[1]You walk into a restaurant and get an immediate sense that
you should leave. You are about to step onto an elevator with a stranger, and
something stops you. You interview a potential new employee who has the résumé
to do the job, but something tells you not to offer the position. These
scenarios all represent “left
of bang”, the moments before something bad happens. But how
many times do we talk ourselves out of leaving the restaurant, getting off the
elevator, or getting over our silly “gut” feeling about someone?[2]
“Left of Bang” is a book
written by Patrick Van Horne and Jason A. Riley who suggest “Left of bang” is where we want to be. To be “left of bang” means to situate ourselves and our awareness prior to the
bang. “Bang” being the situation (i.e., for a military person it may an exploding
bomb or the first shot of a fire fight, it may be an SUV crashing a parade
route, contracting Covid, or the coming of the Lord of glory).
As we look to a new liturgical year. Our
readings this week describe visions and prophecies about destroyed kingdoms and
unsuccessful flight from persecution. They also speak of the need for fidelity,
vigilance, prayer, and trust in the Spirit. These are the messages for the person
who wants to situate themselves to the “left
of bang.”
King Nebuchadnezzar’s promise to Daniel, in
yesterday’s reading, is fulfilled after Daniel not only tells the king what his
dream was but also what it meant. His kingdom and those that follow, each one
swallowing up the one before, will be supplanted by a kingdom set up by God
himself, one that will last forever. In the Gospel, Jesus warns his disciples
about the end of Israel, the end of the temple in Jerusalem, and a coming time
of suffering. These are “left
of bang” warnings. This is not our world, and in its end, the bang will be our great
beginning!
The signs to be recognized will not come all
at once; perhaps each day, each event of the world and cosmos prepares us for
our new beginning. Aptly, in light of yesterday’s call to fidelity, today’s
Gospel acclamation calls us to “Remain
faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life!” (Rv 2:10c)
For us who wish would remain “left of bang” we must be ever vigilant. We must listen intently and respond to God’s messages in scripture that cries out, “prepare the way of the Lord.” (Is 40:3; Mt 3:3; Mk 1:3; Lk 3:4) We must live out our Baptismal promises to love and serve the Lord, to evangelize in word and deed the Good News. We must take advantage of the opportunity to regularly avail ourselves to the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation to keep our soul in a state of grace so we may exercise full and active participation in this perpetual Eucharistic feast heightens our awareness of God’s merciful love and situates us to the “left of bang.”
[1] Scripture (NABRE), Wisdom 13:1-19; Luke 19:26-37.
[2] Audible.com,
Publisher’s Summary for “Left of Bang” by Patrick Van Horne, Jason A. Riley
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