If we suddenly had revealed to us what the biggest movers in the stock market were going to be tomorrow, or, even in a shorter term, in a couple of hours, we would spend the intervening time far more profitably than would otherwise be possible. As we don’t know what the future will bring, and are often anxious because we don’t know, it’s not unreasonable to conclude that our inability to deal with the randomness of the future is the biggest cause of all our unhappiness.
Greece’s early democracies were hotbeds of subversion, bribe-taking, and back-stabbing. They were eventually absorbed by Rome. One has to ask: “Would all those generations of Greeks who fought so intensely with other Greeks, in and out of their own city-states, have done so if they could have seen far enough into the future to realize that, no matter what they did, their city-states were all going to end up as wholly-owned Roman colonies?”
Romans may have put their disagreements with other Romans and foreigners into better perspective if they’d known that, no matter how successful they were, tribes of Vandals would soon overthrow their government. So it is with every nation, people, and person. The concerns of the short term keep us from the long-term thinking that gives us a perspective that keeps us from wasting time.
In Scripture, we see that there are “God’s Chosen”. “His People” are often mentioned. They are promised “peace”.
The first step to that peace comes from looking ahead to the sure and certain Judgment that awaits each of us. That is the one thing we should assume will happen, not only because it will, but also, because preparing for it makes us better people.
The second step is working backwards from that Judgment to where we are, today. We realize that if we focus on doing fewer things for which we have to forgiven, the likelihood of having our soul get to Heaven increases. So, our most intelligent choice is to obey The Loving Programmer’s operating instructions between now and the day our soul leaves our body.
As we focus more on the longest term of all, worldly things matter less. Peace enters as we see that our priorities correctly reflect reality.
