| Im getting ready ... but for what? Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
Jesus (Matthew 24:44, NRSV) While there is no way to predict what will happen, or what your personal circumstances will be, there are simple things you can do now to prepare yourself and your loved ones.
www.ready.gov, Web site of the Homeland Security Agency The federal governments Department of Homeland Security has chosen an interesting Web address, no? www.ready.gov is, well, almost biblical when you think about it. For Christians, it also comes a wee bit late. Jesus beat the DHS to the punch by almost 2,000 years. In Matthew 24, Jesus is recorded as saying, be ready. No one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Now, of course, Jesus was talking about the return of the Son of Man, not terrorist attacks or natural disasters, though some people would say that the two are somehow related. Those people are firm in that conviction and nothing I could write here would convince them otherwise so Im not even going to touch that topic. Meanwhile, back on planet earth, we are being told to not panic, remain calm, buy some duct tape and plastic sheeting, stock up on non-perishable food and water for three days, and other such things. I took a quick tour around the Web site. In addition to a general overview, it offers a packing list for Make a Kit emergency supplies you should have on hand. This list includes things like a flashlight with extra batteries, garbage bags, moist towelettes, a whistle (to signal for help), a change of clothing and shoes, a sleeping bag, and about 20 other items that I have no idea where to find (plastic bucket with a tight lid?). Dont misunderstand me. Im not trying to make light of the situation. I have purchased my daily required allotment of water and stored it in a safe place; I never leave home without my passport; were agreed, as a family, where to meet outside of the D.C. area if need be. To ignore all these warnings would be foolish. But to over-react would be equally foolish. Thus, the dilemma: where do you draw the line? When do people of faith take to heart what the DHS is trying to tell us, and when do you simply say, duct tape and plastic sheeting is equal to the now-ancient practice of men boiling water when a woman is about to give birth it gives you something to do to feel better about an uncontrollable situation. Me, Im working at increasing my faith. Im trying to push beyond the ludicrous idea that duct tape or plastic sheeting will protect me from a nuclear, chemical or biological attack. (You can find out what the government suggests on its Web site complete with cool drawings that remind me of the stuff I saw when I was in the sixth grade and we did the duck-and-cover routine under our desks in Mrs. Zielinskis math class.) Im trying to be even more leaning on the everlasting arms, safe and secure from all alarms. Its not easy. Visions of chaos and anarchy visit my thoughts, and memories of Sept. 11 which I spent on Capitol Hill, wondering if that plane was headed my way and watching people flee the Capitol in droves return to my mind all too easily. And then Jesus words return: Be ready, for the Son of Man IS coming There it is. Not if the Son of Man returns, but when. Be ready. Live your life as if the Son of Man is coming back today because he just might be. Live your life overflowing with love and forgiveness, mercy and justice, faith and compassion. Do it today not tomorrow, but today. Encourage others to live the same way. Thus, being ready is not a passive act of faith, kneeling in prayer while the world burns around you, but an active flexing of faith, reaching out to a hurting world with the love of God. In other words, Im trying to light candles of hope while stocking candles in fallout shelters. In baseball, when a player sustains a minor injury, that person is often listed as day-to-day. He may be able to play today, maybe not; it depends on how things go. It seems to me that all of us who are players in the game of life are on that list. We can plan for tomorrow and we should but there are no guarantees, other than Gods love, death, taxes and the Red Sox never winning the World Series. Oh, and theres one other guarantee. For better or for worse, were all day-to-day. | 
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