Apocalypse, S1Ep5, the End is nigh-er
The 4 riders of the Apocalypse have been cantering around for some time now. Like some kind of screen savers. They just seem to endlessly circle the flaming skies, as prophesied.
The End Times. The 4 Horsemen.
Pestilence? Covid. Check.
War? Check and re-check!
Famine? Coming up. Or, if you so wish, chalk up inflation.
Death? Ever-reliably present, so much so that it sounds like a casting mistake of biblical proportions in John of Patmos’ bestselling “Book of Revelations”.
Whether in the news, from the pulpit, or talking to our friends and families, it does feels like the apocalypse – just not the THX version of it we came to expect. After all, it has only been advertised for a couple millennia. The brand is familiar.
We can get our soul in shape for the Rapture, if so inclined. But we can’t tap out. Ad minimum, we can enjoy the ride (pun intended).
Up next after the 4 Riders?
The 5th Seal.
What’s the agenda? TLDR: the souls of Martyrs will be given a white robe and told to wait until further notice. You and me? Shrug, we just wait. Maybe have a meeting of sorts.
Or, in the original revelations “[…] under the altar, the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God […] “How long […] until you […] avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer[…]”
Not quite the flaming skies, horses, swords and scythes we picture. A bit of a downer. A filler episode between the 4th and 6th Seal. It does not even have its own picture in Durers’ Apocalypse illustration (cf. the front picture). It has been squished together with the 6th Seal, which at least has the decency to have meteors, earthquakes, fire and brimstone. That one looks and feels more like it.
We all know the rough structure of season 1 of the Apocalypse. It ends with dragons, The Anti-Christ, resurrection and/or rapture. So S1Ep5, aka the 5th Seal, feels a bit like a toilet break moment in a broader story. But, at the same time, so on-trend! So, so, today.
A familiar time of despondency.
Wait and frustration.
Whether we are into politics, social or climate change, solutions seem something of the past, of the time of the Ancestor Giants. We accommodate never-ending wars, lingering political issues, slowly rotting social fabric. We used to find cures and invent solutions to our problems. Spending too much time cleaning dishes? Dishwashers. Renewable energy production? Regenerating nuclear plants. Flying to the Moon in a decade, not 5? Strap 3 humans on top of a rocket. Job done.
In the Times of the 5th Seal, we get the “Wir schaffen das” white robe, a nice pat on the back, and the angels of reasons telling us why it is the best possible world. That is, if we are the martyrs of the Good Cause. Else, … we just wait. As well. Just not under an altar.
Process in itself is not enough.
Only the delivery achieves something. That should remain our goal.
We hear too often about “trust the process”, the wait, the white robe and pat on the head. Trust the process, have a meeting or two, hold good discussions, which, we all know, is code for “we agreed on nothing”. Solutions can not, must not fade away into myth and legends.
When Bill Gates himself thinks that the solution to climate change is in the “Magic of Invention” [cue whoosh sound], no wonder even Greta just gives up on the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
With the 5th Seal, we have got our white robes and pat on the head.
That is not enough to sort out the challenges of our times.
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