The Last Days

The last days has been something that has been on my mind a lot lately. I have had discussions with my family and friends. A lot of the reason why it has been on my mind came from a talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Christians look forward to the last days. We are taught that when Christ comes there will be a millennium of peace. Oppression, injustice, poverty, and suffering will all vanish. The second coming is a day that will bring tremendous joy to the children of God.

There are many prophecies that can cause us to fear the last days. The scriptures say that in the last days there will be "Men's hearts failing them for fear... for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." However, I do not think that we need to fear the last days. The former Anglican Bishop of Durham, Dr. N. T. Wright said, "It is not ultimately a chaos; that when we do justice in the present we are not whistling in the dark, trying to shore up a building that will ultimately collapse, or to fix a car which is actually bound for the scrap-heap."

The last days will be full of many great and terrible events. However, we are on the winning side of the battle. The Second Coming is near and we need to prepare for it. Every bit of good that we do to help alleviate the poverty and suffering in the world is part of the winning battle. Instead of feeling like the world is collapsing, we need to understand that, in many aspects, the world is doing better than it has ever been. People are living longer and happier lives with less oppression and more equality than ever before. There is still much to do, but I feel optimistic about where we are and I know that we are nearing a thousand years of peace.