Is Anyone Out There?

A long time ago (in a land far away and a time almost forgotten) I joined the US Navy with an opportunity to learn about something called computers. After the mandatory boot camp experience, I was sent to Northern California to attend a two year program of intense study, called Data Systems School. This was a make it or break it program, which means that if I was unable to keep up (my end of the contract) I'd be chipping paint or swabbing decks for the next 6 years (their end of the contract); instead of spending my time in an air-conditioned space doing something very new and exciting. I was competing for grade points with a couple of new friends, one with a physics degree and one with a mathematics degree, and the three of us worked so hard that we set the grade curve to high and didn't notice the dropout rate around us.

After graduating (thank goodness I was able to keep up) the ship I was assigned to had some kind of “open house", and the Data Systems Technicians were asked to show off the latest in "high tech" computing power. A couple of the guys (it was a long time ago) wrote a program so that our guests could interact with a teletype machine (Ok, it was a very long time ago). The machine would sit idle for a few minutes, and then rattle out a line of text, "Is anyone out there"? Once someone typed, "Yes" the teletype machine would come to life, asking noisy questions about who the visitor was, where they were, and if they could help. Eventually, the machine would admit that it was looking for something that had been lost, and because the visitor would be unable to help the teletype machine would become distracted with the search and would eventually become idle again.

If you've been paying attention for the last few weeks, you've noticed that the guy on a sidewalk with the large sign that reads, “The end is near”, has been replaced by a multimedia rapture blitz with a public relations twist. According to the giant billboards, social media, newspapers, and the internet, today at 6:00 PM was Judgment Day so tonight I'm asking the question, "Is anyone out there”? Didn't these people learn anything from the end of the world prediction for September 1994, or the last one (pick a date), and are they aware of the one for next year? What's scary (and very sad) is that once again people were giving away their possessions in preparation for the end, even though this same prediction has been proven false so many times in the past. I've been listening to Mr. Camping on Family Radio, for a couple of weeks during my drive home, and my unanswered question was what will he do and say on May 22. Although he has publicly refused to discuss the possibility on his radio show, how will he explain that his prediction didn't happen (again)?

My prediction was that like the teletype machine, tomorrow these noisy people would become distracted by something else (like another important date) and would stop communicating for a while. However, a friend of mine helped me realize that what's at stake is much more important. Tomorrow all of Family Radio's devoted followers will wake up and realize that their world has in fact come to an end. The world that they knew and understood and the world that they believed in will be gone; replaced by a reality and truth that will be difficult for some of them, and maybe even most of them, to accept. Mr. Camping's obsession with Bible alone and his unique style of interpretation has led himself and others far off track. It's also created an opportunity for each of us to pray for and support those in need and in trouble. Beginning on May 22, we who believe in the message of Jesus Christ, have an opportunity to witness to those who have given up their possessions and lives, to follow the insight of one man.