Theological Thursdays: Eschatology and Sprawl

Maybe my initial decision to become a part of the solution and move into the city was incited by a subconscious belief in the "renewal eschatology" that had been ingrained throughout my upbringing.

The best decision I ever made was to move into the city. What I thought I understood before I get completely now that I'm here.

My decision to stay in my neighborhood was in part due to my deep roots as my family has been here for 5 generations. When I saw a demolition notice posted on a old Federal Style house I became concerned that we would lose another historic structure and began an effort to save it. 20 years later it is still undergoing restoration but I have no regrets. I have many great neighbors and we all work together to hold on to our little piece of the city. Our neighborhood has its share of problems but there is a sense of community and shared purpose.
It is the chance to make a difference that brings satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.

BRL, was that you I met a couple weekends ago during the Amherst St. parade--? There was a guy standing on the corner where your house is, with some others, and when I introduced myself as RaChaCha and asked if he was BlackRockLifer he said "yes" but didn't seem to know what I was talking about.

'What do you think happens--ultimately? How does it effect your life--presently?'

I don't know what happens upon death or what will happen when the world ends and I cast a disgruntled eye upon those that embrace the 'Left Behind' nonsense or the Book of Revelation as true explanations. As someone who doesn't believe in a personal god, but acknowledges the possibility of a god on the sidelines, I look at death and the end of the world as a simple collapse. If there is anything beyond death, it would be an interesting new adventure and I would be grateful. In the meantime, while I see death as an end, it makes me see daily life as a bounty or harvest and I hunt for someone or something to appreciate every day while I'm here.

The idea of eschatology -- and even the word itself -- seems esoteric, mysterious, and very removed from everyday life. What I love about your article, Rev. Drew, is how you show that the views of a person -- or even a whole community or denomination -- on this really affect their life decisions. It's an area where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

I know many whose views of the end times are strongly escapist, and they fled cities as something evil to be avoided (or just visited for the occasional in-and-out volunteer project). What a strong contrast to the folks of Westside Ministries (here: http://www.westsideministries.org/ ), whom you've written about. I don't know firsthand where they stand on doctrine, but their mission statement sounds almost like your definition of "renewal."

Coming from a religious background, I can attest that Eschatology has been frequently used as a tool for frightening the young and simple-minded. But perhaps most frightening of all, I believe the "escapist" version played a major role in many Bush administration policies and actions.

This could have been said by a non-theist like me:

"If you plan on escaping to heaven, everything on earth becomes less important. Earthly life becomes cheap in comparison to eternal life, and there is certainly no need to care for an earth that you believe is going to get burned up."

I think Rev. Drew is talking about s peculiarly American strain of eschatology.

Wouldn't it make sense that a nation founded by immigrants, people who were often escaping persecution, famine, or war, would embrace an eschatology based on moving away at the sign of problems? It saved their lives the first time, after all.