The End of Life As We Know It : by Owen Waters

The End of Life As We Know It by Owen Waters

The senior scientist who runs NASA’s ‘Ask an Astrobiologist’ web site is inundated with emails from people asking if something dire is about to befall the planet in the year 2012. He says that the concerns arise from people reading some of the 200+ different books that focus on predictions about 2012.

These predictions come from records left by the ancient Mayan culture, which possessed advanced astronomical information. They pointed out that, at the winter solstice on December 21st, 2012, many cosmic cycles will come to a close and begin anew. The year 2012 is an unusual one in the cosmic history of Earth because the length of these cycles varies from 5,200 years to several million years in length.

The Internet today is rife with doomsday prophets who, like all doomsday prophets, seem to secretly hope that bad things will happen to humanity. This time the excuse for such excitement is 2012. Before that, it was Y2K. On January 1st, 2000, computer chips everywhere were supposed to fail. Y2K was boldly predicted to be the Achilles heel that would bring civilization to an abrupt end. And, what actually happened? Nothing, unless you happened to have a very old computer that needed an update.

Mitch Battros of Earth Changes Media newsletter says about 2012 disaster predictions, “There will be fraudsters, pranksters, and charlatans coming out of the woodwork, of which some are smart enough to cover themselves by calling it entertainment.” By ‘entertainment,’ he was referring to the upcoming epic disaster movie, ‘2012.’

2012’s Roland Emmerich likes to create larger-than-life tales about global doom. He has created spectacular scenes of destruction in movies like ‘Independence Day,’ where aliens attacked cities from huge spaceships. He had ‘Godzilla’ flatten New York City and, in ‘The Day After Tomorrow,’ he wrecked Hollywood with mega-tornadoes.

Is nothing sacred? Well, if you count the upcoming ‘2012’ disaster flick, no. When asked why he likes “killing the world,” Emmerich replied, "It makes for a good story." In ‘2012,’ he has Los Angeles slide into the ocean and the huge statue of Jesus above Rio de Janeiro gets shaken to pieces. He even has an impossibly high tidal wave somehow reach all the way up into the Himalayan mountains, just high enough to knock a monk off the top of one of the peaks.

Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, I recently discovered a bright example of quite the opposite kind of 2012 fiction. Instead of engaging in mindless sensationalism, this new book about 2012 manages to be both intelligent and uplifting.

‘The Twelve’ by William Gladstone is an inspiring novel centered around the 2012 predictions. He weaves prophecy into a global adventure novel about one man’s relentless pursuit of the answers to a great spiritual mystery. Eventually, after continuous page-turning suspense, the protagonist meets all of the twelve people who are the key to his destiny and that of the world.

Throughout this fast-paced novel, the reader is reminded of the higher connections that all people share if they will only be open to their intuitive guidance. When the hero finally arrives at the crossroads of his ultimate destiny, the biggest surprise of the book unfolds and the chase is finally won.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who would like to treat themselves to a novel of hope, inspiration, and the upliftment of humanity. It’s a great read and, as a classic in the making, I’ve had no hesitation in adding it to my Recommended Books list of Modern Spiritual Classics at: http://www.infinitebeing.com/reading.htm