Progress?

It's always meant to be a good thing:

• it's the virtue that drove the common people from farming to the mills in the Industrial Revolution
• it inspired Newton and Galileo to look beyond the Church's narrow definition of a flat earth ruled by God in a hierarchical system bound by rules
• it always results in change
• it tries to be forward looking as an attitude

Today in our generation it seems that progress is a good word, one that conjures up positive responses and attitudes from people. As soon as the temptation to look at "the good old days" rears its head, this little word is thrown in and all plaintive cries are extinguished. It's the reason we are where we are now we hear.

Well, how about in a different context?

• to the cancer sufferer it means more treatments and possibly fatal news
• to the ms sufferer it means another level of coping with limits
• to the third world mother, it means someone else thousands of miles away eats while her children starve

It's funny because today we attribute generally good qualities with this word, but to me it's not that simple. Life isn't about progressing very often, sometimes it's about survival and holding on, and the type of people who talk about progress usually are searching for something.

The irony is that nine times out of ten what they're searching for is not something that is constantly in flux, no, that would be awful. That would be like trying to grab hold of sand and feeling it drain through your fingers.

They're looking for something to depend upon. Something to be stable enough to rely on and have certainty, yet still have that freshness that comes with the "newness" of a thing.

The Bible talks about Jesus being the same "yesterday, today and forever", and for me that's the reason why following Him is so attractive. He is with us in our past, our present and our future. Because of this, he can work in our past to bring good in the present, that will ultimately make us better people in the future. And he sees it all, both what we were, what we are, and what we will become, so He has a whole perspective of us as a person that we could never have.

He doesn't judge us for how we were, because he see what we are now. He doesn't judge us for how we are now, because He sees what we will be. He sees what we will become, and He knows what has happenned to make us that way.

Once you grasp such an idea, it's hard not to be grateful. When God judges, He is fair, because He has the ultimate perspective, and we don't. We rush to judge, and decide, but God doesn't. He is patient, and takes everything into account because He sees it all. Maybe we should remember that more often.

Is progress a good thing?

Maybe. Maybe not.

One thing I know, to God it's an opportunity to move our future a bit closer to us.