Nothing’s lonelier than being by yourself on a holiday weekend. That’s why I was glad this past Sunday after church—without any invite to a picnic, cookout, pool party, etc.—I headed to dead empty Lord & Taylor inside Woodfield Mall to find an outfit for a job interview Tuesday.

Not only did I gain an extreme Labor Day sale discount on a suit blouse (I’ve gotten too fat for all my “office clothes” and most all my clothes in general are still in storage), I had a great, long conversation with a sales associate, Nancy, at the same jewelry counter I bought a $75 Fossil bracelet-watch for $31 after using my brand-new Lord & Taylor credit card I opened that same afternoon for another 15% in savings.

Nancy, a former Naperville resident who later joined me in reminiscing about “old Naperville,” began by informing me Hurricane Gustav was to slam into New Orleans full on within 24 hours as a Category 5. We spent the next 45 minutes going over all the expected worldwide destruction associated with global warming.

Just this past Thursday I ripped out for my files a sobering front-page story from the New York Times about how the level of artic ice melted this summer well-exceeded scientists’ estimations.

The last paragraph read, “Over all, the picture of what is happening in the Arctic is getting worse, said Bob Corell, who headed a multinational scientific assessment of Arctic conditions a few years ago. ‘We’re moving,’ he said, ‘beyond a point of no return.’ ”

Nancy rattled off for me a bunch of different predicted scenarios for the United States: New York City’s skyscraper foundation buckles from flooding; Chicago’s lakefront washes away into Lake Michigan; half of the state Michigan disappears; Miami Beach is toast.

*****

On Friday, I dropped in on a dear friend who is proprietor of the wedding-gifts shop “I Do I Do” on Leland Avenue (yes, undoubtedly named after one of my good Norwegian ancestors who helped build Chicago—don’t forget, the first Norwegian Settlement in North America is in Norway, Ill., only a short distance from the little village of Leland, Ill. and 70 miles from Chicago). She handed me a religious book given to her by the door-to-door proselytizing Church of God. It was entitled, “2008: God’s Final Witness.”

The introduction warned “2008 will mark the beginning of the final events that will thrust the world into the great tribulation. (the last three and one-half years of the end-time) that will usher in World War III, the death of billions, and on the last day of this great tribulation, the return of Jesus Christ . . .

“Although many will not take seriously what is written here, they will gradually experience disbelief as the events covered in this book begin to unfold. These events will begin with more acts of terrorism, along with natural disasters, that will far exceed the devastation of 9/11. The magnitude of these events will lead to the demise of the United States and the United Kingdom, which will lead to World War III.”

Flipping through so-called “end-time prophet” Ron Weinland’s book, I came across this passage: “What happened in New York, Washington, D.C. and a field in Pennsylvania is not what is most important about this day. What happened on a biblical plane is of far greater significance! . . . Since 9/11, we have seen more rumblings from the ‘terror of war.’ There are continuous rumblings on a lesser scale as al-Qaeda operatives strike at various times and places in the world. However, as time passes, they will strike with far greater power than 9/11. At this time, the beginning rumblings of war are coming from Iran and will lead into greater global terror.”

As I’ve written about before, 9/11 marked the beginning of another “winter season” biblically (using macro-code terminology from Genesis 8). Among the characteristics of wintertime are political realignment, fundamental economic change and a shift in the world's psyche. It's a time when good and evil become very identifiable and attitudes about God and biblical truth are re-examined.

*****

After my mom pestered me for the entire summer, I finally abided by her wishes and attended a local chapter meeting of a national support organization for people suffering with depression called Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA).

When the woman leading a round-table session for newcomers asked us each to give a brief overview of ourselves, I started out in journalistic fashion, “My dad died very unexpectedly only one month after 9/11. He basically fell down, broke his hip and died from a stomach aneurysm the same day he was scheduled for hip-replacement surgery.

“As a result of a small inheritance from his death I decided to quit my job and write from home about the Bible, both for a website and book. I thought my writings would be well-received but the opposite happened. Family and friends took offense. Within a year, I was truly living and working in a vacuum.

“Once another year went by, I started experiencing what I now know to be anxiety-related symptoms from being alone so much. I got my first panic attack three years ago on Halloween afternoon while walking down a seedy street in the dicey neighborhood of Ft. Greene, Brooklyn, where I first lived upon moving to New York City in 1999.

“At the time, I thought I might be having a stroke or heart attack—or both! I thought I might go unconscious and die. Suddenly, I was so paralyzed with fear I literally could not put one foot in front of the other and an ambulance was called by a passerby. I wound up in the Brooklyn Hospital emergency room waiting area, sitting more than five hours before giving up on being treated and walking out, making my way gingerly to the subway. . . ”

(Editor’s note: To be continued . . .)