The Observation Deck

We thought there was more time to get ready for the Judgment Day that evangelical radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicts is coming on Saturday.

But now we read in The Atlantic that Camping says the Rapture will actually get started when the clock hits 6 p.m. Saturday at the international dateline way out in the Pacific. And then, according to The Atlantic, it will spread "like a rolling brown out" as earthquakes and other disasters start happening around the world.

What to Do When the Rapture Doesn’t Happen: A Guide for Believers

Greetings, faithful reader. We assume you are reading this on Sunday, after the Rapture did not occur on Saturday as you believed it would. How do you deal with such a stunning turn of events? We're here to help.
We feel for you, rapture believers. You have endured years of ridicule and traveled the world to spread your message that Judgement Day would occur on May 21st, 2011. You've even risked your family's health and happiness. But now it's May 22nd and you have awoken to a normal, non-rapturous Sunday morning. You are confused, panicked, and running really low on groceries.

“My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven,” Grace Haddad, 16, said. “At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.”

While Ms. Haddad Carson has quit her job, her husband still works as an engineer for the federal Energy Department. But the children worry that there may not be enough money for college. They also have typical teenage angst — embarrassing parents — only amplified.

“People look at my family and think I’m like that,” said Joseph, their 14-year-old, as his parents walked through the street fair on Ninth Avenue, giving out Bibles. “I keep my friends as far away from them as possible.”

“I don’t really have any motivation to try to figure out what I want to do anymore,” he said, “because my main support line, my parents, don’t care.”

His mother said she accepted that believers “lose friends and you lose family members in the process.”

“I have mixed feelings,” Ms. Haddad Carson said. “I’m very excited about the Lord’s return, but I’m fearful that my children might get left behind. But you have to accept God’s will.”