An angel arises in the east. He bears “the seal of the living God,” the authority to stamp with the Lord’s mark, protecting them from danger.

That’s how the first reading for All Saints Day begins. It’s from the book of Revelation. The Greek name is The Apokalypse. Elections generate apocalyptic talk. All my lifetime the apocalypse has been imminent. First it was the coming ice age. Then global warming. The cold war. Red Dawn. Blackhawk Down. Apocalypse Now. Heart of Darkness. The Berlin Wall fell, but socialism is on the rise.

The apocalypse may be at our door, but it won’t be the one everyone is talking about. …