Around the world, many people have prepared for the end of days as the ancient Mayan calendar counted down to December 21. The long awaited day came and went without so much as a snap, crackle or pop in most places and people accepted the reality that the world is staying put. Nothing changed and perhaps that is the real tragedy.
While there were many that believed that December 21st would mark the end of time, there are many more that hope it can mark the beginning. In September of this year, Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, spoke to the UN about what the Mayan calendar foretells. “December 21st marks the end of non-time and the beginning of time. It is the end of hatred and the beginning of love. The end of lies and beginning of truth.”
Predictions may only take one so far. The reality is whatever we, as a collective whole, choose to make it. The importance we place in a day exists only because we have placed it there. It is up to us to make these predictions a reality. While the beginning of an era of truth and love has a very nice ring to it, what we need is action. What we need is to work together to create a tangible, positive change in the world.
In Chiapas, Mexico, tens of thousands of members of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) marched silently into the central squares of the major cities of this poverty-stricken Mexican province. Wearing the traditional Zapatista pasamontañas and paliacates, they silently occupied the very same cities they once took by force during a 1994 rebellion. This time, they brought forth a message of peace and change. A reminder to the world that they still exist and that they are still working, patiently, towards a new future.
Their message reads:
Did you hear? This is the sound of your world crumbling. The sound of ours re-emerging. The day that was the day, was night. And the night will be the day that will be day. DEMOCRACY! LIBERTY! JUSTICE!”
They bring with them a message of hope and of change. These descendants of the Mayas bring a new prediction. We can choose to end this world, not through destruction, but through the creation of something new.