Happy New Year

The first decade of the 21st Century has come to a close. The calendar on the wall has been spent. And now, what do we do? We buy another calendar and start all over again from the beginning. A new decade, a new year, and a fresh new calendar to guide us along the way. The sky is not going to fall, the computers are not going to crash, and the world is not going to come to an end.

The current hype in the media and hollywood about the Mayan calendar ending on Dec. 23, 2012 thus bringing about the end of the world is causing quite a stir. This infamous calendar is 1 of 3 Mayan calendar systems that have been discovered at various sites. It is not “The” Mayan calendar, but only one of possibly many that were in use by the ancient Mayans. It began on August 13, 3114 BC and tracks what the Maya referred to as “great cycles.” It was found in the 1960's on a partial broken stone tablet, and refers to a mysterious Mayan god associated with both war and creation who will ascend from the sky. The Maya did not say this was going to be the end of the world. There are other calendar inscriptions referring to dates much further into the future.

So, from the partial interpretation of a nearly illegible, ancient stone tablet we have our current doomsday scenario sparking panic and fear in the hearts of many. Westerners do love their doomsday scenarios. Remember the Jupiter Effect, “Planet X,” the Harmonic Convergence of 1987, or how about Y2K? Now, we have 2012. What next?

While visiting the Yucatan this past summer it was obvious to me that modern day Mayans think this “end of the world” fear is ridiculous, Nasa says it is ridiculous, most archeologists say it is ridiculous, and the Bible tells us we will not know the time. The Maya more accurately believe that the ending of the current cycle will be a time of transformation and renewal.

What an excellent plan for each one of us. Instead of doom and gloom and fear of what may come, we should focus on the positive of the here and now. Every new year we ring in should bring about a time of contemplation, transformation and renewal.

Happy New Year.