enRAPTUREd

Between 1831 and August of 1841, a baptist preacher in New England named William Miller developed a theory that the Second Coming of Jesus was prophesied to be in his immediate future.

He wasn't a crackpot, per se. Just a man who took his own insights into a few specific verses a bit more seriously than anyone ever should.

ok ... that's a crackpot.

At any rate, he was eventually joined by a former atheist named Samuel S. Snow. The two of them spent hours poring ... might even be fair to call it obsessing over a couple of Bible texts; most notably Daniel 8:14.

There was a time I could explain the logic they used -- I definitely spent enough time studying it. Alas, that information was killed by a half-keg of Soberana in the Great Panama Bash of '95.

I digress.

You've probably heard the story, or at least a version of it. By August of 1844, they'd checked and double-checked their math, painted their posters, and taken the warning to the Saints on the road.

October 22, 1844: the day Jesus WOULD return.

In a ... strangely comical -- although not laughable sequence of events, thousands of people bought into their melded math, tortured theology, and powerful preaching.

You know how this story "ends," -- even if you've never heard it before: their followers gave away all their worldly possessions, said their good-byes, and waited for the celestial ride to heaven.

Unfortunately for them, their pets, and their abandoned assets -- we can now generously say that "something was off in the math."

Nothing happened. Not so much as a bright flash in the New Hampshire sky.

The math was off.

History calls it the Great Disappointment. It even has its own Wikipedia entry.

If the story ended there, it would just be one of those sad side notes of America's religious legacy.

But this particular episode of Jesus standing up a group of true believers played a pivotal role in my universe.

A small group of the Millerites spun off their own franchise out of this experience. In the 167 years since, the Seventh-day Adventist church has grown into one of the most widespread Protestant denominations in the world.

Last Saturday, an estimated 25 million people in more than 200 countries attended a worship service in an SDA congregation.

For the first 20 years of my life, I was one of those millions. And I cannot imagine a better childhood.

SDA life is a rich tapestry of spirituality, community, and recreation. It has carved a unique and productive culture out of the human landscape. Its hospitals and school system are second-to-none. The people are warm, friendly, and loyal.

My love of music was born in Adventism. You have heard them sing--and loved it, even though you probably didn't realize you were listening to their special kind of soul.

As much as I loved the people, music, and culture of Adventism, there came a point in my life where the calculations weren't leading me to the right numbers. I realized I didn't believe what they believe. A separation was necessary.

The math didn't add up.

19 years later, I still count hundreds of Adventists among my circle of friends.

I wouldn't trade those Adventist years for anything. I wouldn't cash in those people for any other group on the planet, and I hope a couple of them will sing a song in my memory after I keel over and kick the bucket.

For the past few days, the nation has been focused on another crackpot promising he had run the numbers and identified today as the date of the rapture.

This time an 89-year old Oakland, California pastor named Harold Camping is cast in the role of William Miller.

According to Camping's math the holy were supposed to disappear at 6pm eastern time.

It's been a source of lots of jokes, and punchlines will poke out of this non-event until 2012, when we know the world will end because the Mayans whispered the planet's expiration date to us in rock calendars.

I've joked about the silliness of predicting the end of the world along with everyone else. And I DEFINITELY think it's funny in a Santayana sense.

But there are people out in our wild and crazy world who were quietly counting on Camping's calculations.

I silently tip my cap, and my ice-filled glass of vodka to what is undoubtedly THEIR day of Great Disappointment.

I hope their disillusionment leads to something down the road that's HALF as cool for some kid who deserves a kick-ass environment in which to become a freethinker.

And to that kid ... I can only say ... "watch the math."

Peace,

--Stew.







Photos
Miller:
http://snakeoilgraphics.com/NightStick/post/The-Great-Disappointment.aspx
GC Photo:
http://www.rejuvenatemeetings.com/2010/08/21/q-a-an-adventist-on-adrenaline/
Harold Camping:
http://extraordinaryintelligence.com/