Monday, March 15, 2010

2012: The Mayans, their calendar and the movie.

We're seeing a lot about this infamed date. My husband and I just watched the movie, and I must say my thoughts were provoked.

Let me start with a question. Why are all these Christians so worried about something on a Mayan calendar? This facinates me. I'm not Christian, and don't pretend to be, so I need some help with this. My Catholic husband has made this point a few times, in his dealings with other Christians, too. Why does it matter what the Mayans thought? Were they Christian? I've read the New Testament, and nowhere in there does it mention "Beware thou of the Mayanst calender for it portendeth the end of the world for thee!"

See this as a farce if you will, but I'm serious. It bothers me to see so many otherwise sensible people freaking out about this.

First, for the Christians I'm sure are flocking to this blog as I type. If you pray, why worry? If you worry, why pray? Simple plan, I know, but think about it. The Bible says plainly enough that a person with faith has no need fear life, death, or the afterlife. What ill could a calendar from an 'extinct' civilization truly wield on such a person?

Now, for the rest of us, and any Christians willing to come along. 2012? Truly. If it's the end of the world, what can we do about it? Prevailing theories say that possibly a solar flare will take us out. It could also be the CERN chain reaction thing the SciFi channel put across. I don't see global warming escalating to that degree in two years, but hey, ya never know, right? If I may be so bold, I might have suggested to the inscribers of the Prime Document a notation about WHY the calendar ended when it did. Too bad nobody thought of it back then, eh? So, we have plausable science, mediocre science fiction, no clue from the author, half-baked hysteria from this author, and a reasonable explanation from a group of anthropologists who say that the calendar represented a SECTION of the whole Mayan calendar and that possibly -if they hadn't been exterminated- the Mayans would have added another chapter to the future of the world.

Empirically, we have no idea what outcome awaits us. We must also accept that we have no control over anything but global warming, and we haven't done anything about that yet, so why start now if the world's gonna end?

What do I think?

How have you lived your life? How have you left a mark on your world, family, community, etc? If you knew you had two years to live, would you change anything? Seriously, people. If you knew the end was truly upon you, what would you do? This is one of those times when the doctor says "You have a brain tumor we think we can treat with this new proceedure. You won't know if it worked for two years. We can't do anything else for you if this doesn't work, so prepare for the worst, and we'll hope for the best."

We're going to see a lot of deviant behavior in the intervening time. People are going to decide the world will end, and that they should do everything they were afraid to do before because nobody's gonna be around to arrest them come the 22nd. We'll see as many evangelists trying to prepare us for the Mayan Judgement Day. We'll see people doing good deeds because they want to improve their Karma before they hit the scales. We'll see apathy, too. Fear is a strong motivator, though an unpredictable one. The most vocal on the subject will undoubtedly be the ones thinking themselves the most pious, which is where I started this chicken-egg-chicken.

Personally, I'm going to keep working on reducing my debt, raising my boy, working on my garden and maybe -if I'm lucky- writing an autobiography AND this blog. I'm going to pray that others find peace, without wreaking havoc on everyone else. I'm going to let go of the things I can't control and steer clear of fruitcakes. I'm going to continue to help others heal, learn and thrive. If I frizz out via a massive sun-zap, I'll know I didn't waste my time here. If nothing happens, and the 22nd's sunrise is similar to the 21st's and something is left after all the hysteria, fatalism, and mass who-knows-what is said and done, then I'll be glad I paid Bank of America down, kept my pantry stocked and have clean socks. Those are things I can control. The 'me' things.

As for the movie. The FXs were terrific. The acting, passable. The plot? Well, the Russian gazillionaire was stereotypically seemingly-evilly materialistic, most of the 'chosen' live, and their mode of survival is oh-so-X-Files possible. Like I said, it provoked thought. If you see it, and you find yourself gripping an armrest, willing people to MOVE, you weren't alone.

1 comment:

  1. Very thoughtful piece. I saw the movie and loved it only for the special effects. The whole Mayan theme? Plausible, but like you said, only the descendents of the Mayans would be paying attention anyway. Keep writing. You know how I love your stories and thoughts!

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