The End is Near

That phrase always reminds me of some New Yorker type cartoon, with some prophet of doom carrying a sign. But lately it has been resonating in other ways as well. Of course, for me the desired end will be my ultimate retirement, somewhat delayed but nevertheless still coming. But I've also been thinking about many other ends, like the end of Newspapers, much written about in the remaining few. Then there is the end of Christian America, noted by some recent report on the decline in the number of believers. But all of this really just reflects the end of now and the coming of tomorrow. Nothing lasts forever, but we tend to forget that inconvenient truth as we hope what is will always be.

The odd thing about this hope is that after so long a time, with so much experience and history and learning we still cling to it. As we get older we forget that it was the same hope our parents had and before them our grandparents, and so on. When we're young we think that change will bring progress and good things; then when we're older we fear that change will wipe out all that we hold dear. Neither of those is likely. Time just keeps on slipping into a future that resembles but always alters what we have always known. I still think human nature remains fairly constant, although our attitudes and mores are subject to constant alteration.

When I'm feeling particularly depressed about all this I think of Leonard Cohen's song, "Everybody Knows."

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you've done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black Joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that its moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach of Malibu
Everybody knows its coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows