Has the world really changed that much?

February 25, 2010

So I was thinking about writing, and memories, and the way the world has changed in my lifetime (you can check out that line of thought at my Pen ‘n Paper Mama blog under the topic “Getting Back to Writing – From my Memories)… and then I was thinking…

Hmmmm… maybe that’s a problem with our Christian walks, too. Maybe we just quickly “react” to all the little surface annoyances (hence, turning small disagreements into world war 3 in our church gatherings) rather than really spending serious quality and quantity time both with God, and with His people; if we did spend that time surely we would more quickly and deeply grow in His love, grace, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, faith… all the things that are really important, foundational – that make Christ’s body a building of “living stones.” Then the proverbial “color of the carpets” and the “he said, she said” stuff that often causes so much trouble and dissension and disunity would be seen for what it is – wisps in the wind.

But I wonder – have things really changed so much? Sure, we live in a TV, video game, speedy quick world – but our forebears lived in a world in which most waking hours were taken up with hard labor… and always so much of humanity has been distracted by poverty and wars and prejudice and hardships of all kinds (how the enemy must love sin and its effects on us… and of course he has worked hard to keep it multiplying and developing ever since his first coup in his successful effort to deceive Eve!).

It does seem to me, upon reflection, that it has for much of time, in most, if not all places, been left to “the few” to keep the light of thought, of knowledge, wisdom, understanding – especially Godly wisdom and light – burning… often just barely flickering…

And even then, how often those torch-bearers (or just birthday-candle bearers) have been scorned as “elitest,” or as upper-class parasites riding on the backs of the poor (and yes, they may have too often deserved those classifications)… and often have even become the hunted in efforts to destroy them – and to destroy the light they carry…

In a PC world, I suppose this line of thought could be – will be! – construed by many as, well, un-PC! But truly, history – and wisdom! (and anything that involves the battle between good and evil, which in our world is everything) – is deep and complex… and we cannot afford to gloss over or ignore any of the viewpoints, memories, etc…