The doomsayers are out again. They are citing the floods, earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis, as indicators of not just natural disasters, or global warming - but a message of God’s wrath!

Is God mad? Is there a Higher Being out there who is just disgusted with us and have left us to our own devices?

Do you remember the “earth changes” maps of the 80’s? They were “channeled” by psychics who presumably did not know each other but whose maps were remarkably similar.

Florida, New York City - gone under water. California an island. Montana our most western state. The Great Lakes emptying into the Mississippi. Denver a beach town.

A friend sold her house in Chicago and moved to Taos.

But although these psychics claimed the changes were imminent -

NOTHING HAPPENED.

It is sobering to turn on the news these days. Not only natural disasters but war and violence in our streets. I remember Dr. Andrew Weil, the famous author, saying that it is dangerous to our health to look at any news after six PM. It is destructive to our emotional health.

But if the doomsayers are right, how are we to conduct our lives if we are so fragile to destruction?

Should be stop working on our self improvement? Abandon our efforts to help the afflicted?

We are sitting at our kitchen tables choosing which bills we can pay this month. We are forgoing a modest meal out with our families because we have to put gas in our cars.

We are saying, “Don’t bother me with talk of God’s wrath. He has no reason to be mad at me.”

The ordinary person is powerless about the problems in the world. Our grass needs cutting this weekend. We are looking for that extra $20 to pay for a school trip for our son.

We can do some things. We can make a small donation to the Red Cross. We can vote with our feet this time. Yes, we can vote. If we live in a disaster area, we can help a neighbor.

If we are not among the movers and shakers, all we can do is live. We cannot take responsibility for events beyond our control.

In the meantime, if this is the end of the world - so be it. We’re all going to die sometime.

So all we can do is live in this moment - and this one - and not worry about the future because it will happen with or without us. It is time to enjoy the time of our lives.

So, turn off the TV. Throw a few burgers on the grill. Enjoy your kids playing hoops in the driveway. There is a new baby in the family to enjoy.

And take the time out to smell the flowers now.

Just in case the doomsayers are right and the flowers will all be gone.