Unleash The Hounds!

I'm not entirely sure what made me think about this on the way to work this morning, but my mind wandered to the topic of good versus evil. Evil, in a biblical or spiritual sense. I was thinking that if you were a person that believes in true evil, such as the kind that the devil may produce, then now would be as good a time as any for the devil to make a move. John Paul II has recently died, leaving over a billion people without a spiritual leader. The Catholic Church is at a social crossroads and a lot of key decisions will probably be made in the next 50 years or so. Will the Vatican ever endorse birth control as a means of fighting disease? Will they ever allow their clergymen to marry? Will they ever allow women to hold higher positions within the church? The answer to all of these questions could be yes, depending on who is elected as Pope this month, and in years to come. It strikes me as a fairly important time for church.

Depending on the choices that are made, the Catholic Church could become much stronger, or it could lead to more and more people being disillusioned. I know if I were the devil, the time would be right to cause a lot of chaos and test the resolve of Catholics all over the world. It just makes sense to me. So, if you believe in the Devil, and all things evil, I think I'd be on the lookout for temptation.

Something else that captured my attention on the way to work was Nostradamus. As you all know, his "predictions" can be conveniently misinterpreted to reflect major events in the world. I did a quick google search when I got home for "Nostradamus Predictions +Pope" figuring that I'd get to read "newly decoded messages" , but found mostly references to Pope John Paul I, who died shortly after being elected. Apparently he predicted the man's demise. It seems odd that Nostradamus would predict the reign and death of a Pope that ruled for 34 days, but didn't foresee the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years, who is credited with a number of things, including the acceleration of communism death in eastern Europe.

Google also lead me to another soothsayer, by the name of St. Malachy, who apparently created a list of Pope's from his days until our present time. He supposedly has an 80% accuracy rate, and has predicted that there will only be two Pope's after Pope John Paul II. He predicts the next Pope will be a peace-maker, and will help bring an end to Arab-Israeli hostilities, but will die before his work is completed, and his successor will rule until Armageddon.

So what are we supposed to do about this? Well, most will probably continue to live their lives as they have been, living by whatever standards they set for themselves. But if you are so inclined, I guess you could start watching for signs of the apocalypse.

As for me, I'm not fazed. I have faith in us as humans, that if the need shall ever arise, we will unite and fight whatever battle needs to be waged. We've come close in a couple of world wars, but I don't think our resolve has been tested yet.

Yea though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil. (But I do fear food poisoning!)