“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father.- Jesus
The world is about to end run for your life!!! Just kidding :)
Today, December 21, 2012 is the first day of the winter solstice. Days will be shorter and the position of the Earth on its axis will alternate causing some regions to receive less sun and more cold weather. This is completely normal.
So what makes this day so special or big for some?
Well there are some who are putting too much emphasis on a calendar derived from the Mayan people. The Mayans were advanced considering they had no computers or technology that we have today. They knew math, astronomy and were very skilled people in general.
With their knowledge of the heavenly bodies, they developed calendars just like any other civilization did. The Mayan's calender is extremely detailed and complex. For example, each day in a 52 year cycle had a particular designation. Their system was built on a cyclical approach. Time periods passed via "cycles."
Thirteen "bactuns" in the Mayan system is equal to an epoch in which a new cycle begins. A Mayan epoch translates as 13 bactuns which would total bout 5130 years. The current epoch is about to end and a new one will begin. However, scholars disagree on whether or not this will take place today. It may have happened already, or may happen over the weekend.
Some people who are obsessed with the "end times" have fed off of this calender and built on it to create this paranoia. Unfortunately, some fall for this and start following strange cults which can turn deadly. The fact that today some of the planets in the solar system will be in alignment with the plane of the galaxy also adds to the hysteria.
According to these people, this alignment will cause a shift of energy from the gravitational pull and either push the poles off their original point or destroy the solar system. This of course will not happen. The galaxy is huge, planets are millions of miles away and we barely feel their gravity. It would be like someone feeling your breath from Mars while you're in Antarctica.
New Age people came up with all sorts of crazy ideas about energies and that somehow today the human species will receive some higher consciousness and become godlike. This of course is nonsense. Planetary alignments happen all the time and we do not even notice them unless we pay attention to the skies.
Another idea is that some rogue planet Nibiru will crash with Earth and basically obliterate everyone. To date, NASA has not detected any large body coming out way. If there was a large planet heading our way, we would be able to see it in the sky now just like we can see the moon! Moreover, even if there was a rogue planet heading our way, Jupiter's and Saturn's gravity would pull it away from us as they do with asteroids and comets.
In reality, the Mayans did not believe today to be the end of the world, but the beginning of a new epoch in their time system. It is like a new beginning - a new year or new spring. The Mayans that are left today hold no such belief that the world or universe will end today.
Moreover, can we trust predictions from a people who did not see the affect the influx of Europeans would have on their civilization prior to their arrival? How could they see 5000 years into the future, but could not see that Europeans were about to visit them and cause major changes in their community?
Despite this, there are many who are stocking up on supplies, buying weapons and anticipating the worst. Others are trying to channel energies in an attempt to become "godlike." This is sad indeed and shows how susceptible the human mind can be to stupidity.
The destruction of Mayan texts by Franciscan priest Diego de Landa is often brought up in an attempt to add to the conspiracy theory that those texts had information that would discredit Catholicism and Christ and therefore must have had information regarding the end times. However, what they forget to mention is that de Landa did not destroy those texts our of fear or ignorance. He did so because he learned that the Mayans were killing their own people and throwing them into the cenotes as sacrifices. These texts encouraged human sacrifice and other barbaric things. They had to be destroyed in order to preserve the Mayan people.
If you are reading this then you obviously know that the world did not end. Friday 12:00 AM hit Australia just 5 hours ago and they are fine there.
No one knows when the world will end. Only God knows this. God holds the stopwatch in His hand and will stop it when He sees fit to come again and measure each one by the love they gave to Him and each other.
So relax, enjoy life, do good and don't worry about the end. We are a people of hope, not despair.
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