People in all ages have thought about the future
and wondered what it would be like. I can remember being in the
fourth grade and our teacher, Mrs. Purcell, assigned us to write
a short paper about what we would be doing in the year 2000. This
was the school year 1961-62. She emphasized to us that it would
be a new century a new millennium! I can remember thinking how
mysterious it all seemed. What was it going to be like in a new
millennium? I also remember thinking that I would be 48 years
old in 2000! Man, I was going to be ancient!
What will it be like fifty years from now? Many
of us reading this article will not be on this old earth fifty
years from now, but some will. My children may still be living
then, but they will be in their 80's. My four grandchildren will
very probably be living then, though my oldest granddaughter will
be ready to retire fifty years from now. What advantages will
they have that we do not now have? What advancements will be made
in medicine, in communication, in transportation, in government?
Will the United States of America still be the country it is now
and be the beacon for democracy to the world? We have no way of
foretelling the future, so there is really no way for us to know
these things.
Great changes have taken place over time. Every
time I pick up a cell phone, turn on my computer, or use the remote
control for my TV, I am made to think of my grandparents and how
amazed they would be at our "modern world" with all
its gadgets. My maternal grandfather, Thomas Spaulding, was born
in 1890 and died in 1975. He once commented that he would not
believe men had stepped on the surface of the moon until they
would, "... hang something up there that I can see!"
Going to the moon made little sense to Poppy; he just had a very
hard time comprehending it all. My paternal grandfather, Floyd
Farley, was born in 1859 and died in 1932 and saw great changes
from the Civil War to the Great Depression. Once he said to my
father, "Howard, there's a trick to that radio business,
and one day I'll figure it out. It is just impossible for a man
to be talking in Cincinnati, Ohio, and we hear him here at Crum,
WV." He just had a hard time conceiving how radio waves work.
The first automobile that Grandpa Farley saw caused him to comment
to those around him, "Boys, it's a coffin on wheels!"
This was about 1922-23.
Things have always changed, very often for the
betterment of society. We spend a great deal of time and money
educating our children and grandchildren so they will be prepared
for these changes and so that they may even contribute to these
advancements. However, brothers and sisters, what are we doing
to insure that our little ones will have what it takes to withstand
the changes that will, no doubt, take place socially and morally
over the next fifty years? What will the congregation where you
worship be like in the year 2057? Will the congregation even be
there, and, if so, will there be faithful and sound elders, deacons,
preachers, and teachers there?
Since World War II, materialism has "sky-rocketed"
to the point where people have come to think success is spelled
"$UCCE$$." Contrary to the words of our Savior, many
really do think that a man's life consists in the abundance of
THINGS he possesses (cf Luke 12:15-21; 1 Timothy 6:5-21). True
Christians have always been "the few," but it is getting
increasingly more difficult to rear children with a view toward
serving others. This is because of the effort made by those of
the world to teach our children that they must "get out and
get theirs." We must do all we can to teach our youngsters
NOW to be a loving and serving people!
During the past fifty years, the divorce rate
has "gone through the roof," homosexuality has generally
become accepted as just another life-style, drug and alcohol abuse
has risen steadily, the crime rate continues to go up and up,
and filth on the televisions and movies is more and more common.
With this in mind, do we think society is going to get better,
morally speaking? We MUST give our children a good foundation
NOW so they can build their lives upon the teachings of Jesus
the Christ. Matthew 7:24-27.
Parents, grandparents, preachers, Bible teachers,
elders we must look down the road fifty years and prepare our
young folks for the future. If the Lord does not come back, those
fifty years will come and go. We must be the light of the world
and salt of the earth for our youngsters today! The Word says,
"Where there is no vision, the people perish ..." (Proverbs
29:18). Again, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge
..." (Hosea 4:6). P.O. Box 285, Crum, WV 25669. e-mail: preechkrum@suddenlink.net