When will the world end?  Although no one really knows, that has not stopped countless numbers of people from trying to predict it, again and again and again.  It also has not stopped too many people from following any number of their fellow human beings who insist that they, among all the inhabitants of the planet, know, with precision, when the world will draw to a close (whatever, from a cosmological standpoint, this really means).
    Though I've thought of this phenomenon before, I had occasion to return to it during a conversation I had with a friend recently.  Many people, usually people who claim to be spiritual, particularly those who profess to be Christians, make a great deal of money by persuading people to purchase the "supplies" which they suggest such people will need when the world begins to collapse.
     This seems rife with contradictions.  If Christianity proclaims that the two greatest commandments are to love God and your fellow human being, then it seems the height of hypocrisy for Christians to encourage their friends to buy supplies that will enable them--and no one else--to survive.  Would not God want believers to help all people who are in need, particularly in a time like "the end"?
     The answer seems obvious.  When the world finally comes to an end (whenever this will be), the story is really over.  There will be no second chances, no new opportunities, no going back.  What had been will be gone forever.  It therefore seems that rather than seek to hasten this day, people of faith ought to want it to tarry, to use every moment they have to ensure that, while they live, they are loving their neighbor.
     If we do not love our neighbor, we certainly cannot claim to love God.  Ponder the end time, yes, but do not let it be your focus:  there's a world to be loved right now.