are we in the future?

I can remember the excitement of going to see Steven Spielberg’s new film “Back to the future.” I gazed in wide wonder at all the possibilities of how time will turn out. In the late 60’s I watched Star trek and felt the same way. Wow I want to have a communicator. I’m not that hot on anything that can break me apart into particles and reassemble this dork somewhere else. What happens if Microsoft built the thing? The future is fun to dream about.

In my youth I dreamed of the future. TV shows and movies have helped me dream of things to come. I wanted to fly in space like Luke Skywalker. The dreams were endless. Into the future I have traveled watching many of my dreams come true. We have cell phones and PS4’s. Man has stepped on the moon and seen what Star wars and Star trek have always known to some degree. Recently I have felt that dreams have all but disappeared. The news is scattered with social internal injustices. We think and dream about a world that defends human rights. Is it forward thinking or pride rearing its ugly head?

I am all for human rights. Each person has a right in my heart to be who they want to be (within reason). It’s the (Within reason) that gets us every time. I am completely worried that we have focused far too much on our rights. The dreams of a future beyond our dreams have all but disappeared. The Space programs have been gutted, and transportation technology has been stagnant for years now. We have increased simple things like the internet, phones, and microwaves, but the complicated stuff like renewable energy has stalled. Looking inside is a dangerous thing.

I wonder if the cell phone is the key. I used to dream of a phone without a cord talking to someone in space. We have achieved that. Today we are excited for new sleek phones with better app’s. I fear our dreams have simplified right under our noses. That template has seeped into our human existence. Is it the existence of humans to improve our social injustices or go where no man has gone before? Be careful before you answer. The knee jerk reaction is to think social causes are the most important thing. That is a politically correct ideology. Thinkers and dreamers in the past never thought that way.

What does God have to say about dreamers? Ecclesiastics 5:3 says: “For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words.” A dreamer can look whole heartedly towards the future with good intentions. Jesus repeated this thought in Matthew 6 by saying “Today has enough trouble of its own.” We should be careful or our dreams, and even more careful of the words spoken to us. When our passion seeps into our thoughts bad things can happen. God just wants us to be honest with our motives and pride in our dreams. Luke 9:62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." We are living off the past far too much. We own the past but we have not paid the cost they did to get here. These are dangerous times.

Where does that leave us in the future? I have heard some say all has been discovered. In Hollywood I have wondered about that. New movies that tease our dreams are all but gone. The reboot and series rule the norm in tinsel town. I fear that dreaming outside of social media is a bad thing these days. I had a guy say all the time “It’s not good when a woman thinks.” He was kidding but I miss free thinking people. Conformity and towing the line are the norm now. Dreaming of the impossible seems impossible these days.

Humans will not grow if we don’t think beyond ourselves. God does have some good advice sometimes. He warned us about looking inside too much. A new cell phone is nice but what’s beyond our dreams? I fear we have been conditioned not to think that way. Traveling to distant lands and planets is part of who we are. For too long the church has tried to stifle our dreams. Today the social forces are doing the same thing we grew up to hate.

There will come a day when we rebel against political correctness and the social paranoia. We as humans have always found a way to rebel against limiting our dreams. Even in Eden we dreamed of bigger things. Jesus said we would do more than him in his short time here on earth and we have. Looking inside is killing our future. I remember a movie called “Phantom toll booth.” A guy called “The Terrible Trivium” offered a kid the job of destroying a mountain with a toothpick. It was important but meaningless useless work. I feel that is what dreaming of a socially perfect world is doing to us. The future is now but we need to get back to the future before it’s too late.

faith comes alive