(from my book, Facing Change)
These are turbulent times of change, times of rapid change. Change at the speed of jet travel and the internet. These are definitely interesting times. We are living in times of great prosperity, more than ever before. More people are more educated and highly progressive. In the last twenty years, six hundred million people in India and China have emerged from poverty. Yet, some nations are still experiencing hunger, poverty, desolation, violent wars, human trafficking, and economic collapse.
We are also highly interconnected globally through jet travel, the internet, and the telephone. For some people, jet travel is as frequent as car travel. The internet is now built on many disparate computers, carried on primarily reliable infrastructure. The telephone networks have highly dependable terrestrial (on-earth) and satellite transmission links.
We are a highly prosperous, highly interconnected, highly progressive society. Yet loneliness and a sense of isolation among individuals and communities pervade. Emotional pain is prevalent more than ever. Family structures and face-to-face human communities are challenged at a time when there is much work. Economic pressures and long working hours have applied pressure to family and community lifestyles, fragmenting family and community relationships.
In life today, we frequently oscillate between these extremes. We are bombarded with experiences and information. In the nineteenth century, the world’s knowledge would have doubled every 50 years. Today, knowledge is doubling in less than a year. We have to absorb and adapt. We have to manage complexity. We have to know how to discern right from wrong. We must determine when and what we need to learn, change, and innovate, and know what to discard. And we have to do this and all the other demands placed on our regular 16-hour days, not counting our sleeping hours.
The demands on our humanity far exceed our natural abilities to change and adapt. These could be simultaneously competing demands based on different sources:
- The pace of globalization.
- Instability in global markets.
- This leads to economic pressures.
- Speed of progress in technology.
- Speed and availability of knowledge, and many others.
These are what I call the tyranny of change, the tyranny of speed, the tyranny of technology, and the tyranny of work. We are caught up in the extreme business of coping with these tyrannies, so much so that we are drawn away from our basic human needs; functional relationships, family, and community. Sometimes, we must retreat from a battle and rethink our battle plans to win the war.
… hold tightly to what you have until I come. To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, to them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star! Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. [Revelation 2:25-29 NLT]
“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: these are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. [Revelation 3:7-8 NIV]
May the grace and peace of Abba Father the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Thank You, Abba Father, Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Word Sabre, scribe for Abba Father, LORD GOD, Lord Most High, Lord Jesus Christ.