2012

I went to see the film...twice. If you're readings this, chances are you already know that I am a film junkie but you may not know that I am especially fond of adventure stories and science fiction. I have seen just about every disaster film ever made!

I've seen the classics; "Towering Inferno", the original and the remake of "The Poseidon Adventure." I've seen the more technologically-enhanced offerings like "Armageddon" as well as the films that have tried to tell the more personal sides of crises such as "Deep Impact" and "The Day After Tomorrow." And I liked them all! Of course, I watch disaster films on the Sci Fi Channel so my taste here is not exactly refined. I think I just like to see things break down.

"Independence Day" had set a pretty high bar. It would be hard to imagine a better "worse-case scenario" than what Bill Pullman and Will Smith had to deal with. But "2012" takes breaking down to a whole new level. It is a disaster movie of planetary proportions. The death toll is never cited exactly but at one point in the film, one of the characters makes the statement, "...that we might be able to save 400,000 people is nothing short of a miracle." Happily, we don't have to watch the other 6.5 billion perish but we do get a unique opportunity to use our imaginations as we watch the crust of the earth literally turn inside-out.

The story behind the story, of course, is the date. December 21, 2012 represents a curious convergence of science and religion. The scientific side has to do with planetary positioning and the Milky Way galaxy. The religious side has to do with the Mayan Calendar and some interpretations of Nostradamus. There is ample reading for all of this on the Internet and beyond so I will not get into it here--except to say that it is interesting--a bit more intriguing, I think, than say Y2K which came and went without inspiring even a modest disaster film.

As far as the meanings or predictions associated with the date... Or to a lesser degree, the possibilities suggested by the film... I say why not. Not in terms of digging a hole and waiting for the end or worrying about what will or will not be. But rather, why not pay attention--as Christians are called to do BTW. Jesus says, "watch." So why not ask a few questions? For example, in a universe that appears to be billions of years old, how is it that human civilization only appears to be a few thousand? Or, how is it that an ancient civilization like the Mayans could possibly understand the stars and planets so well? Clearly there is more to this amazing world than we understand. And clearly we are not going to ever fully understand it but why not widen our vision a little.

Jesus has already made it clear that no one knows "the day nor the hour." So it would seem ill-advised to turn our own worlds upside-down. If there is something to all this, then any amount of worrying (or digging for that matter!) is not going to change anything.

On a final note, I better make it clear that I am not professing to believe anything about December 21, 2012. The fact is, I wouldn't know where to begin. I am not a big fan of belief anyway. Belief, it seems to me, is a poor substitute for faith. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what we believe. What matters is what is true. Or specifically, whether or not our faith in God is grounded in something more than our minds. I believe (for lack of a better word) that it is. I have faith that whatever happens or does not happen two years from now is in God's care. This not only seems to help with the regular anxieties of life; it also allows me to sit back and enjoy a good disaster film.