Blockchain technology.....Mars colonization...….Virtual Reality...….Human brain: Software Interface...…..Artificial Intelligence...…Robots/Automation.....Universal Basic Income Just 3 months ago, and for the past couple of years before that, these phrases dominated the headlines as our world was moving toward a 'smarter', 'more intelligent' state. Or at least we thought. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with these advances as they really do show the God-given potential of humans and their imaginations. I've often wondered though, are we getting too arrogant for our own good? Have we got to the point where we don't think we need God anymore?
One of my favorite bible verses growing up was the story of the TOWER OF BABEL and can be found in Genesis 11:1-9. I vividly remember this story in the picture bible that my mom read to us when I was little. I was fascinated by the picture of the huge tower that was built in the middle of a desert that crawled up in the clouds, the top being invisible from the ground. What an incredible feat for a society so long ago. At the time, the people were confident, strong and prosperous and it was their desire to reach the heavens with their tower and reach the height of God himself with their own abilities. As the story progressed it became clear that God did not appreciate the disrespect for his greatness and sovereignty. He came down to earth, confused the language of the people so they no longer understood each other, and they scattered throughout the earth leaving their half built tower unfinished. As I've grown older, I've always associated this story with the following human traits: arrogance, over-confidence, and false self-reliance. When things are going good, we have a natural tendency to get arrogant and try to go it our own way.
As the coronavirus pandemic has stretched across the globe over the last few months and had a profound effect on each and every one of us, I, like many have felt a lot of anxiety and had conflicting feelings about what is going on. Even up to the last couple of weeks, I've continued to go back and forth in my mind as to whether we are over-reacting to this or if these are legitimate steps that are being taken to actually saves tons of lives, possibly millions. Regardless of my feelings, this is not another SARS, the Swine Flu, H1N1, Zika, or the recent Ebola scare. This is a legitimate risk for each of us and is having a profound effect on our daily lives. In many ways, we're like the people on the story with our language confused and unsure of our next step. Very, very few people alive today were alive during the last pandemic (~1918) and our world wasn't nearly as connected as it is now. It feels like we've grinded to a halt and we're all looking around anxiously for our next step as this is uncharted territory for everyone.
The challenge is far from over and it's anyone's guess what the long term ramifications are of Covid-19, but it's hard to argue the fact that this has been big and we've all experienced some humility in realizing were not quite as independent and indestructible as we've built ourselves up to be. With that being said, there has already been a lot of good come out of it though as families have suddenly been pulled away from their crazy busy lives and have spent more time together. We've learned about what's really important in life as we've collectively narrowed our spending habits down to food and essentials and we've realized what a blessing it is to be able to visit family and friends and how much we take for granted the relationships we have in our lives as we've been forced apart from extended family, friends, and co-workers.
Take a deep breath, say a little prayer, and we'll get through this stronger.
