The End of the World... ???

We are just a week away from all the whoop-lah about the end of the world...

Some said that it was the end of the Mayan calendar.

But think with me for a moment:

The Mayan calendar -

What shape is it?

In all the cartoons and pictures of the Mayan calendar - 

What shape is it?

Is it not a circle?

I've not done a lot of studying about the Maya - but there is someone in my house who has read just a few books about them, including a good part of their 'holy' book.

I have gained from the residual effect.

Here's something for all of you who believed that the Mayans thought 12/21/12 was going to be the

END OF THE WORLD:

For the Maya, there is no 'end'.  All life is cyclical, circular in shape.  When one dies, he goes down through levels of the underworld, represented by the ceiba tree, and then comes up through the trunk of the tree to be rebirthed anew into the world.

The Mayan Calendar, likewise, is circular - it has no end.

So, what was the big deal, then?

The Mayan calendar is made of three wheels of different sizes.  Each wheel is representative of a cycle of time.  Each of those wheels continually turns with each new day.

However, 12/12/12 is the first time in recorded history that all three wheels are reset at '0' at the same time.

Each of those wheels has passed '0' before - for the smallest wheel, many times - but this year was the first time we know that all three wheels set to '0' at the same time.

THAT was the significance of 12/21/12.

It was not an end, but a beginning of a new cycle on their calendar.

Y2K is the closest parallel in our culture,

with the exception that it will take almost 26,000 years for the Mayans wheels to complete another cycle.

So... anyway... last month, Arlen pulled out one of his books about 2012.

A curious 14-year-old also started reading it.

In the end, we took the day to explore six of the major theories surrounding the day.

Part One: Armageddon
(I've tried to upload the video introductions to each part, but blogger won't let me do it today - if any of you bloggers out there can help me, I'm all ears.) 

So we commenced - each family member was asked to draw a section of the Earth.

Then we set volcanoes around the Ring of Fire, and lit them.

All was washed away with a tsunami.

Part Two: Awakening

This theory stated that there would be a general increase of awareness or understanding of the world around us.  To celebrate, we went to the Book of Truth, the Bible and read a few passages of prophecy and their fulfillment concerning the first coming of our Savior to the Earth.

Part Three: Golden Age of Science

We had a science fair.  Each of the kids performed an experiment.

 Tyrell lit two candles, one in a jar, and the other in open air.  He put the lid on the jar and showed us that fire needs oxygen to continue burning.

Ariana built herself a volcano of mud and ash, with a glass of baking soda water in its crater.  She added a cup of vinegar and it 'erupted', showing the chemical reaction between a base (baking soda) and an acid (vinegar).

Cordell did an magnetic experiment.  He stroked a nail with a magnet for 3 minutes to 'align' the molecules, resulting in magnetism.  He used it to pick up a paper clip.  Then he dropped the nail several times, and hammered it a bit, disorganizing the molecules again, and it was no longer magnetic.

Asher also did and acid/base experiment - a little bigger and messier than Ariana's.  He dropped some anti-acid pills in a two-liter of coke, shook it a bit, and, of course, the coke came spewing out when he opened it.

Part Four: Electromagnetic Sun-Storm

This theory proposed that a storm from the sun would extend out, hit the earth, and destroy all electric/electronic signals.

To celebrate, we turned off all the lights and played a card game as a family for that half hour.

Part Five: Planet X

For the first time in recorded history, the Earth was to be aligned with the Sun and the Black Hole at the center of our galaxy.  At that time, Planet X was to come flying out of space somewhere and crash into Earth, consuming/destroying it.  We used poster board and made planets.  I was the Sun and Arlen was the Black Hole.  Cordell was Jupiter, Ariana was Saturn, and Tyrell was the Earth - all three were revolving around the sun.  At an opportune time, when the Earth was aligned with the Sun and the Black Hole, Planet X (Asher) came crashing in and swooped Earth out of the galaxy.

Part Six: Nothing

Jesus specifically told us that no one knows the day nor the hour.  So, number six was a simple celebration of life.  While I made a picnic lunch, Arlen took the kids for a 15-minute walk in the jungle next to our house.

This was reportedly the biggest spider Cordell had ever seen - but - well - when Mom's not behind the camera, the pictures sometimes lack focus. :)

So, Mom had the picnic set up on the front porch...

15 minutes went by...

30 minutes went by...

45 minutes, and still no hungry hikers.

I checked Arlen's desk to see if he had taken his phone with him... he hadn't.

One hour... they must really be enjoying their walk.

One hour and 15 minutes went by and they finally came walking in the lane.

Even with their Dad as a fearless guide, they managed to lose their way.  But the jungle's not very large and they quickly found their way, listening for the traffic from the paved road that splits the jungle reserve in half.

 Cordell actually did some really great video introductions to each part of our celebration, but I've been unsuccessful in uploading them to this blog.  If any of your 'bloggers' have a suggestion, I'm all ears.  His commentaries would add quite a bit to this post.