Hell, death, and the end of days were constant buzz words in the Evangelical Christian Church where I grew up. Fear was always present. Fear of God, fear of death, and simple fear of tomorrow. Repent, come to Jesus, and you will be saved not only from eternal flames, but you’ll get summoned in the Rapture.
Let me pause here and discuss the Rapture, as I knew it.
The church I grew up in believed that the “end of days,” was the time before the great apocalypse when Earth reaches its final moments. Spoiler alert, the world goes down in flames, literally. Apparently God really likes fire, I mean he does ask for sacrifices to be burned. Anyways, before the END, God will call His “children” home with a resounding trumpet blast. Those who believe in Jesus, and are “True Christians,” will meet him in the air, escaping the horror that will befall all who are left behind.
This event, where the real Christians get zapped from earth leaving their mortal clothing and everything behind, is called the Rapture. The fake Christians and straight up heathens, get left behind to deal with the four horsemen of the apocalypse and everything else horrific and oddly worded that goes on in the Biblical book of Revelations.
Southern Evangelical Churches loved to preach about the Rapture. They got all riled up thinking about that big party in the sky. Sometimes they would break out in song and dancing and shouting when they really got going. A few times I recall someone grabbing a ram’s horn and blowing it, sort of as a symbol of the Rapture call. They were excited because they were definitely part of the elite who are going to be Raptured away. You too could be part of the select few and celebrate, while all the rejects suffer on earth.
You really don’t want to be a reject do you?
Beware, because if you have any sin in your heart when the trumpet sounds, you will be left behind!!!
Beware! Sin leads to death. Sin leads to missing out. You could be sinning right now. Just thinking about some carnal thing instead of meditating on God constantly could get you left behind. No one knows the day or the hour when the trumpet will sound.
BUT, if you do miss out on the trumpet, there’s still hope. You just have to avoid taking the Mark of Beast (which is either a tattoo with the number 666, a bar-code, or a microchip, depending on the technology in your region). You also have to ask Jesus into your heart constantly, because you never know.
As a God fearing Christian, I was terrified of the Rapture. There was a puppet show when I was a kid that portrayed the Rapture. In it, a kid was walking outside when suddenly all the birds got quiet. A trumpet sounded, and a cracking sound followed. Suddenly, everyone the kid loved was gone.
For years afterwards I was horrified whenever birds got quiet. Whenever a vaguely horn-ish sound blared in the distance I would stop and search for piles of abandoned clothes.
I lived most of my religious life in total fear.
I was scared of dying after committing a minor sin, or an unknown sin. Afraid of the trumpet sound and the Rapture. Terrified of God just being mad at me and dolling out some kind of punishment because it was going to teach a lesson, or had some bigger purpose.
Going to church really did not help my anxiety.
Of course fear is a big motivator. Afraid of sinning? Come to church to find ways to get rid of sin. Scared of death and Hell? Go to church to be a good Christian. Worried about the Rapture? Perfect church attendance proves you are one of the elite and will get called up by the trumpet.
Fear certainly motivated me to keep going to church in the hopes of not being a reject and burning up forever. At least it did for a while.
Imagine being so worried about what happens after you die that you stop caring about what is going on while you are alive?
I was so focused on the past and the future I lost sight of the right now. Thanks to mindfulness I have changed my perspective and worked through a great deal of fear. I still struggle, fear is human. But I no longer listen for trumpet blasts and worry about the afterlife. I try to focus on what I can do in the lives of the living, in this moment. I try to focus on mindfulness.
We only have one life, I’m going to live mine without so much fear.
Read about my past in the Evangelical Christian church and find more mindful healing at these links: