready, but how do you prepare? By living a good Christian life. Which is what you should be doing, regardless of whether the Rapture is coming. I don’t understand the fascination many Christians feel about this subject.

I figure the Rapture is probably real, based on the Biblical references to it. Some are pretty literal and some are prophetic hints. But I don’t have any plans to try to figure out when it’s coming, or to try to convince anyone what they should believe about it.

To get back to Mike, he came down here, and we went to church. And there were some odd “coincidences” surrounding that set of events.

First of all, the mother of one of his employees died while he was here, so he had to go to a Jewish funeral the day before he came to see me. At the funeral, the rabbi made references to “the fig tree,” and Mike started wondering what it was supposed to mean. Just curiosity; nothing beyond that.

The next day, he had to drive down from Delray, and he was supposed to have a meeting in downtown Miami before meeting me. He ran out of gas, which is ridiculously unlikely, and he had to meet the guy up in Miami Gardens. He then came down to see me. He didn’t mention the business about the fig tree.

We went to church, but we got there late because the information on the church’s website was wrong. We only got the last part of the sermon. Rich Wilkerson was telling us about ten signs of the Rapture, and we only got to hear one. I thought the sermon was a washout, and I had blown my chance to get Mike interested in church.

I wanted to get Pastor Wilkerson’s advice on a church for Mike, up near his home in DC. While we were leaving church, Pastor Wilkerson buttonholed us to say hi and so on, and before I could say anything, he recommended a church for Mike.

Mike wanted to talk about the service with me. He said we should find a place to sit down. He knew of a Dunkin’ Donuts that was not far away, so that’s where we went. He told me he was surprised that the sermon had contained information about something that interested him. He was referring to the fig tree. Pastor Wilkerson had mentioned it while discussing the last of the ten signs.

In Matthew 24, Jesus said:

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Many Rapture buffs say the tree is Israel, and that this passage refers to the re-creation of Israel in 1948. Mike had not been aware of that. He thought it was remarkable that it had come up in the few minutes he had been in church.

Me, too.

Later, he told me a couple more things. He spoke again to the guy with whom he had had the meeting, and it turned out he was a member of Trinity Church. And the reason Mike knew about the Dunkin’ Donuts is that it was where they ended up meeting, after Mike ran out of gas.

Just plain weird, no matter how you look at it.

As I said, I was not able to drive to church this weekend, so I decided to watch it on TV. They carry it on the local Fox station, on Sunday mornings. I recorded it. I didn’t get upset about not being able to go. I told myself there had to be a reason. I was going to find a blessing in it, sooner or later.

Today I turned the show on, hoping to see this weekend’s message. And you can probably guess what I saw. Rich Wilkerson, talking about ten signs of the Rapture. I thought maybe I was supposed to see it, so I watched.

I just sat down at my computer, and I checked my Sitemeter stats. Someone from New York had arrived here via an Excite search. Guess what they were searching for? Rich Wilkerson and ten signs of the rapture. They landed on the original entry, in which I talked about these coincidences.

Wouldn’t you feel weird after all that?

Maybe it’s not all that weird. I suppose it’s understandable that someone out there who saw the show today would search for the sermon on the web.

I should call Mike and see what he’s up to.