We Mormons tend to look forward to the millennium with much anticipation.  And with good reason.  Descriptions of the millennium sound awfully good – no more war, no more poverty, love, peace and righteousness.  Who wouldn’t look forward to such a time?  In recent years, however, I have found myself wondering if we perhaps over-anticipate the millennium with negative results.

I remember being told as a kid that certainly the millennium would come during the year 2000, if not before.  There is a particular know-it-all in my ward who predicted the millennium starting within 5 years.  This prediction was made about 8 years ago.  Such anticipation can have it’s drawbacks.  Here are a few as I see them:

1 – Thinking the world is more evil than it really is.  Scriptural descriptions of the last days are pretty scary.  And it seems to me that the world is no where near that bad yet.  But those who think the millennium is right around the corner often see current conditions as terribly evil.  I am not sure it is healthy to look at ‘the world’ that way.

2 – Taking joy in bad news.  It appears to me that those who feel the second coming is going to occur any day are almost giddy when they hear of tragic events happening in the world.  It means Christ is on his way.  It seems an artificial optimism, and a lack of sympathy for those affected by the tragedy.

3 – Changing plans based on the expected timing.  When I was an EQP, I had a family ask my advice about whether they should save for retirement or for the children’s education since the second coming was going to come first anyway.  Such over-anticipation can zap one of wise decision making – such as forcing short term thinking.

4 – An apathy regarding negative circumstances.  If Christ is coming right away, then we have to expect life to be bad for some.  We might therefore shrug-off negative events as inevitable signs of the times.

That’s about all I have for now.  Are there other things that you have observed from those who are over-anxious about the second coming?  Is being over-anxious better or worse than being under-anxious?

Personally, I feel the second coming is a long way off.  And in many ways, I hope it is.