La boda del Cordero

October has rolled around again, the time of year I fetch Carlos and Isabella (not their real names) from the Philadelphia airport for a week of training in therapy for their precious 4-year-old Olgita.

I mustered my best Spanish from a hippie-day fantasy in Mexico, and asked how their neighborhood of Merida was experiencing the worldwide contractions. They told me the churches were swelling, and many have dusted off the book of Revelation ("Apocalypse," Carlos called it).

Two weeks ago their pastor announced that everyone should come to the next worship service dressed in their most formal and beautiful clothing, as if for a wedding. The flock dutifully complied and found the sanctuary festooned with flowers. They all celebrated "la boda del Cordero" (Apocalypse 21). They sang like there was no tomorrow, or perhaps like there was an eternity of tomorrows.

I delighted to hear that the brothers in Mexico are taking seriously "the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place" (1:1). I marveled, however, that they were skipping the 20 chapters of "tribulation" that preceded the wedding banquet.

They were not. They told me they are preaching and talking about that, too. But some of the brethren worldwide have been living in the tribulation for ages already, so who can blame them for occasionally skipping ahead to the end of the story?

I asked Carlos and Isabella if they are afraid. They smiled and said no. Which I took to mean that the return of Christ about this time would be a great relief.