Friday, December 21, 2012

The End of the World

According to the Mayan Calendar, the world ends today.

In the world of Genealogy, I am sure in times past, there were many seasons when our ancestors thought it was the end of the world. When disease and plague was sweeping an area, when wars were being fought with no end in sight, when famine and starvation struck and there was nothing to eat and no end in sight. On sea voyages that seemed to never end. In the face of storms that threaten to flood the world. During droughts when they prayed for rain. When they took everything they owned in a wagon to head into the wilderness in hopes of a better life. In times of financial upheaval when they were faced with loosing everything they had worked for. When strife and cruelty reigned and hope was all they had and that was running out.


It is morning. The sun rose. The chimes sing carols to the crisp, but warm, December wind. Over the hill the rooster announce the arrival of another day. Christmas shoppers will be out and about. School is in recess and children are sleeping late. 


Will the world end today? I doubt it. The Bible says that no man shall know the coming of the Lord. Will it end someday? Probably. Humans are destroying her natural resources at an alarming rate that can only cause disasters in the near future. Do we care? Not many do. Greed rules. No one is willing to stop cutting down trees or polluting the air or mining the mountains when there is money involved. No one seems to care what life will hold for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When the natural resources have run out, will they return to the ways of the past, when everything was recycled and life was simple, and live like the Indians? Will there be animal life left to hunt or fish?

Looking back is fun and rewarding. But we must also look forward. Someone will have to make sacrifices for the world to survive into the future. Will it be us? Or will another comet hit us first and wipe us out like it did the dinosaurs?


Welcome to the beginning of a new era? Or is it really the end of the world as we know it?

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