Published December 20, 2012
Stockton Sentinel
Stockton, Kansas
It just
occurred to me that if the Mayans had it right, I may be writing my final
column. The clock is ticking down in its last gasp toward December 21, the
supposed end of the Mayan calendar. While I still have Internet access, I
Googled “Mayan 2012” and got a mere 112,000,000 hits. Obviously, there’s not
enough time left to click on them all, so I chose a couple of recognizable
sources to check out the forecast for Friday, the 21st of December, 2012.
According
to Yahoo! News, the Maya didn’t say
much about what would happen next, after a 5,125-year cycle known as “the Long
Count” comes to an end. But many people in our own time have predicted anything
from doomsday to a new age of enlightenment. Personally, I’d vote for that “new
age of enlightenment” thing, especially if it would make a difference in
Washington, D.C. where the “doomsday” theory seems more believable.
Yahoo! News tells the story of Lu
Zhenghai, a Chinese man, who has spent his life savings, some $160,000,
building a 70-foot-by-50-foot vessel powered by three diesel engines, so that
he will be able to escape the flood that he believes will submerge his house when
a rogue planet, named Nibiru, smashes into earth, causing a world-ending flood.
Another Chinese man, according to Yahoo! News, has built a three-ton
yellow steel ball 13-feet in diameter, capable of surviving a volcano, tsunami,
earthquake or nuclear meltdown. He’s obviously put a lot of thought into this,
right down to his choice of paint color. For some reason, the Beatles song “We
all live in a yellow submarine” is playing in my head!
On a more serious note, NASA
scientists, at the end of November, took time to soothe 2012 doomsday fears,
warning against the dark side of Mayan apocalypse rumors—frightened children
and suicidal teens who truly fear the world may come to an end on Dec. 21.
According to NASA, “There is no creditable evidence for any of the assertions
made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.”
That hasn’t stopped thousands of
people from making the trek to Mexico. Hotels near the Mayan ruins at Chichen
Itza have been sold out, with many rooms booked a year in advance.
Over 2,000 years ago, a very
unusual event took place—only this event was without warning, without fanfare,
without an audience. Unless you count animals. Ironically, all the hotels in
the area were booked at the time, too. Even though it was so long ago, it was
that event that shaped my life; for you see, it was then that my Savior, Jesus
Christ, was born. He is my Savior because, at another place and time, He died
for me so that I could live.
This really could be my last
column. In fact, this could be my last day on earth. No one knows—not the
Mayans, not NASA, and not the thousands of people sitting in hotels down in
Mexico. But if it is my last day, I’ll be just in time to celebrate Jesus’
birthday with Him!
Merry Christmas!
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