You may all go to Hell and I will go to Texas. —Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett is remembered as a wild, rosy-cheeked, bear-taming hunter become statesman who lived from 1786 to 1836. He has many “best known” accomplishments, but perhaps he is more fondly remembered for The Alamo than any other.
Though he had only lived in Texas for three months at the time of his death, he had a storied history that included a feud with Andrew Jackson over the treatment of Native Americans. Following the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812, the West Tennessee hunting lands were cut so deeply that a bear once found shelter from Davy’s pursuit in a four foot ground crevice that was unreachable by Crockett’s hunting dogs. He was so determined not to be outsmarted by the bear that he crawled into the hole himself and pierced him in the side. Davy: 1, Bear: 0.
Crockett is also famously known not only for his bitter sendoff after a failed attempt at returning to Congress, but also for his heroism at The Alamo where he is buried today. He was a man of the land and worked around the challenges thrown at him.
If you have been following the recent discussions surrounding the total solar eclipses of the 21st century, you will have read it is the first time in 211 years where X marks the spot over America’s New Madrid fault lines. The suggested link of similar 19th century events in 1811-1812 changed the topography of Davy’s hunt lands as well as caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards. Today, take a tour of Mississippi River history at Mud Island in Memphis, TN.
Will the Great American Eclipses of 2017 and 2024 be recorded as prophetic or, simply, historic? Faith-based hopefuls continue to make their case for the return of Christ through wars, rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes as told in the Bible. Yet with all of the signs and wonders in the sky, bitter skepticisms exist in the intellect-only theologian circles, agnostics, and the “I don’t give a flying Freda” category, staking their claim, at best, on a position of pure folklore.
When a geophysical event has previously been logged in the history books and validated by scientists, its legends, myths, and far-fetched theories seem to be more acceptable. Take, for instance, the celestial phenomena that drew historical voices including the likes of many sources from Mark Twain to NASA. To the secular public, they have become more revered predictors of subsequent world events than Dutch Sheets, Jonathan Kahn, or David Wilkerson.
Social critic Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens, entered this world in 1835 with a blaze that rivaled Halley’s Comet and in 1909 predicted his own death by it saying, “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it.” And he did. Perhaps not so ironically, the comet’s boom was heard at the Alamo where American frontiersman and Congressman Davy Crocket did ultimately perish.
Good ole Halley’s Comet has been around for some things that do make one raise an eyebrow, such as the Norman invasion. Shakespeare gave the comet credit for predicting the death of princes. But for some skeptics, signs and wonders like Halley might as well be Evan Almighty.
Halley’s Comet last appeared in 1986 when major world events such as Chernobyl in Ukraine, the U.S. Space Challenger disaster occurred, and America declared its first MLK Day that year. Three years later, the great “pop-culture” historian Billy Joel wrote his 50th birthday state of the union single “We Didn’t Start The Fire” when he referenced the constant turbulence of a declining culture by spouting 119 prominent headlines over the course of his lifetime from 1949–1989.
I thought I would also take a stab at this by challenging AI to produce the top headlines of my (eh hem) 50 or so years. What took me be surprise is that AI kept going beyond 2024 to predict a future I had not requested. While I now know (according to AI) everything that is going to occur until 2070, I am relieved to report that in 2061 Halley’s Comet will not ACTUALLY hit planet Earth, but only come real close to doing so. Whew.
In spite of the comet missing us, it’s probably not too much of a stretch to say we are living in Biblical times. For those of us who grew up churched, we sang children’s anthems about the B-I-B-L-E. As teens, our parents thought it clever to refer to The Bible as “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” That quirky sentiment is feeling more real every day. The truth is that no matter what happens here, this world is not our home. It might get a lot worse before it gets better (cue the locusts and darkness), so there is no time like the present to get your affairs in order and I’m not talking about writing your will.
The bottom line of all of this is that while in the past some geophysical events preceded other major world events, including the birth of Christ. As a nation, our hope cannot be simply on signs and wonders. It must be on the Word of God. That said, the year 2024 has been one of these years to watch for geopolitical junkies. And watching the earth can’t be all that bad. Even the Magi followed The Star of Bethlehem for up to two years to find the Christ child. Incidentally, some star gazers have said that Halley’s Comet actually IS the Star of Bethlehem, but others have debunked it. Either way, just as Halley’s Comet has come before and will come again, Jesus came and he will come again. The time is at hand.
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