Three Days of Darkness

 

Okay, tell me that’s not creepy.

I remember in a high school Humanities class we had to write a play. Our quirky teacher was obsessed with Nostradamus (and with dressing as if he were still in the 70’s) and it sort of rubbed off on us.

Not the 70’s gear, just Nostradamus.

So, it wasn’t a surprise that we came up with a short play based on the famed seer. Ever since then I’ve been intrigued by conversations, books, and documentaries dealing with the seeming movement of human existence toward The End. We complain about all the war, death and evil in this world and swear that we are literally deteriorating; we talk about comets or asteroids hurtling toward us, and our various philosophical and religious beliefs give some type of account for the End Times.

But how and when will this happen?

If I knew the answer, I assure you that I wouldn’t be sipping my Sleepy Time tea and writing this post. However, according to some, we will know the End is near because of various signs and events that will take place to warn us. One such event, according to some, is The Three Days of Darkness:

The Three Days of Darkness is an apocalyptic tradition within Catholicism which recalls the tenth plague of Moses against Egypt. Just as God punished the idolatrous Egyptians during the days of Moses with Ten Plagues culminating in “three days of darknesss,” so also, at the end of time will God will punish the entire world with “three days of darkness.” The theory holds that the entire earth will be enveloped by perfect darkness lasting the span of three days and three nights. The only light that will be seen during these three days will come from blessed candles. Catholic visionaries agree that the faithful should stay within their homes during this plague of darkness as most of the earth’s inhabitant shall die.

Wowzers…okay, let’s put aside the fact that this is not official church teaching nor is it even required to be believed, but this makes for an interesting story! At the heart of the Three Days is the acknowledgement that we have lost our way. Once we fall into a world of death and destruction, of a constant conflagration of war and suffering–something’s got to happen to put an end to this. Whether we do it ourselves or a Divine Hand smacks us–something has got to happen.

I know what my views are on this…but I’m interested in yours 🙂 Especially with 2012 just a month away, do you think we (humanity as a whole) are headed toward renewal? Or are we steadily hurtling toward our destruction? Or maybe we need a bit of destruction so that we can begin anew?