Just the other day, I was thinking about the state of the world and how it got to this point: where exactly things went wrong, how bad it might get, and what it all means. I knew, though, that going too far down that rabbit hole would only make me feel worse. Right about the time I told myself to let it go, I recalled a memorable lecture from an introductory history course I took a few years back. It went a little something like this.
**Many historians over recent years have spent their time analyzing and interpreting patterns found spanning [a few] millennia. One of the theories that has gained traction relates to large-scale disastrous events. They say every century brings tragedy, usually in the form of a new, mysterious illness, but sometimes in completely unexpected ways. The Black Death, commonly referred to as “The Plague,” which spread across Europe in the 1300s, is generally pointed to as the origin of this frightening trend. To support this theory, there have been several well-known, widespread, and highly fatal diseases across the planet since then, along with other misfortunes such as war, famine, and economic distress. Certain factions within the historical community consider that proof enough; however, others put little stock into the theory, citing inconsistencies or simply calling it superstition enhanced through confirmation bias. Regardless of the validity of this concept, it has sparked significant controversy as well as some interesting conversations within other disciplines, including theology. I do not claim to be religious, nor do I possess extensive knowledge about biblical interpretations, but I know my fair share of Bible stories, and that makes it difficult to ignore many events from the past 200 years.
The first major event that requires attention occurred in the 19th century, over 500 years after the Black Death. In 1845, Ireland began its battle with the Great Hunger, a famine the likes of which hadn’t been seen in centuries. It persisted for four years, but was particularly harsh in 1847, and caused roughly one million deaths in Ireland alone. The 1900s then saw a multitude of horrors, starting with the Great War in 1914, later to be remembered as the first “World War.” Only a decade later, the world saw the Great Depression, the most significant economic crash in history, which affected most of the world throughout the 1930s and was followed quickly by the rise of Adolf Hitler. Cue The Holocaust and a second World War, the death tolls of which number near 80 million. Then, seeing as no one could learn their lesson that century, add in a couple more, smaller wars to boot.
Now to connect back to the Bible, think of Revelations, the book dedicated to the apocalypse – the start of which to be marked by the arrival of the four Horsemen: Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. War? Check. Famine? Check. Death? Check. All that remains is Pestilence, also known as disease or plague. It could of course be argued that Pestilence already made its arrival with the Black Death, and thus the remaining occurrences mean nothing and the end of the world need not be nigh. Another argument could be made, however. That since Pestilence is in lore the first Horseman to arrive, the Black Death was indeed his first coming. It was simply the remaining three who were thwarted by some miraculous event; so they bided their time and it will now end with Plague instead.
Not to worry, say some, modern medicine is a miracle in itself – plague cannot happen now… **
That lecture always stuck with me because of the vague conclusion and her knowing look that accompanied it. How long has COVID-19 been running rampant? How did I not think of this sooner? I must have replayed that lecture nearly ten times in my head trying to find a flaw, a counterargument, anything to ease the rising anxiety I was feeling, but there was no use. I could not deny the facts as they lay before me: my instructor knew this was going to happen. We are witnessing the start of the apocalypse. I wracked my brain, trying to remember anything else from Revelations. Would the Rapture happen soon? What about the battle between the archangel Michael and Lucifer, the literal devil? I paced my apartment, not knowing what to do with this information. Someone else must see it too, and understand, right?
I stop, and realize I’ve been pacing again while remembering the events as they played out those short days ago: the police, the ambulance, the doctors – so many doctors. It is surprisingly easy to pace in a straitjacket, so long as you can figure out how to get standing in the first place. I shake my head to clear it, then go back to pacing my room in the psych ward.
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