May 25, 2011

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110524/ap_on_re_us/us_apocalypse_saturday

It appears that the rumor of earth's demise on May 21 was greatly exaggerated.

It was, in fact, a spiritual Judgment Day. So says Harold Camping. The real live advent of Judgment Day will arrive on October 21. But he does not intend to give away his $100 million fortune, his car, or his house before that fateful day. Why give away anything if the world is going to end anyway?

This sounds a bit like hedging one's bet. But then, he surely must know by now that if he misses the ball the third time, that would be "Strike Three." He missed it in 1994, and Strike Two was May 21, 2011. If he strikes out this time, he will need his fortune to retire in disgrace with little prospect of future income. Perhaps the Judgment Day that he foresaw was really his own.

I suspect that on October 22, he will change the rules of the game and ask people to allow a fourth swing at the ball. After all, Noah's flood saw the water on the earth for a full year. Perhaps his 7,000-year cycle from Noah's flood ought to be dated from the END of the flood. I think he will predict the Rapture for next year.

Or perhaps he is hoping that the Lord will see fit to take him to heaven a more natural way. He is, after all, 89 years old. That would be a more graceful exit.