Behold, I make all things new!
Copyright 2009 Lauri Lumby Schmidt
With this weekend's release of the apocalyptic blockbuster, 2012, (starring one of my favorite actors, John Cusak) I find myself reflecting on another in a long line of end of the world prophecies and our human fascination with our "impending" doom. Will 2012 be the one prophecy that proves to be true, or will we utter a collective sigh of relief as we arise on the morning of January 1, 2013 to see the sun shining as it does each and every day?
It may be helpful to explore for a moment where this whole idea came from that the world will end in the year 2012. This most recent apocalyptic prediction is centered around the Mayan calendar. Maya civilization, known for advanced writing, mathematics and astronomy, flourished for centuries in Mesoamerica, especially between A.D. 300 and 900. Its Long Count calendar, which was discontinued under Spanish colonization, tracks more than 5,000 years, then resets at year zero. The current 5000 year cycle ends on December 21, 2012. From the Mayan perspective, the calendar would then reset to zero, marking the beginning of another 5000 year cycle at midnight on December 22, 2012. For the ancient Maya, this would be a time of great celebration as they welcome in a new era - hardly an event of cataclysmic doom.
I think we can set aside any fear that the world will meet its demise on December 21, 2012. I do believe, however, that the current fascination with the coming end of an era illuminates awareness on our part for the need of significant and dramatic change in the way we live as a species. One would have to be an ostrich with his head buried in the sand to not recognize the signs and symptoms of a world in need of dramatic reform. Let's look at some of the obvious signs:
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· Worldwide government corruption
· Economic devastation and potential collapse
· Pandemic and Epidemic occurrences of illness and death
· Corporate, Medical, Education, Religious and Government structures in crisis
· World hunger and poverty
· Environmental crisis
· War, war and more war
While most of these factors have been part of the human condition for as long as we have been keeping a history, it seems that the devastating effects of these issues are coming to a head. As a species, we are on a path to our own destruction - not because of the end of the Mayan calendar, but due to our own obsession with power and control and due to our inability to be good stewards of the earth and of each other. Our economic, political, religious, healthcare, educational and environmental issues will not change until WE change. And, as we have learned from history, the change will not be coming from the top down, but will only take place when we initiate this change within ourselves and within our own homes.
As we allow ourselves to be vessels through which this change can take place, we are participating in the Divine plan to bring forth "a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21: 1) The Book of Revelation (also falsely interpreted as doomsday prophecy), reveals the key to how we are being invited to participate in this task. Through a series of allegories, the author of this esoteric scripture reveals that the source of all human suffering is the perceived separation from God. When we have forgotten that God is the Source of all that we are and is the Source of all that is, we experience fear. This fear draws us away from the truth of God's love and the truth of our original nature as One with God in love. Drawing our awareness away from the false perception of separation and returning again and again to the love that is our true nature and the love that is God, allows us to experience heaven on earth. This is the new heaven and the new earth promised to us when we remember our true nature.
So, as we hear what will be increasing prophecies of doom at the approach of December 21, 2012, let us remember God's promise and celebrate along with our Mayan brothers and sisters, the dawn of a new era!
"Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43: 18-19)
