21 December 2012, the end of the world, the apocalypse, the rapture, the end time.  God in my humble opinion is not a psychotic showman here to punish the wicked.  Redemption from disaster in 2012 is strictly up to us.  The  Maya (or  Mayan) prophecy is interpreted to say there will be earth changes related to weather patterns, earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural phenomenon. We are starting to see patterns emerging now with strange or extreme weather around the world.  Earthquake swarms under Yellowstone and the West Coast of the US are in the news.  Devastating earthquakes have been experienced recently in many other parts of the world as well.  We all know of the massive Sumatra tsunami of the recent past but did you know of all the recent "little" ones throughout the planet?  I hope we never become too complacent with this type of news, we need to see the patterns for ourselves and interpret them with our own God given intelligence.

An area of study that until the last few years has been given little attention is that of solar cycles.  NASA reports that solar cycle 24 has begun.

You may ask, how does relate to the 2012 doomsday prophecy?  It probably won't but I can guarantee you that someone (Probably a lot of people) will blow this out of proportion and sensationalize it! This statement though from Steve Hill of the Space Weather Prediction Center will give lots of meat to the 2012 doomsday "Profits" (spelled wrong on purpose).

Much of this is still years away. "Intense solar activity won't begin immediately," notes Hathaway. "Solar cycles usually take a few years to build from solar minimum (where we are now) to Solar Max, expected in 2011 or 2012." It's a slow journey, but we're on our way.

You can read the full article Solar Cycle 24 Begins at the NASA website.  In a nutshell the concern about solar storms is best said in this statement:

"Solar storms can disable satellites that we depend on for weather forecasts and GPS navigation," says Hathaway. Radio bursts from solar flares can directly interfere with cell phone reception while coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hitting Earth can cause electrical power outages. "The most famous example is the Quebec outage of 1989, which left some Canadians without power for as much as six days."

and this combined with The Earth, Sun, center of the Milky Way "galactic alignment" and the current discovery of the weakening of the Earths magnetic field is perfect for - made for TV sensationalism.  I am not here to totally dismiss any of this as crap but once again use your God given power of discernment to filter out the lunatics.  There is real science behind these events and there could be some real problems as a result.  Earth Ending?  I doubt it.  Catastrophic, maybe, depending on where you are at at the time and how well you are prepared for emergencies.  I am sure Quebec in 1989 was not a pleasant place to be for those 6 days but if you were properly geared for these unforeseen events you would have been just fine.

The preparation for events over which we have no control, is what keeps us thriving and in control of our immediate personal environment.  Simple steps like A 72 hour kit and a family preparedness plan could make all the difference.  i have created a page of guides on the blog called Emergency Preparedness .  It's a good place to start and I think you might  find it very useful.  It's my little gift to you.