The World Is Coming to an END....AGAIN

I watched some show a few nights ago about how these religious families who believe the world is coming to an end in 2012 are preparing themselves, their homes and their families to become to survivors of this catastrophe and inheritors of the Earth. This one father who was interviewed had taught his 4-year old about how the son of god will come down and basically get rid of all the non-believers. As a non-believer myself I find it hard to embrace how giddy and righteous these people were about thinking themselves the "saved ones", but that is for another whole post.

On another note along the same lines, I teach up to 500 children art at a school in the District and almost daily I am getting kids coming up to me and telling me that they are sure the world is coming to an end in 2012. This is happening so often that I now know exactly what they're going to say when they come up to me with their wide eyes and pronounce, "Guess what I know!!". Obviously somewhat spurred on by the movie and some shows like the one I saw, yet, somehow I can't help to see how this mass anxiety also speaks to our own need as humans to so desperately want to exist within the drama. It also speaks to our need to cling to some story about ourselves that glamorizes our experience out and away from the dull and ordinary. "We are the people and this is the time" is what we are meant to believe about our existance, temporarily taking our minds away from the dishes.

COME ON!! Does anyone remember Y2K? It was 1999 and everyone thought THEN the world was ending as we knew it. The dumb shows came on real strong with predictions and strong tie-ins to biblical text assuring all viewers that this would be the end as we know it....everyone was scared. Now it's 2009 and it's like the entire world is not aware that "end-of-world theories" have been going on for hundreds, if not thousands of years.....and guess what....we are still here.

So here.....the world is NOT ending, now get up and go do the dishes.