Fix it Holy Spirit, not "hurry up End of Days"

I wrote the following comment in reply to a thoughtful blog posting that remarked on how many people look at current day events and increasingly wonder if "we are seeing the beginning of the Lord's return," to paraphrase a fine essay on this.

Regular readers know that I sometimes rant about people who seem to only think about the End of Days (and even seek to provoke it). Here are some of my calmer and gentler thoughts on the topic. (Calm and gentle used to be my totally preferred style. But being stalked and ignored in my teachings while forcing me to see continuing terrible behavior and decision making has forced me to rant, which I very much dislike).

...... One thing that disturbs me about those who anticipate the Lord's return is that it seems they have given up on earth. The Lord's return will be to "close shop." It is a characteristic of our times that a "fix it Jesus" mentality has overlaid, if you know what I mean, that the reality is that the Lord's return will be to close shop, not to fix the problems of the world, which remain very fixable, if only the will, the piety and the common sense will prevail.

People should be focused on the intensity of the Holy Spirit to "fix it" and not give up on the earth and life's inherent goodness, because that is close to pagan thinking. So I wish that people would view these events as you so well describe with less examining for the Lord's return and instead follow the admonitions of the Apostles, which is to be prepared for it. One is prepared by living a positive and moral life that anticipates a better future year by year for one's children and grandchildren. One does not prepare for the Lord's return by giving up on his creation and his children and their problems. One turns to the Holy Spirit to obtain guidance in how to live, without thinking the only solutions to our small and petty problems, as awful as they are, is for the Lord to return and close shop. No problem is too large for the Holy Spirit, and people should recommit to seeing a long future of improvement, rather than hoping that everything falls apart, which is an outrageous squandering of God's grace and free will given to humanity.