Signs of the Times

As his earthly ministry was coming to an end, Jesus' disciples asked him "what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"  The Savior then taught them how to avoid being deceived and for which signs they should watch.  

Signs are all around us.  There are signs dotting every road and street, alerting us and helping us stay safe.  There are signs on hiking trails in the wilderness, helping to orient us and keep us on the right path.  There are signs everywhere we look, providing guidance and information, but all of these signs mean nothing unless we look for them, and pay them heed.

The evolution of personal, mobile devices has forever altered the way we receive information.  Gone are the days of watching for signs to tell of forthcoming events.  We no longer look to the skies for an indication of coming weather.  We have an app for that, that will notify us of changes in the weather, and of approaching storms.

We no longer need to remember the dates and times of appointments.  We simply enter things (or tell Siri to do it for us) into our calendar and our devices take it from there.  They track our location, the location and time of our appointments, traffic and weather conditions, and notify us accordingly when it is time to leave to arrive on time.

The amount of information available to us on our devices is astounding and equally overwhelming.  There is no way to keep track of all of it all the time, so we let our devices do a good deal of our thinking for us and then notify us when things become important.

Push notifications seem like a good thing, and every app worth it's salt will use them to keep us engaged and focused, but we must beware of the dangers of outsourcing our ability to seek out information on our own.

The Savior did not tell his disciples to wait for a notification of his coming.  He told them "seek, and ye shall find".  Seeking is not a passive activity.  It requires effort and purpose.  It is more than simply observing as we meander through life.  To seek it so set aside all other pursuits so that we may obtain enlightenment.  We seek for answers, we seek for solutions to our problem, and as the Savior told his disciples, if we seek for signs of his coming, they can be found.

I find it interesting that the disciples sought after signs of the end of the world.  Most people view the end of the world as a dark and perilous time.  Michael Stipes describes a version of it in great detail in song.  "It starts with an earthquake, birds, and snakes, and aeroplanes..." and so forth.  The Savior himself described similar circumstances, stating that there would be "famine, and pestilences, and earthquakes" all over the world.

So, why do we seek for signs of the end of the world?  Because they are also signs of the coming of the Savior.  The world as we know it must end in preparation for the coming of Christ.  One of my favorite hymns has the following lyric:

"The year is dying, in the night.  Ring out, wild bells, and let him die...Ring out the darkness in the land.  Ring in the Christ, that is to be."

As we begin a new year and inch that much closer to the end of the world, remember that we also come closer to the glorious return of the Savior.  But you have to pay attention, because there is no app for that.