As the calendar moves inevitably into this 21st century, more and more frequently we hear predictions regarding planetary change, the end-of-the-world, vast global destruction. History suggests that such predictions have often accompanied the end of each century and a similar phenomenon regarding widespread millennium prophecies occurred as the year 1000 approached. Therefore, should we be concerned or should these prophecies simply be relegated to the realm of fabrication and fiction?

A possible approach lies in the psychic information of the late- Edgar_Cayce - considered the most documented clairvoyant of the twentieth century. Cayce suggested that the years between 1958 and 1998 would indeed be a period of great global transformation. However, these changes would not lead to the end of the world, but in time, to the dawning of a New Age of hope and community for all humankind.

Today, many groups continue to predict major cataclysms and the approach of inevitable change. Ironically, oftentimes these groups have failed to realize that change is all about us. There are wars and rumors of wars broadcast around the globe in the blink of an eye. We hear of floods and famine and hate crimes as they occur; and a day doesn't pass when we don't see renewed evidence of gang wars or drugs or our inhumanity to one another. Unfortunately, much of this information has become so commonplace that we may simply shrug our shoulders, change the channel, or turn the page. In many places, the world has become more fractured than ever before, as politics, race, sexuality, culture, and religion divide us. Countless thousands of individuals have been killed, are dying, or have simply given up. And yet, in spite of all these things, some individuals continue to wait for the . Big One. as evidence of "changing times." 

It' s time for us to wake up and realize that the changing times are happening RIGHT NOW. Our world, our civilization, and our individual lives are all undergoing dramatic personal and collective change. Yet, this is sometimes hard for us to recognize because the changes have not been a single event. They have been a process. Cayce's predictions for the future are not really about earthquakes; instead, they are about the fact that a new world is being born. The changing events in our lives and in our surroundings are to enable us to remember why we are here. Simply stated, these changes are the testing which will enable us to put God in our lives.

We don't want to fool ourselves; the geological condition of the planet makes some earth changes inevitable. There will continue to be earthquakes. But potentially even more influential changes can come from worldwide political turmoil, economic challenges, wars, and many more "upheavals" that are not necessarily geological in nature. The challenge of the times is for us to come together as one global community. The purpose of the changes we are experiencing is not for the changes themselves; rather it is so that we will undergo personal and global transformation. Only in this way may we usher in the dawn of a New Age.

From Cayce. s perspective, the future offers not destruction and hopelessness, but the chance to transform the world as we work together, building hope and community for all of humankind. Today, wherever we find ourselves, there is a great need to come together as one global family. That is our collective destiny. That is the potential heritage we share as spiritual beings manifesting in the earth.