There seems to be an epidemic among my generation (I was born in '87) to dream big. We all want to do spectacular things. I am certain this isn't a new phenomenon, but "shoot for the moon and even if you miss you will land among the stars" is a saying that I have heard numerous times in my life. All of this big dreaming is admirable. Dreamers need to dream--all of the great explorers probably started with a dream. Martin Luther King had a dream, all visionaries must. A vision is a dream about how the future could be, and, quite frankly, sometimes the future needs to be vastly different than the present. But, we must not go overboard. And I am afraid that we do--I know I stick my head over the ship's side quite often.
The trouble is, most of life is not super interesting. Dreaming up solutions to hairy problems is very interesting, but working out the details can get very mundane. Honestly, most of the tasks that fuel society's engine are quite repetitive and uninspiring. Not many youngsters grow up dreaming about working in a silverware factory, but we would have a hard time eating without the silverware factory workers and managers. A host of simple products could be listed that are produced through a great deal of repetition--these products are very useful. In fact, it could be argued that we need these products much more than we need the more innovative kinds (smartphones, high-speed trains, etc.).
Another trouble with attachment to big dreams is that we can overshoot what the world is willing to provide. If one is hungry, he can only eat what the universe has on the menu. Utopias are the result of trying to order filet and lobster when the universe is actually only serving hamburgers. It turns out that humans alone are never going to eradicate sin--the root of all of our problems. Death, murder, divorce, and poverty are all results of the fall. Certain results of the fall are under our control: murder, divorce, adultery, arrogance, etc. But others are God's to do away with: death, disease, etc. We must be careful that we are not counting on utopias when we envision new paths for society. A utopia will only exist when Christ has come back; it is our job to do the best we can until then.
So what are we to do? Well, spiritually and morally, we are to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and then live a life that is free of sin and full of love. We are to believe the doctrine that has been trusted for generations, rather than search for esoteric, mystical truths that are not there to be found.
Economically, we are to appreciate both imitation and innovation. If someone has already paved a road to my destination, my sanity should be questioned if I purchase expensive dirt movers and insist on forging my own path. We must also respect the professions that lay our sewer systems, manufacture our paper, and clean our toilets. Only a handful of people will invent a more efficient toilet; many more will be manufacturing, transporting, selling, and installing them. The manufacturers, truck drivers, retailers, and installers are just as integral as the designers. A society that forgets this is trying to eat things that are not on the menu. We must not get so caught up in designing new things and tackling the world's biggest problems that we forget to appreciate the toilet paper manufacturers.
The trouble is, most of life is not super interesting. Dreaming up solutions to hairy problems is very interesting, but working out the details can get very mundane. Honestly, most of the tasks that fuel society's engine are quite repetitive and uninspiring. Not many youngsters grow up dreaming about working in a silverware factory, but we would have a hard time eating without the silverware factory workers and managers. A host of simple products could be listed that are produced through a great deal of repetition--these products are very useful. In fact, it could be argued that we need these products much more than we need the more innovative kinds (smartphones, high-speed trains, etc.).
Another trouble with attachment to big dreams is that we can overshoot what the world is willing to provide. If one is hungry, he can only eat what the universe has on the menu. Utopias are the result of trying to order filet and lobster when the universe is actually only serving hamburgers. It turns out that humans alone are never going to eradicate sin--the root of all of our problems. Death, murder, divorce, and poverty are all results of the fall. Certain results of the fall are under our control: murder, divorce, adultery, arrogance, etc. But others are God's to do away with: death, disease, etc. We must be careful that we are not counting on utopias when we envision new paths for society. A utopia will only exist when Christ has come back; it is our job to do the best we can until then.
So what are we to do? Well, spiritually and morally, we are to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and then live a life that is free of sin and full of love. We are to believe the doctrine that has been trusted for generations, rather than search for esoteric, mystical truths that are not there to be found.
Economically, we are to appreciate both imitation and innovation. If someone has already paved a road to my destination, my sanity should be questioned if I purchase expensive dirt movers and insist on forging my own path. We must also respect the professions that lay our sewer systems, manufacture our paper, and clean our toilets. Only a handful of people will invent a more efficient toilet; many more will be manufacturing, transporting, selling, and installing them. The manufacturers, truck drivers, retailers, and installers are just as integral as the designers. A society that forgets this is trying to eat things that are not on the menu. We must not get so caught up in designing new things and tackling the world's biggest problems that we forget to appreciate the toilet paper manufacturers.
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