C3: Future

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Boredom & Microwaves

Apathy is a common complaint of today's young. The feeling is expressed something like this:

Nothing is really valuable or important.
Everything stops eventually and everybody dies.
Why bother making an effort when it doesn't really make a difference anyway?
The future will be just like the past.
Life is boring, so what's really the point?
Where do these feelings come from and how can they be handled? The answer, in part at least, is microwave ovens...

We are given so much on a plate nowadays. Instant coffee in jars, instant excitement on TV, instant fortune on scratchcards, instant information on the Internet and instant dinner from a microwave oven. There are many aspects of our society that provide us with immediate gratification.

The problem is that we have learnt to expect all of this and we are upset when it doesn't instantly appear. This way of life effects how we think too. We begin to value short term goals and pleasures and we reject the strain and struggle associated with commitment and hard work. Since we don't want to make a serious effort, and we are often unsatisfied with all these "instant" machines and feelings, we get disillusioned and bored.

Though very simplified, the point holds true: life becomes boring when everything you want is at your fingertips or within your grasp. Motivation only comes from a dissatisfaction of the way things are. Without a commitment to the future, the present is one long yawn. Nothing matters when there is nothing to achieve.

Thinking millennially

Life is different for Jews. For many people, life begins with birth and ends in death. For the Jew, life begins with the creation of the world and ends with the coming of the Messiah. Every Jew learns that they are part of the overall process and progress of history. Built into our minds is the knowledge that our origins go back to the beginning of time and our destiny is bound up with the final fate of the entire world.

Though we live short lives, we know that they exist on a much larger canvas. An awareness of that canvas can raise the value of our existence. Is what you do only for your times, for your life? Or is for all Time, for all Life? If we can think millennially, we can put Life in perspective. What will happen in a hundred years from now? In five hundred years? In a thousand? Will many of our worries seem less important on this grand scale? Thinking like this pushes us to find out what really matters in life, and to discover what is truly precious.

Momentous moments

Jewish history is a very long story. It is a story that has constantly met and overcome obstacle after obstacle, trial after trial and disaster after disaster. By pinpointing moments in this history, we can find a valuable attitude towards the future:

The time is 1200BCE... Moses has recently died and the apprehensive Jewish people are about to enter the land of Israel. At this point the Torah ends and the new book of Joshua begins. By stopping just before the entry into the Land, the Torah teaches an certain attitude to the future: it is unwritten and challenging, but you must have faith. Faith in yourselves, faith in each other and faith in God.

The time is 70CE.... Roman armies surround the Temple in Jerusalem and destruction is imminent. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai makes a daring deal with the Roman authorities. He obtains permission to set up a new centre for Jewish education in Yavneh, a coastal region west of the capital. Why does he not plead for Jerusalem's rescue? Why does he let the destruction continue? Because he realises that the future of Jews and Judaism is best served in another way. He cannot be sure but he has faith. Faith in his vision and faith in God.

The time is March 1942... Many European Jews find themselves in Nazi death camps. At Auschwitz a group of Jews place God on trial for their suffering. They find him guilty and yet they proceed to pray the afternoon prayers. They do not give up hope, they have faith in the future. Faith in life itself and faith in God - even when He is silent.

The time is May 1948... All the Arab nations surrounding Israel attack this small State only moments after independence is declared. The Jews fight with everything they have. On the radio, the Egyptian propaganda machine announces that Tel Aviv has fallen and Israel is about to be annihilated. Ben Gurion, Israel's acting leader, continues the battle plan. Neither he nor any other Jew is confident of winning this battle. They are hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, but they will never give up. They have faith in the future of their young state. They have faith in Jewish history and its unseen Guide.

The time is now... The Jews are again in a new situation. It may or may not be a crisis. Many people though are worried about their future. Will they achieve anything? Will they make a difference? The question is: do you trust in the process of Jewish history? Do you have faith in the future? Is it a time to worry or time to find a way through, a time to act? Is your future bigger than just your own life?

Welcome the future...

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