Rapture

Today I would like to talk about a subject I have not spoken of, in my writings, here, before. I wish I had not deleted the photo I took in the park on Friday night... it would have been really good for this topic but it was all smoky fog and just bright light so I deleted it... shouldn't have. So, as a Christian, I have always believed in the Rapture... that time in history when Jesus will come back for his believers and remove them from the earth in the blink of an eye.
Almost thirty years ago I must have been quite convincing to some people because a regular customer I used to serve came in to where I was working and said, "Hey, El..., if Jesus comes back could you just take your hand and grab me on your way up?"
"Ahh, it just does not work that way. You have to make that decision yourself," I replied to him.
Day after day he kept coming in with his wife and I would listen to their stories of really hard stuff they were dealing with... their kids and the relationships surrounding them. Some of it was really heartbreaking... as all broken relationships are.
A few years passed and although I was no longer working at that place, I would still hear about this man from time to time. I prayed for him for many years.
One day, the news about him was not so good... he got sick... and, eventually, died.
I used to be such a worrier and would panic a little when I was unsure if the person had made 'a decision for the Lord' as I say it.
So, I would read obituaries looking for a sign that maybe the person had turned to God in the end. And, lo and behold, he had. Wow! That always gave me the most amazing boost of belief... I guess is what I would call it... all the years of putting up with things you never think you are going to have to deal with or listen to... and find embarrassing... how you deal with it... that you deal with it... the attitude with which you interchange a difficult out of your comfort zone conversation day after day... somehow keeping a comradery you maybe did not ask for but met the challenge of just to make your day workable... not always pleasant but workable... that is worth the effort!
Every day I had to manage the embarrassing aspects of the interchanges while, somehow, I must have got what I thought most important into those strange communications because he did turn to God before he died.
So, I still believe the rapture may occur at any moment and it is important to always be ready to meet the Lord.

This is the photo I took, Friday night, before the one I deleted that I think would have been very good for this story. I like really clear, sharp photos but this one works well with the Thessalonians... '... the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.'