The day before the next catastrophe, contemplation on the two A’s.
(In my life A. usually stands for Antarctica, not this time.)
Apocalypse and Armageddon.
People now use these words easily..as if they actually know what they mean. Useful to look up: (quite besides the movie and its references which I will leave alone!)
Armageddon, mentioned only once in the bible, indicates the last battle between the kings and God before the end of the world. It took place on a hilly site. (Hills not significant here, flat will do, to the edge of the waters.)
Apocalypse – is a Greek word meaning “revelation”, “an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling”. As a genre, apocalyptic literature details the authors’ visions of the end times as revealed by an angel or other heavenly messenger.
No heavenly messenger here, as the fires unfold in their own fashion. Where is the heavenly messenger?
I wrote earlier about the end of the world:
An end of the world feeling.
Which it is, where it is, and not that far.
People on the beaches – ON THE BEACH- another end of world story, which was originally imagined, and filmed, right here, on this continent.
Those people and people in the parking lots, in the evacuation centres, in their cars on the roads, bumper to bumper, in the queues waiting for stores to open for food, waiting at petrol stations for fuel, many of those people use these words. They have seen it. The orange skies, turning to bright dark red skies, then turning to black skies- that end of the world feeling. And those of us who were not right there, can feel it , on our tv screens. And those of us- me- who had a taste of the red skies turning to black, and were spared, can feel it. With gratitude for being spared. As are the people on the beaches and in their cars..spared so far. Resilient Aussies. Says our PM.
But it is not just another emergency, PM, not a fire like those you grew up with.
Apocalypse, Armageddon.
When we survive, if we survive, can we please do something about it?
Besides feel sympathy for the affected, trust in the systems that are protecting us, can we actually do something? Please? Start to talk about it maybe. yes, that would be a start.