I confronted eschatology too young. Although benign compared to some beliefs, my Catholic upbringing placed me at the sidelines of Armageddon—strange references to a kingdom come, the Second Coming, Judgment Day. I got queasy at the mention of the Book of Revelations. Sermons and syntactically-strained Bible readings led me to infer a tremendous destructive end to all life, human, animal, insect, plant. There were drawings in books, filled with fire, angels and demons, a sea of the damned. For a child, it’s impossible to reconcile a loving Father with one who will kill every one of his children with wanton violence. Children also don’t grasp metaphor.

Patrick Swayze’s not dead…or is he? He could be. I don’t know him personally, so I can’t risk a guess. There is a rumor creeping around the tabloids that, indeed, Patrick Swayze has passed on. And furthermore that his death is a secret kept by friends and family and his agent, I suppose.