Do you believe in something more than people?

2012 is right around the corner and some Aztec Indians, and others, believe that this event marks the end of the world.

I can’t say that I believe that will happen, although, I have to admit, I don’t know if it will or not.

I do have beliefs, though. Beliefs in what the future holds for us as citizens as well as humans. I often write editorial opinions and beliefs about the future of our local, state and national government — beliefs and opinions that I have formed based on my education and experiences. Again, I have to admit, I don’t know if those beliefs will happen or not.

My beliefs for us as humans, on the other hand, are sometimes stronger than my beliefs for us as citizens; despite the fact that I have absolutely no physical evidence upon which to base those beliefs. I still base those beliefs on my education and experiences, however, despite thousands of years of science — we simply have to base some of those beliefs on broad, non-exact, abstract and intangible understandings; I’ll call them “spiritual beliefs”, for lack of a better term.

I believe living creatures contribute to their daily lives but I am certain that we do not control them; and in case you didn’t know, I do believe it is God that is truly in control. Picture this story happening in 2012 — or today, for that matter:

You are in your car driving home.

Thoughts wander to the game you want to see or meal you want to eat, when suddenly a sound unlike any you’ve ever heard fills the air. The sound is high above you.

A trumpet? A choir? A choir of trumpets?

You don’t know, but you want to know, so you pull over, get out of your car, and look up.

As you do, you see that you aren’t the only curious one. The roadside has become a parking lot. Car doors are open, and people are staring at the sky.

Shoppers are racing out of the grocery store.

The Little League baseball game across the street has come to a halt. Players and parents are searching the clouds and what they see, and what you see, has never before been seen.

It was as if the sky was a curtain; the drapes of the atmosphere parted. A brilliant light spills onto the earth. There are no shadows. None.

From every hue ever seen and a million more never seen, riding on the flow, is an endless fleet of angels. They pass through the curtains one myriad at a time until they occupy every square inch of the sky.

North. South. East. West.

Thousands of silvery wings rise and fall in unison, and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear the cherubim and seraphim chanting, Holy, holy, holy… The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-four silver-bearded elders and a multitude of souls who join the angels in worship.

Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet. The angels turn, you turn, the entire world turns and there He is… Jesus.

Through waves of light you see the silhouetted figure of Christ the King. He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is atop a billowing cloud. He opens his mouth, and you are surrounded by his declaration: I am the Alpha and the Omega.

The angels bow their heads, the elders remove their crowns, and before you is a figure so consuming that instantly you know nothing else matters.

Forget stock markets and school reports, sales meetings and football games. Nothing is newsworthy. All that mattered, matters no more, for Christ has come.

What would you do?