D. J. Pangburn covers the Apocalypse, the Rapture, Ragnarök, what have you, from his front-row seat in Los Angeles.
The idea was to write dispatches from the end of the world.
It occurred to me while riding a train from Manhattan to Brooklyn, when I was considering the fact that I had a very intimidating task of reading a short story at the Silver Lake Jubilee in Los Angeles. One would have to be practically blind to have not seen the extreme Christian posters “Judgment Day, May 2011… Cry Mightily Unto God” on the train.
There it was staring me in the face. Then I had a minor epiphany that I would be reading my short story on the day of the Apocalypse—that I would, in fact, have a front row seat to the great unraveling of the universe. For if I was to be anywhere, it would have to be Los Angeles, which lies along the San Andreas Fault. Does the fault not account for the magnetic force Los Angeles and California exert on all that is weird and terrible on Earth?
It is tempting to imagine California as the end of the world: it being the edge upon which the last continent was stolen, mapped and transformed into the terminus and locus of the surreal.
Immediate observations of the End of the World at the Edge of the World: The smog was particularly luminescent when my jet floated into Los Angeles and environs, landing at LAX, offering up something vaguely magical and worrisome. It had the look of the hereafter, as far as that can be detailed. That is, it looked suitably cinematic, as if smoke machines had been deployed by stagehands all over the city to create the illusion of heavenly doom.
The usual annoyances at the airport were manifest: man talking about several varieties of nothingness, children running through the Arrivals area, parents chasing, people walking slowly and without purpose (one would think they’d be a bit more hurried during the Apocalypse), overwhelming need to urinate, baggage took its time, Super Shuttle took its time, there’s a hole in my boot, the city’s cold and warm simultaneously, traffic is in typical form, the snow-capped peak northwest of downtown, visible from several thousand feet in the air is now invisible at ground level. Thoughts of Rene Daumal’s “Mount Analogue,” in which the peak is rendered invisible by optical illusions but is still very much there.
Put my ear to the ground to listen for tremors as one does with ear to train tracks. The Earth’s heartbeat is silent. Is the Great May 21st Earthquake playing peek-a-boo? I’m looking for signs in the smallest details and there’s nary a whisper of the End. Waiting now for the half-light to fold in upon the city, and then things should feel more apocalyptic.
Now much to report from here in Los Angeles—things are quite ordinary.
One final thought before tomorrow, the Day of the Rapture: If the End of the World brings a complete breakdown in time and space, think of all the dead souls and skeletons that will rise out of the topography of Los Angeles, if only for a minute. And, what’s a minute in the Apocalypse anyway? Could be an eternity and a really great after party, with the dead moving about as projections, mixing with forgotten and vanished pagan gods, extinct animals, even dinosaurs.
Maybe all that ever was and ever will be contained in a simultaneous and perfectly clear film like Jorge Luis Borges’ “Aleph.” Now that is an Apocalypse I could dig.
Read “Notes on the Apocalypse: Does the End Move in Time Zones?“
May 21, 2011 at 10:37 am, Ryszard Ewiak said:
Are we really living in “the last days”? What dangers threaten us?
A great help for us can be Daniel’s vision. This is the key to understanding the issue.
A short analysis on Daniel chapter 11:
Daniel 11:2 – Cambyses II, Bardiya (Greek: Smerdis), Darius I, Xerxes I.
Daniel 11:3, 4 – Alexander the Great.
Daniel 11:5 – The king of the south = Ptolemy I Soter. One of his princes = Seleucus I Nicator.
Daniel 11:6 – The king of the north = Antiochus II Theos. The king of the south = Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
Daniel 11:7-9 – The king of the north = Seleucus II Callinicus. The king of the south = Ptolemy III Euergetes.
Daniel 11:10-19 – The king of the north = Antiochus III the Great. The king of the south = Ptolemy IV Philopator (11:10-12); Ptolemy V Epiphanes (11:13-17).
Daniel 11:14b, (LITV) “And the sons of the violent ones of your people shall rise up to establish the vision [to fulfill the vision (KJ2000)], but they shall stumble.” = The Maccabean revolt. (Compare Matthew 24:15; Daniel 10:14)
Daniel 11:20 – The king of the north = Augustus.
Daniel 11:20b – “and within a few days he will be broken, but not in anger and not in battle”. Augustus died after a brief illness. Seleucus IV Philopator was assassinated!
Daniel 11:21-23 – The king of the north = Tiberius. The Leader (chief) of the covenant = Jesus Christ. (Isaiah 55:4)
Daniel 11:24 – The king of the north = Tiberius and the successive emperors.
Daniel 11:25, 26a – Aurelian against Zenobia (queen of Palmyra).
Daniel 11:26b = The twilight of the Roman Empire. (Compare Daniel 9:26b)
Daniel 11:27 = Russia and England (from second half of the XIX Century).
“And both these kings, their hearts (will be) to do mischief, and at one table (they) will speak a lie. But it will not succeed, for yet (the) limit to (the) appointed time.” (literal translation) It certainly suggests that the verse does not relate to the ancient times. It describes the end of times right before the appointed time. (Compare Daniel 11:29a)
In the nineteenth century, Russia expanded its influence in the region, which previously belonged to Seleucus I Nicator, and took the role of the king of the north. The king of the south = The United Kingdom.
Matthew 24:5 – “For many will come in the name of me, saying: ‘I am the anointed’; and many they will mislead.”
Luke 21:8b – “for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am’; and ‘The appointed time has approached’ [The time is at hand, (ASV)]. Do not go after them.” Among of these usurpers are Joseph Smith, Ellen Gould White, Charles Taze Russell.
Daniel 11:28 = Russia after the Second World War.
“And (he) will go back (to) his land with great wealth [1945]; and his heart (will be) against the holy covenant [state atheism]; and will act [this means high activity in the international arena]; and turned back to his own land [it also means the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact].” (literal translation)
Daniel 11:29a – “At the appointed time [he] will return back.” Many countries of the former Eastern Bloc will return to the Russian sphere of influence. It also means the disintegration of the European Union and NATO.
Daniel 11:29b = The start of a Third World War. “And enter into the south [probably will be this Georgia], but it will not be as the former [1921] or as the latter [2008].” Then United States will attack Russia.
Daniel 11:30a – “For the dwellers of coastlands of Kittim [the West] will come against him, and he will be dejected [humbled, (LXX)], and will go back.”
Numbers 24:24a – “And ships from the side of Kittim [US Navy], and will afflict Asshur [Russia], and will afflict Eber [remaining enemies]“.
Daniel 11:29b, 30a = Matthew 24:7 = The Third World War.
It will be a nuclear war. (Revelation 6:4) “A great sword” = nuclear sword.
Soon after will be famine, caused by drought. (Revelation 6:5, 6)
This will be “the beginning of birth pains.” (Mark 13:8)
Daniel 11:30b – The king of the north against the holy covenant. The persecution of Christian minorities. (Compare Matthew 24:9)
Daniel 11:31-35 = The great tribulation of the small Christian churches. (Matthew 24:15, 21, 22; Daniel 7:25; Revelation 6:9-11; 11:2, 7; 13:7)
“The abomination of desolation”= “The beast”= The future world government.
The king of the south= The Anglo-American Alliance. (Daniel 7:8, 21; 8:10-12) The United Kingdom and the United States will strengthen their cooperation. (Revelation 13:11)
Daniel 11:36-39 – Russia before World War IV. Dictatorship and militarism.
Daniel 11:40-43 = The Fourth World War. (Matthew 24:29; Luke 21:25; Revelation 6:12; 13:3; Isaiah 5:26-30; Daniel 7:11; Ezekiel 32:2-16; 39:23-29; Habakkuk 1:5-17; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Joel 2:1-11)
Revelation 17:16 = “The judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters” = The pastors of large churches who betrayed Christ. (James 4:4)
Ezekiel 43:11 = The Third Temple, also known as Ezekiel’s Temple. (Ezekiel 37:24-28; Romans 11:25-32; Hosea 3:5; 5:15)
Daniel 11:44 – “News (reports) from the east and from the north”- Psalm 48:2; Job 37:22; Isaiah 41:25; Joel 3:16; Jeremiah 25:30.
Daniel 11:45 = Ezekiel 38:8-23 = The attack of Gog of the land of Magog (a future dictator of Russia).
Daniel 12:1 = The great tribulation of the enemies of God’s people. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; Revelation7:14)
Daniel 12:2 = Resurrection. (John 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15)
“Behold, the former things have come to pass, and I declare new things. Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” (Isaiah 42:9, ACV)
May 23, 2011 at 12:00 am, whoa calm down. said:
That was anything but short.
May 21, 2011 at 5:36 pm, john charles webb jr said:
All of the faithful were gathered and taken to Los Angeles :
May 21, 2011 at 5:38 pm, john charles webb jr said:
you are now in “The Bardo of Tibet”
and will remain there for as long as you believe that it is real :
May 21, 2011 at 5:40 pm, john charles webb jr said:
The bowling tournament starts on Monday :