The Second Coming and Because of the Times

The Second Coming
 William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

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All creation walks closer the the edge of a cliff. That cliff represents the end of all humanity. The world is slowly starting to disintegrate with war among men. The mark of that time, in my opinion, is the second coming of Christ. “The Second Coming,” by William Butler Yeats, has impacted me because it reminds me that my time on earth is shor. In the end, there is a great battle between good and evil which will be finally conclude.

I cannot help but know, in my heart, that “[s]urely the Second Coming is at hand.” With war, poverty, famine, and the natural disasters that have recently escalated, there is no doubt, in my mind, that all time is winding down to an end. Chaos is too evident in this world to ignor the fact that the world is getting closer to the finish line. Peace seems out of our reach while “[m]ere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” Brothers turn on each other, political parties wage war with one another, and this world seems poisoned by hatred. The very air we breathe has become toxic with spite, immorality, and warmongering. I find myself praying more and more for Him to come quickly. I do not wish to be on this earth when all hell literally breaks loose. I eagerly await the Second Coming.

The Anti-Christ could be lurking on this planet right now. How chilling is that thought? Right now, the beast could be preparing for the great final battle. In the end, however, God will conquer Satan and a new Jerusalem will be established. To some, this may cause panic. In my opinion, I see this event as a final ending to what little power Satan felt he grasped. The Prince of the Power of the Air will finally fall and be chained in the Lake of Fire. To Yeats, it “trouble[d] [his] sight,” to think that the Anti-Christ could be “slouch[ing] towards Bethlehem to be born.” I cannot wait until God imprisons the serpent into the pits of hell.

This may sound a bit morbid. However, I appreciate Yeats’ reminder that the end of time is coming. Just thinking about Jesus coming down to take us up to a place where there will be no more fear nor tears gives me a sense of peace in my heart. I cannot wait to be in line to see our God on the Great White Throne Judgment seat. Yeats has shown that although we are in a time where evil seems to consume the very air we breathe, there’s a time where all of that will finally end. Peaceul freedom will replace the suffocation of evil. There will come a day when all of our tears will be wiped away. I am eager to see that lovely day when the trumpet will sound.

“The Second Coming” has greatly affected me not just artistically but also spiritually. I believe that there is coming a day when Jesus will come down from heaven to gather His people. William Butler Yeats has greatly illustrated the very world that we live in. Our world may be falling apart, but Yeats shows a little ray of hipe that the Second Coming of Christ is nigh. It is because of the times that I believe that God is drawing closer to His coming.