I'm sure it's just a coincidence . .

I was enjoying a lovely evening of Canasta and word games with a buddy when I turned the topic of conversation to recent events in Nigeria and Mumbai.  I'm fairly comfortable being a Christian but really struggle with the organization of faith when acts of violence occur in the name of a religion.  I have looked far enough into most of the world's major religions to realize that there is a great deal of overlap in the basic philosophies.  I asked what would be the best way to help others focus on the similarities and not let the divisions fester into the need to become violent.

My buddy, who has a vast amount of experience with and has done a good deal of research in all things biblical, was explaining why the question I posed would be far more disastrous.  In a "why don't we all just get along" scenario, some Christians believe that this would signal the "end of times" and would be cause for the second coming of Christ.

Later on in the evening, I had made a reference to Homer Simpson and my buddy confessed to never having seen an episode of The Simpsons.

Well, I'm in church this morning and the Gospel reading today is Matthew 24: 23-36.

During the offering, the woman talking about the importance of tithing mentioned an episode of the Simpsons where Homer is doing the mathematics to figure out when the world is going to end.  Unfortunately, I could not find this episode listed anywhere and, I suspect, she was reaching all in the name of doing something good for the church and tying the offering into the sermon.

But, what were the chances last night's conversation topics would be revisited again this morning by a different group of people?  I'm sure my buddy, well familiarized with the ecumenical seasons, probably just had "end of times" Scripture filed somewhere in the back of his mind and my referencing The Simpsons was just an effort on my part to change the tone of conversation.

Right?