End of the World, Again?!!!

'Lucky', 'cute' or 'cataclysmic' the jury is still out on the meaning of today's date - December 12, 2012 or 12/12/12. The fascination with the numeric mysticism of the date might have been emphasized by the fact that it is lodged on the calendar just 9 days before December 21, which, according to the Mayan calendar represents the end of the world as we know it.   Most of us have lived through sufficient 'end of the world' days that worries about the fiscal cliff, the moral disintegration of our culture or perhaps what's on the menu for dinner tonight take greater precedence. 

The predictions about the end of the world are almost as old as the world itself. Most are false alarms which tend to make us complacent, casual and flippant. However, I wonder whether we might be missing an important point in all this…  I am not saying that we should be digging bunkers and stashing food supplies, but we all are familiar with the story about the boy who cried wolf... or a frog in a kettle.  

Some of us are also familiar with the account of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, or Noah and the Great Flood - the sobering testimonies about the cataclysmic implications of our moral choices. By all cultural standards of his day Noah was a misguided lunatic. He built an enormous boat in the middle of the desert while calling people to relinquish their sinful, self-centered way of life and return to the Living God who created them.  When it started drizzling, they still didn’t believe him. When the flood was unleashed it was too late. Everyone perished except for his own family - eight people in all - and a bunch of animals.

Then, there is the story about a prophet Jonah and the doomsday warning to the citizens of Nineveh... Nineveh-ans heard the message, changed their ways, turned to God and He changed His mind. This was good news to everyone but the grumpy prophet.

The life of Christ which begins with the Christmas story – the incarnation of the Son of God - ends with the assurance of His return, often referred to as the Second Coming of Christ. The controversial topic has spawned both the obsession with the details or complete dismissal, placing the biblical revelation in the category of  science fiction, right along with all the other myths and superstitions regarding the end of the world.

So, how do we differentiate between the real and the false alarm about the end? What is myth? What reality? And is there something I need to know about this cosmic final to ensure I am prepared for it?