Tomorrow

The end of the world, Judgment day, Armageddon, Rapture, they are all predicaments of the end of the world. However, the date in which this major disaster occurs is unclear. We as people have no idea when existence will diminish. People will talk about the end of the world and the survivors of it, but if there are people still alive then it’s not really the end. The end of the world means everyone and everything is dead. Can such an occurrence really happen?

What if, you did know the year, month, day, down to the hour? Say, you knew the exact events that lead up to the end. Would you try to prevent it? Of course! Anybody would, if it meant saving them, their family, friends and everyone else on this planet, but the real question is: What happens after you stop it all? Does life continue as it were or does everything end in a big flash because that was the day it was supposed to happen?

We often had this discussion in one of my extra curricular classes in high school. My teacher was convinced that he had it all figured out. Everything was already predestined, and there was nothing we could do about it. Events of terrorist attacks to natural disasters were already set to happen and all we had to do was play our parts. He even went to the lengths of saying that no one can prevent the end of the world. Everyone had their roles they had to play, and despite their efforts of changing it, it was meant for them to change it. For example, if it was predicted that there would be a huge fire at the fair tomorrow, people would try their best to keep it from happening. So, the people who were extra cautious would keeping an eye on anybody who would try to cause this fire, and the people who move flammable objects to safer places. However, while being cautious someone accidently causes sparks from the fireworks, thus a flame is lightened. That flame eventually turns into a fire, and the predicament comes true. No matter how hard they tried, the fire happened anyway.

My teacher would argue his point with this example, and then some student brings up the question. "But what if someone actually thought if they tried too hard to prevent they would cause the fire, so instead they just let the day go as it was originally planned?" At this point my teacher would smile and say, "Then the carelessness they possess will cause the fire. Regardless which way they choose, the fire will always be started."

We always had discussions like this in class. Sometimes I would agree with my teacher, and other times I thought his ideas were a little far stretched. Nevertheless, I admired the man. He took the time to think these kinds of things through, and provoked us to think about them as well. He was a very intellectual man.

However, knowing what I know now, there is something I would like to ask him. What if you could relive each and every day twice? I'm curious what he would say. Because knowing what I know, throws destiny out the window. Preventing death left and right, riots, plane crashes, explosions, you think these wouldn't lead to the end of the world, right? Wrong. Who knew saving the world could bring it to its end. Now, it haunts me day and night, if this were destiny would I still be the cause of the end of the world if I didn't have these premonitions?