For all you Episcopalians and other brands of religion that regularly go to church, I want to give you a preview of some of this Sunday’s readings (Sept. 7, 2008).  Now, keep in mind there is a trend away from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) choices for readings, to the new wave choices called the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL).  For that reason, you probably will not hear some, or all, of what I am going to present to you now; and that means your priest (or pastor) will not preach to you about what I am going to tell you. 

The first BCP reading comes from the book Ezekiel, chapter 33, verses 1 – 11.  It talks (like a lot of Ezekiel does) about the responsibility of the prophet.  Let’s read together:

"The word of the LORD came to me: O Mortal, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one of their number as their sentinel; and if the sentinel sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people; then if any who hear the sound of the trumpet do not take warning, and the sword comes and takes them away, their blood shall be upon their own heads. They heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; their blood shall be upon themselves. But if they had taken warning, they would have saved their lives. But if the sentinel sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any of them, they are taken away in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at the sentinel's hand."

"So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, "O wicked ones, you shall surely die," and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life."

"Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: "Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?" Say to them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?"

Okay now.  If that really happened then (and I take it as truth that it did happen, the way Ezekiel said it did, being a Christian), then the same principles would apply today.  God has people act as sentinels for humanity.  Since Jesus was sent by God to expand the scope of things, from Israel to the whole world, then this reading says there are sentinels for the whole world.

It also says that the job of the sentinel (or prophet) is to tell the people.  That’s it.  Nothing more to do, but tell the people what the message of God is.  The people are ALWAYS responsible for their own inequities; however, God wants the people to know their inequities are leading them to wrong way.  God does not want any people to go the wrong way; so God sends messages to sentinels to warn the people to change.  Woe be it to the prophet that did not pass this message on to the people, simply because the people laughed at him and told him he was foolish for making up such nonsense. 

In that regard, let me make it official: YOU have been warned.  Either pass the message on, change, laugh, or whatever you decide to do.  You have been warned that God sent a message to Nostradamus and I have received the understanding of that message, which says the end of the world is coming because of YOU.  Therefore, to save your ass, you better change.

Now that reminds me of the joke question, which begins, “What’s the last thing that goes through a fly’s mind as it slams into a windshield?”  Well, let me change the question a bit, by changing the fly to you, and instead of the windshield let’s just say death, reposing it as, “What’s the last thing that will go through your mind when your end of the world has come?”  The revised answer is, “This warning.”  That applies any way you take the warning now.  If I am wrong, make sure to let me know after you die.

Now, about that potential change you should ponder, there is another reading from this Sunday's BCP choices.  This one comes from Paul’s letter to the Romans, which reads from chapter 12, verses 9 – 21.  Let’s go over that one too.

"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers."

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Well geewhilikers Mr. Wilson!  That is telling you how to act, in reference to change you need to bring about, between now and your end of the world.  Now that you know the message of warning, you can’t say no one told you the way to avoid being held responsible for all your inequities.  This sums it all up: love, don’t give in to evil, serve the Lord, pray, care.  Oh, did I mention love?

In case you have a hard time figuring out what the connection of all of this religion stuff is to Nostradamus and The Prophecies, you have to realize this: all the quatrains left unfulfilled tell of horrid ends of life on earth.  We are in the middle of some quatrains where half has come true, with the other half still to come.  Some have already come true exactly as predicted; but 80% is still ahead of us.  That 80% warns us of those various ways our ends come, including: war; bio-war; nuclear war; chemical war; uncontrolled death spreading disease; fire; flood; and the most deadly – famine.  You must realize that none of those horrible things have happened yet.  Nothing has happened yet that has not yet happened.  YOU hold a role in whether or not the future of Nostradamus comes true, or not, because you have been warned.  Call it God’s gift to you.  But then, if YOU need more proof, there's always the future left to happen as predicted.