lucidentity, I assume that you are relatively young. That would account for your excitement about the end times concept. I am relatively old, and have not been excited about that idea for a very long time. My wife and I faded away in 1962 after we got married. At that time I had two years of college. I went on to obtain several degrees and have had a interesting career. I am now retired. Let me ask you a question. How old are your grandparents? I bet they were born at least 40 years after this religion began. Now, that's a long time, and it is a long time since your grandparent's birth. As JanH pointed out, you need to put things in an historical perspective. A hundred years ago, the average life span in the U.S. was 47 years. Today, it is 67 years. This does not represent the destruction from famines, wars, and pestilence. Although there are areas of difficulty around the world, still, their has been a general trend of improvement almost everywhere. As JanH as pointed out very lucidly on other threads, the 14th century was a better fullfilment of the Bible than any century, but the end did not come. There is no reason to believe it will come any time soon.