Well, happy New Year anyway! Watching, reading and considering the news between Christmas and New Year’s day, it has occurred to me that in stark contrast to that wonderful celebration of hope, the outlook for planet Earth seems pretty darn bleak.

Of course, the news channels were continuing to harp on the rogue nations of North Korea and Iran and their efforts to become nuclear powers. Considering the intent of their rabid and murderous leadership, they’ll have no qualms about using them, either.

Many of the “expert” commentators are asserting that this will, ultimately, touch offˇ World War III, which will destroy civilization and, possibility, with deadly radioactive poison enveloping the whole planet, virtually all life on earth.

Then I heard on the History channel that the world is coming to an end on December 21, 2012! The ancient Maya Indians made this stunning prediction more than 2,000 years ago. The program went into detail on how the Maya calculated the exact date of doomsday. The Maya were legendary astronomers and time keepers – their calendar is more accurate than our own. By tracking the stars and planets, Mayan astronomers assigned great meaning to astronomical phenomena and made extraordinary predictions based on them – many of which have already come true.

The troublesome thing is that scientists, archaeologists, astronomers and historians agree that there are some unique astrophysical events that will transpire right at that time – they say that the precise date of December 21, 2012 A.D, represents an extremely close conjunction of the winter solstice sun with the crossing point of the galactic equator (equator of the Milky Way) and the ecliptic (path of the sun), what the ancient Maya recognized as the “Sacred Tree.”

Amazingly, the center of this cosmic “cross,” that is right where the ecliptic crosses over the Milky Way, is exactly where the December solstice sun will be in A.D. 2012. This alignment occurs only once every 25,800 years. According to the Mayas, the center of the galaxy is the cosmic womb: the place of dead, transformation, regeneration and rebirth.

Yeah, I know, sounds like mumbo-jumbo, but if you think it’s a bunch of hogwash, remember: the Wise Men determined the birth time of the Messiah by their observations of the stars and followed a “star” to His birthplace.

In these troubled times of Islamic terrorism, nuclear war, famine, disease and global climate change, it is not surprising there is a lot of talk about the end of the world. Scientists are struggling to find out what is causing global warming, and we wonder whether the planet may be destroyed by this, or by phenomena such as asteroids or comets.

Government leaders are fraught with concern about the terrorism menace pouring from Middle East. Many Bible scholars and believers in Biblical prophesy feel that Israelis are on the brink of an all-out war with their Islamic neighbors. These scholars and believers are preparing for the Antichrist, Armageddon and the second coming of the Messiah. They say the end of the world will happen in the next few years. Could all of this be coincidental with an even more destructive force from the heavens?

But perhaps it won’t be the “end of the world” but rather the “end of the world as we know it.” According to the Bible, Jesus is to return in the midst of the most horrifying war and annihilation of the human race that the world has ever seen, put an end to it all by defeating the armies of evil and establish His “Millennial Kingdom.” Will this happen on December 21, 2012? God only knows ... but considering that fact, it might not be a bad idea to say your prayers.

T&D Columnist Rush Button can be reached by e-mail at buttonrl@aol.com or by phone at 803-534-3724. His column appears every Tuesday. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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