It is Saturday Dec. 22, 2012. All is calm all is bright. If you are reading this, you have survived the ‘end of the world’ apocalypse unfairly attributed to the Mayan calendar. You have also survived the two misses of near-Earth asteroids last week and are holding up pretty well despite the NHL lockout. Having had no mishaps on winter roads or seen no panic at the gas pumps, I have come to the soothing realization that … doomsday prophets couldn’t predict their way out of a burning paper bag! They probably wouldn’t even make good meteorologists or Pro-line prognosticators.
So, despite the lack of massive solar flares, the non-reversing of the planet’s polarity, the non-appearance of fire and brimstone, and the complete absence of cosmic cataclysmic calamities of any sort, we find ourselves once more wondering when the next doomsday date will be announced. Why do we fall for this stuff? Is it because we have an appetite for destruction and a penchant for paranoia? Honestly, we expend too much energy and effort on the gloom and doom of life instead of looking for hopeful and hope-filled opportunities. Perhaps the world as we once knew it has already ended? Sometimes, sadly, it seems that this is the case.
Very recent tragic events, such as the Sandy Hook School shootings and student stabbings in China, beg the question: when did human decency end? Has ‘social media’ made us less human and more pre-cyborg? Have we socialized the humanness out of our being? Has the era of the family ended in favour of individualism? There really are erosive forces at work and over time, we will, perhaps too late, realize how damaging these forces have been on the very foundation of our society. Ever the optimist, I suspect we can and will shore things up to prevent the ingress of bilge water that threatens to sink the ship of state. Someone has to! That, or build a better spaceship!
Some possible new planets have been reported in the Tau Ceti system a mere 12 light years away. It is thought that one of the planets might be capable of sustaining life. It would be great to find out! Before that can ever happen though, we need to sort out life on this planet and realize that if we work together to promote peace and harmony, then neither the sky nor anything else will be the limit of our potential.
The Mayan ‘long calendar’ was designed not to mark the end of time, but to mark an era of time, a cycle so to speak. I think, if anything, the Mayan calendar rolling over to its next hieroglyphic should make us mindful of new possibilities, a new era of prospects and prosperity. Perhaps someone will make some upbeat, happier predictions for our species?
So doomsday fans, don’t sell the farm or rack up that extra credit debt because the sun will come out tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow! Humans are survivors! Now, if the Leafs ever win the Stanley Cup again … we will know it really is the end!
Tim Cusack is an educator, entertainer and serving member of the Naval Reserve.
