Day 6: Yes, it’s the apocalypse — but not in the way you think

Liminal dispatch, 03.24.20

For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19)

Like a lot of people who grew up in the Midwest (and beyond!) in the 80s and 90s, I was steeped in a pretty specific understanding of what apocalypse was.

There were certainly a variety of takes and lively debate on the whole situation, even within my own church. The details maybe shifted slightly depending on your particular flavor — but two things were always consistent: 1) It was going to be absolutely terrifying, and 2) it was clear that everyone was somehow certain they were going to be just fine. Lots of other people were going to be out of luck — but there was always an unspoken assurance that sharing a belief in this scenario meant that you were already part of the in-group.

One thing I noticed that often troubled me, even as a kid, was the fevered anticipation that so many seemed to have for this objectively terrible day. Sometimes people talked about it dreamily. Less often, but especially when times were tough or the wrong president got elected, there was sometimes a gleam in their eyes — time for comeuppance, time for revenge — time, at…