Humans have a fascination with the future. They love trying to predict it, whether that’s through fortune tellers or tea leaves or almanacs or even more modern, scientific means like the weather or global warming. Look at the formulas we have, predicting what will happen when one of the variables change. What power, the power to predict the future! And what does this reflect about humanity?
We hate uncertainty, we want to be prepared for what comes next. At our core we hate surprises; think about all the times you’ve indignantly walked out and the weather report has lied. We don’t want to be disappointed in the future. We cry when it goes differently than expected, or we fall into apathy and try not to care that we were bothered. We defiantly prepare for the future, daring the future to change so drastically that it overcomes our preparation. Or more often, we confidently claim to know the future, but warily prepare and meekly acquiesce and inevitably scrap our plan. We endlessly worry about it, such that our culture praises when you worry about the future and develop a comprehensive plan for the future. Something is wrong with us if we do not care about the future! Therefore it is so radical that Jesus called us not to worry about tomorrow.
Written during Econ discussion, during a flash of inspiration instead of listening to the Phillip’s Curve.