REFLECTION

A Reading from the Book of Mom

Gwen Manthei
Issue 4, October/November 2021

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Read Emily’s essay, around which

Issue 4 is built: “Apocalypse, Now?“

After reading this essay, I feel that the author — my daughter Emily — did a very good job setting up the historical background of the way people through the ages have thought about the end times. Like her, I do not believe that the Book of Revelation can necessarily be used to explain political events, for there have been continuous cycles of the struggle between good and evil throughout all of history and the end has not come after any of them. I believe that is because Jesus told us that no one but the Father knows when that end will be.

“‘When my father and my mother forsake me,

then the Lord will take me up,’ Reba whisp-

ered into the dim room. Sadie could hear the

feathery pages of the Bible turning, and her

grandmother crying softly.”

Not everyone finds comfort in the bible:
“Thy Father and Thy Mother,” Taylor Byas.

In Ecclesiastes, we are told that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens,” so we should not be surprised when both the good and the bad happen. God is in charge of it all: “I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.” (Ecclesiastes 3:14) Emily explains that the Greek word “Kairos” means “the right moment” — I think this term can be applied to each individual’s life, to the moment when they have been given an opportunity to either accept God into their life, or reject him. 

“I’d rather pin my hopes to the

here and now, staying alert to how

messianism functions as a blunt

tool of wrongdoing.”

Once a settler, now no longer a Jew:
“Feeling Messianic,” Joshua Tranen

When I think about what happens in the end, I think of the words Jesus told His disciples in John 14:1-3 to give them comfort. They mean a lot to me as well: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

I am not concerned about the method God uses to bring about the end because I do not desire to waste my time on that. I only want to have my heart right with God and serve Him the best that I can while I am on this earth. Revelation may be in the Bible to give us a glimpse of the power that exists in the heavenly realms and that God is in control of all of it. We need not fear the end, for God is always with us.

Gwen Manthei is feature story writer Emily’s Manthei’s mother. She is a holistic health coach and the speaker liaison for WinSomeWomen Christian retreats.