Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom!

So, today I have two more seemingly unrelated but intriguing topics for discussion: Armageddon and Whoopie Pie.

Last night I turned on the news (not something I make a habit of... I prefer to inform myself through the more traditional web-print and Jon Stewart's opening comentary) and was shocked by the headline: "Armageddon: is it the end times?" When the head-rush ended I tuned into the youngish reporter who was explaining that a number of Evangelical Protestants are interpretting the recent upsurgance in Mid-East violence, unexplainable earthquakes and natural disasters, and the president's insistance that we all get federal ID cards as signs of the Apocolypse rather than, I dunno, a 1,000 year dispute, global warming and infringements on the Bill of Rights. "Indeed!" a preacher shouted at me as the CNN headline ticker ran beneath the shocked but pleased faces of his congregants, "The Rapture could happen before I'm done speaking with you here!"
So. The Rapture. And here I had a dinner party scheduled for tomorrow night.
It wasn't until the end of the rather lengthy segment that the reporter reminded her viewers that her report was entirely based on one religious peoples' interpretation of events and not, say, facts. (This has always struck me as strange oxymoron - fundamentalists, those who believe the Bible is to be read word for word without interpretation by lowly humans, are the first to interpret Revelation through a modern lens). I giggled nervously. Really? CNN is reporting on the Rapture? How is this possible?
Furthermore, what's with the obession over the second coming? What's the deal with, as it was explained to me last night, "hedging your bets" with the big guy upstairs while ignoring the suffering of local, national and global neighbors? Why sit hearing about a Rapture that may or may not happen during your lifetime when you could be feeding the hungry, or at the very least, finding a bit of personal happiness and truth?
Not to mention: is it possible to legitmately believe that this is as bad as it's going to get? Really? Cause I can think of far worse scenarios for the reappearance of Christ. I don't think we've messed things up enough to yet require a holy intervention of the Rapture's magnitude. Perhaps some prayer and meditation and soul-searching. But God gave up being a micro-manager some 2000 years ago.
Not to say that I wholly discount discussions of the Rapture. I think I believe a little too strongly that we all have a bit of truth to tell to make the "their crazy" claim. And I can't deny anyone the right to their own beliefs, and wouldn't since I like to be let alone with mine. But CNN? I gave up on fair and balanced a long time ago and have resigned myself to receiving news and information from sources who wave their liberal flag loud and proud. But the Rapture? That just seems irresponsible.
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Having found a grocery store that I adore (mmmm... oraganic food and large supplies of Tab....) I have been investigating indiginous delicacies. What, I ask, are foods that natives are attached to? Maple Syrup, baked beans and clam chowder were some immediate responses. But then there were these strange cupcake tops with icing sitting under a sign that read "Whoopie Pie." I resisted for a month, but this week I tried them.
And they. are. HEAVENLY. They are the perfect mix of cupcake and sugary icing... like homemade oreos. And there are, I have been told, multiple varieties of this tasty confection: chocolate, pumpkin and peanut butter. Yumm!
How taken am I with this gourmet treat? Well, for a long time I have wanted delicately decorated chocolate cupcakes to serve as my wedding cake (in the future... the far distant future...). Very French, and it removes the whole need to "cut the cake" which I've always found rather distastful. After all, if I spend days, weeks getting ready for this life changing event, I have no intention of having pictures of my face covered in cake. But I digress. Upon first tasting the Whoopie Pie I began to imagine a Whoopie Tower in lew of my long beloved cupcakes. I'm not totally convinced, but I'm also not alone. So now, it's possible that everyone will get a bit of Whoopie at my wedding - which is really as God intended, Rapture or not.