“Future Shock”
Isaiah 65:17-25
65:17 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.
65:18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.
65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.
65:20 No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
65:21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
65:22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
65:23 They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD-- and their descendants as well.
65:24 Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.
65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent--its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.
From Wikipedia:
Future Shock is a 1970 book by American futurist Alvin Toffler written together with his spouse Adelaide Farrell, in which the authors define the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies. The shortest definition for the term in the book is a personal perception of "too much change in too short a period of time". The book, which became an international bestseller, has sold over 6 million copies and has been widely translated.
Alvin Toffler argued that society is undergoing an enormous structural change, a revolution from an industrial society to a "super-industrial society". This change overwhelms people. He argues that the accelerated rate of technological and social change leaves people disconnected and suffering from "shattering stress and disorientation"—future shocked. Toffler stated that the majority of social problems are symptoms of future shock. In his discussion of the components of such shock he popularized the term "information overload."
Can any of you argue that this 1970s-era thesis hasn’t come true, and mostly in our time? If Toffler and Farrell were writing today, they might exchange the term, “super-industrial society” with “technology-based society,” but other than that, the husband and wife team certainly hit the nail on the head, didn’t they?
The polarization we see in our society is fed by “tribalism,” fear, and a perceived need to “circle the wagons” in defense of our faction, be it political, religious, or patriotic. “Groupthink,” a William Whyte derivation of George Orwell’s “doublethink,” binds us together in our tribes, and is energized by media products custom-designed to energize each “group” or tribe, and greased by our selective and dangerously synergistic “friends” on Twitter or Facebook. Toffler’s “information overload” might not be such a bad thing, if the information we were being overloaded with was accurate and contextualized. After all, we could then just “turn off the spigot,” when the overload set in. Unfortunately, the evolved need to flood the audience with content to keep it tuned in, and to satisfy advertisers and sponsors, has made it near impossible to turn it off. And worse yet, this demand for constant flow means fact-checking, good reporting, and responsible journalism are often jettisoned in favor of maintaining the information deluge.
A case can be made that we are living in the “future” of the Toffler/Farrell “future shock.” Are we shocked yet? As one with an undergraduate degree in journalism, and with a passion for it, done well, I know I am. I find it unsettling that even in gold standard newspapers such as the Washington Post or the New York Times, I can hardly read an issue without witnessing poorly-written sentences that hint at “doublethink,” on the part of the writer, or paragraphs of the reporter’s “commentary” salted within a news story. When I was in journalism school, this was anathema. Get beyond these two stellar national papers, and the quality of reporting—and even the intentional op-ed content—degrades measurably. Even more troubling is the epidemic of closure of local dailies or weeklies. Just this past week, I read of the end of the Titusville Herald, a 157-year-old journal that ceased publication last Saturday (I’m from nearby Oil City, PA). Many in the field of news reporting have, for years, decried the popular shift to television news, a medium that reduces complicated stories to 35-second soundbites, stacked in order of shock and awe in the nightly newscast, and completely overshadowed by the weather report.
It gets worse, for us journalists. Now we have the Internet and social media. Not only does this emerging medium lend itself to even further condensation of complex issues, but it allows instant “commentary” on the part of content consumers. While I respect the First Amendment, and everyone’s “right” to speaking their piece about what they read, Jeff Goldblum’s character in the movie Jurassic Park said it so eloquently, “Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.” And regarding the “stories” one may find on the Internet, or may even have received as a link from a friend, let me suggest a tactic I use: Check the source, Google the author, and run any accounts that seem preposterous through a fact-checker. They used to say that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Let’s update that to say, “If something sounds too preposterous to be true, it probably ISN’T true.” Just witness the plague of television and social media ads this past political campaign season infected us with. I’ll be darned if I could find even one responsible assertion or provable fact in the lot. However, it is one thing for political campaign ads to yank the heart strings in an effort to land a vote, but it is quite another thing for good newspapers or responsible journalism to do so.
The Tofflers define “future shock” as social change that leaves people disconnected and suffering from “shattering stress and disorientation.” Anyone feel that? Anyone NOT feel that? Unless you have retreated so fully into one of the tribal cabals and shut yourself off from any information source that your particular cult endorses, you feel it, too. What are we to do?
Today’s passage from Isaiah should give us hope that a better world is available to us, and is even in the broader vision of our Creator God. Our Jewish siblings believe that God gave the law to lead us toward this better place where all may find happiness and blessed individual freedom, as well as a beloved community. The Jews believe God has called them, as a people, to engage in something called tikkun olam, or “fixing the world.” We Christians believe Jesus Christ was God’s down payment on that goal, erasing sin, making forgiveness and reconciliation not only a possibility for us all, but setting it as a lifestyle for us, and assuring us that there WILL be a “new world coming.” Jesus continued teaching God’s law, but in a form we can both more easily understand and assimilate, thanks to the power of love, and the balm of grace. What might this “new world” look like?
If we look to Isaiah, who seems to predict some of what we read in later apocalyptic literature such as Revelation, we find that God will bring about a “new heavens and a new earth.” While this may certainly be interpreted to refer to a post-historical, even “heavenly” period, there is another possibility. What if “new heavens and new earth” refers to a renewed planet and ecosystem brought about by human “repairing,” enhanced by divine wisdom and collaboration with the miraculous systems God created when God made the earth, in the first place? This would certainly be in keeping with the Hebrew concept of tikkun olam.
We know that the prophets’ invoking of “Jerusalem” may be understood as the “code” for good and just government on earth, one that works in accord with God’s desire and plan for justice for all humanity. Even as every ancient Jew longed for the day when “Zion” or Jerusalem would be the center of the world, so modern people would experience God’s joy if justice became a reality for all of the people of the earth, coupled with equity of resources and a universal appreciation of our home world, provoking us to become better stewards of it.
Let’s dream a bit with Isaiah:
*Imagine a world where there is no more weeping or distress, apart from that which accompanies the regular rhythms of life and death.
*Imagine a world where disease is conquered such that this emerging, joyful life lasts a long, long time, and without the typical ravages of age.
*Imagine a world where there is no more homelessness, and where farming and agriculture will again flourish to feed the world.
*Imagine a world where corn and grains no longer have to be grown to supplement waning fossil fuels to fill gas tanks, but where the sun, wind, and new technologies power our transportation, our exploration, and our infrastructure.
*Imagine a world where this magnitude of justice and peace brings us so close to the God who conceived it that we no longer feel so distant and separated from our God. Prayer becomes less of a plea than a joyful praise to God for the resulting goodness we see all around us.
*Imagine a world where the other creatures live in balance with humanity and each other to such a degree that the natural equilibrium with which God created them all is restored. Literally, the lion lying down with the lamb, and the wolf and the lamb feeding together. Maybe even Republicans and Democrats sharing a sandwich together without a food fight ensuing!
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Christian theologian, imagined the emerging of what he called a “religionless Christianity.” His vision was a world where our relationship with Jesus Christ became so integrated that we no longer needed to “practice” a religion based on rituals, rubrics, and rules, and riddled with disputes and schisms. The incarnational Jesus would inhabit not only the souls of believers, but would permeate our whole way of life. Laws would be replaced by love, judgment by grace, and harsh, harmful words by the Word of God. Hope would edge out fear and joy would cleanse our hearts of distress and anxiety. Imagine THAT world!
In the words of the late John Lennon:
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Sounds like he read Isaiah 65, with a side order of Bonhoeffer. Does this sound too good to be true to you?
It will, unless you understand vision. A vision is a far-off goal that guides our close-up planning. Often, vision sounds improbable, if not impossible. The wide-eyed administrators and scientists of NASA must have felt that way when President Kennedy surprised them with the “Man on the Moon by the end of the decade” vision. But Kennedy’s death added resolve to the fulfilment of that vision, and we all know what happened. What if we looked to Jesus’ death on the cross as giving the church and believers that same boost in resolve? Jesus even kick-started his vision of the “new world,” by sending the Holy Spirit as our guide, teacher, and power source to make it happen.
May the great biblical vision of such a wonderful world give us ALL hope, and inspire us to pray and act like it really can be brought about. Let’s start with a commitment to the truth—real facts, not “alternative facts.” May we believe that, with God’s help, we can turn Alvin Toffler’s prediction of “Future Shock” into Isaiah’s vision of “Future Joy!” Amen.
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