Is the World Going to End?

yes, in a few billion years the sun is going to expand and the world will cease to exist. I refuse to worry until then.

Eventually, yes. Maybe tomorrow...maybe in a million years. I don't know. I know where I'm going, so I'm not too concerned.

No. Yes. Maybe at some point. Since there's nothing we can do about it, I'm not going to worry over it.

It better not end before I win the lottery or get a chance to retire!

I don't think about things like this. This act of nature, I believe, is completely out of my hands.

Instead of worrying about doom and gloom I tend to try and focus on the good in my life and spend my energy on that so that if the end *does* come then I've spent my time wisely as opposed to needlessly worrying.

Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."

NO ONE is able to predict and there are harsher punishments for those who claim they are able.

They estimate our sun has roughly 7.5 billion years before it becomes a red giant at which time it will expand to the point where it will engulf the earth.
What happens to life on earth will most likely play out well before that.
The dinosaurs lasted roughly 120 million years.
Homo sapiens (that's us) have been around roughly 200,000 years and I frankly doubt our run will last as long as the dinosaurs.
Time will tell but I won't be around to see how it all turns out.
People are not quite as plentiful as cockroaches but we're adaptable as a species and will eat cockroaches if we have to.
We should have no trouble going for at least another 200,000 years.

Honestly, all the stuff about the world ending is crazy to me--- I don't think about it. I have faith and I trust in God. Whenever it is time for the world to end as we know it, God will be in control of that. Its in His timing, not mine.

Heaven will be beautiful~

M

In a way your/our world ends daily. We grow and change, technology changes, so the world we woke up to ends and we begin again. Remember every ending is a beginning.

It doesn't take too much historical reading to notice that every 50 to 100 years or so, there's a prediction that the world is about to end. It's almost a cultural joke. Folks who spent too much time worrying instead of living miss out on so much happiness.

I do have serious personal concerns about population pressures degrading the world my grandson will grow up in. In my 60+ years, the changes have been noticeable. Human-created pollution is now causing thousands of deaths a year, from breathing and heart problems to slow poisoning and cancers. We ignore such problems at our children's peril. In some areas of the world, this is a much bigger problem than most of the U.S., because those places are manufacturing our polluting products or taking in our toxic garbage.

But life is still wonderful for so many reasons. There is so much to love, and learn, so much potential for growth and change. When problems become awful enough and enough people are harmed, humanity generally rises to the challenge and addresses them. It has always been so, and until each of us reaches the end of our own world, our own individual deaths, it will continue to be so. My philosophy is that ignorance, misunderstanding, selfishness, cruelty and evil will always exist and can only really be addressed by each one of us in our own consciences and choices. I can and will take responsibility for my thoughts and decisions.

And I trust that truth will always be true, love will always exist and will prevail if it is nurtured, and that all religions, at their heart, are intended to teach us about exchanging our fear and selfishness for an enduring love of all of creation. Any tradition or philosophy that teaches fear, constriction or judgement works against a happy and fulfilled life and fosters hopelessness, and I don't want anything to do with it. Life's too short.

I kinda thought it had after the last election-but we're getting through!

Depends on how you define "the world." Will human beings someday become extinct? Possibly. But the earth could go on without us just as it did without the T. rex.
Will our planet explode? Possibly. But the rest of the universe could go on existing without our little rock, just as it did before it formed.

So if you define "the world" as either "human existence" or "an intact planet Earth," then yes, "the world" will most likely end someday. but something will always exist, and what continues to exist will, by definition, become "the world."

don't know, don't care!,that 12-21-2012 mess is for the birds. we have had 1-11-2011,10-10-2010,9-9-2009 all kind of coinsiding dates, and yet we are still here. I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner, if it ends tommorow at least i know i had fin yesterday!

As a Christian I'm told on very good authority that the world will end some day, on orders from Higher Up. I hope it won't be today. I would be embarrassed to leave this earth while I still have dishes in the sink.

When I have dreams about the end of the world and things like that, I know I MUST be tired! My weirdest dreams stem from exhaustion. I had a startling one the other night... but I won't tell you what it was. You seem to have plenty yourself! :^)

I know I was really pissed when it turned out I had to balance my checkbook on January 1, 2000. LOL. Sort of.

12-21-2012 the Mayan calendar is going to end. Sure it is. And then it's going to flip back over again. No one freaks out on December 31, they just buy a new calendar. Same for the Mayan thing, their calendar just goes in cycles much, much longer than our little 12 month one. (But just in case, I'll wait until the 22 to do any paperwork. Ha.)

Can't do anything about it. Trust in God, but carry an umbrella - we don't know what the plan is - God is omniscient, we're not. I'm not going to try to figure it out, I'm just going to do the best I can with what I've got.

And I'm going to keep a couple of bottles of water in the fridge, canned fruit in the pantry, and matches in the cabinet. Cold water, a quick easy family dinner side dish, and matches are good to have around, anyway. And they'll be helpful in case of societal failure. Last me just long enough to walk to the grocery store and join the raiding. (Ha! again.) See what I mean by the metaphorical umbrella?

Seriously? Seriously...... honey you are opening yourself up to the worst kind of influences asking stuff like that and reading the answers(sorry but I didnt). I went through a phase after my last was born. Complete anxiety. Seeing "signs" everywhere holy cow what did I bring my kids into?! but I have come to a few conclusions.
1. Every generation has its "arrmageddon" something to fear, some reason to believe that "were all gonna die", society as we know it lives on fear, the news pumps it into our homes on a nightly basis. The world has yet to end. (at least for us here in the US. People in earthquake stricken japan or haiti or the places we've bombed during one of our many wars may very well disagree to that last statement.)
2. Does it really matter? Does it do your children any good for you to dwell on it? Could you stop it if you knew the exact date? I'm not saying dont have an emergancy supply kit. I'm saying live your life, the world could end tomorrow or in 400 years. Theres NO way for ANYONE to know for sure when its going to happen.
3. Prophecys have been around for ever millions of them some are bound to come true (and "prove" that prophate to be real) in some form as most are very non descript and there are many ways to interpret them. if nostradomus lived today he would be classifed as crazy.... just sayin

Watch one hour of "Nancy Grace" and I'm pretty sure it's any moment now.

Maybe so, maybe no.
I don't pay any attention to the "2012" hype.
The important thing is that you're "ready" if it does end.
There's something to be said for living every day as if it were your last, burying old grudges and forgiveness.

These are the times my Native American teacher spoke about over 40 years ago. You want the world to go on?
Then you had better decide to work for real progress in ecological matters and to pressure our government and the world bodies to end all war. What do you think war costs in terms of mental health for those who witness it as children.
I can tell you. It haunts you forever and saps your potential. What does it do to the soldiers. Look at our streets full of homeless men and women who served this country.
You can pray but that is only one corner of the process. Instead learn what it takes to make a loving healthy world. AND THAT IS NOT CONSERVATIVE POLITICS. That is the way to end our world.
What do I know of how to help. I am a healer. I know how to identify and use wild food.
Use your hands your heart and your connection to The Creator to turn the tide and save our world for our children and grandchildren.

So funny, the past few nights I have had these same dreams. In fact a couple days ago I had one so bad I actually woke up praying! But, I also know that I have been under a lot of stress lately and that the dreams are probably just the manifestation of that. In a way it's been good for me, it helps remind me that I could always try and live my life a little better. Forgive more easily, love a little more and try not to sweat the small stuff.

S.,

I'm from Portland too, and you know what, this weather is making me think a lot of gloomy thoughts from time to time.

If I was being trite, I'd tell you to go grab a latte and get on with things, because this IS Portland.... :)

But I won't. Instead, I'll agree with you, yes, the world is going to end. Sometime. And yes, it may be within our life cycles. Anything is possible right? That said, I don't think there's a damn thing any of us can do about it. All we *can* do is live our lives out with as much deliberation and meaning as we can, to the degree we choose. Not 'live like we're going to die' (woo-hoo, bachannal!), but not to feel imprisoned by our fears.

I recently picked up a mindblowing book from Virginia Lee Burton, (author of "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel"). This lovely book is called "Life Story" and is a history of the earth, from space particulate to present day. It's amazing how transient and fragile life is. Human life is an only very historically recent development. It's fascinating to me how many other species had 'their time' on our planet before conditions changed and rendered them unable to cope and exist.

I know how tenative and temporary all of this is. But I can't dwell on it, or I'd be paralyzed. There's such a risk in just being alive, it's amazing. But I do marvel in all of this--that we live so well, despite all the things life throws at us. Perhaps it's the determination of our species, or unfounded optimism, I don't know. I just know I want to get as much out of it as I can, drink every drop. So when those dreams come, and I know they're disturbing, I've had them too-- try to do something that affirms your life in the here and now, and feels good for you. We only get one shot at this life, so may as well make as much of it as you can! Even on this weird rainy/sunny/hailing day.:)

The answers are in the Bible. (At least as much as we are allowed to know about the end times anyway.)

I would love to hear your dreams. Would you like to share?

N.

It sucks having those kind of dreams. I've been dreaming of zombie apocolypses lately, due to the Walking Dead combined with the hubs making me read World War Z, but it's not like we're actively planning for it. (the battle axe is for show only!)

According to the bible it will. And with a very impressive track recored of fullfilled prophesy, I'm suprised more people don't believe in it. No one can know exactly when, but we can know the "season". The bible talks about eathquakes, famines, wars and rumors of wars "but the end is not yet". Other signs let us know that we are in that season when the fianal generation will not pass before all is fulfilled. I used to have a lot of anxiety about it, esspecially after 9/11, but instead I'm putting efforts into growing my faith by abiding in God. That even if I do walk thought the valley of the shaddow of death, He is there to comfort me. But here is a bible teaching that we should all abide by. Live your life like God was coming today, but plan like its 100 years away. yes, I think it will end. I even think we may be in earths final generation, but if you are anxitey ridden, then you need to abide in Him.

The world will never come to an end, but the people will unfortunately. Try not to consume yourself with what will happen. Just try to think of the life we will have once all bad things are put to ruin.

I am a born again christian. I watch all the scary 2012 stuff on the history channel and in those moments...my brain goes ok maybe the myans know what they are talking about. With all the turmoil in the middle east, how hostile we have become towards each other here at home. I see the hatred brewing that could cause man kind to cease. We are the key to the end of it. God will do what he will when it comes his time. until then we need to see we are the makers of our own problems. I hope i am here to see the coming, honestly. Will i be terrified, yes. I know though through the rapture he will make our days in heaven better then any day we could have here on earth.

This is only my opinion.
Good question.

I never believed that whole hype. then one time I had a dream that when the world ended in 2012 I had a toddler girl. weird since i wasn't ahving anymore kids. then I had my now 18 month old who will hav ejust turned 3 the Sept before 12-21-12. While technically not a toddler she is small and will look like a toddler. Now I wonder....and we just watched 2012 last night cuz with all the stuff going on I am just a little curious....do I believe in it? I don't know. But I will take off 12-20-12 and 12-21-12...either to spend it with my girls or to get ready for Christmas! Its a win-win for me!