OK, you asked for it, James.
Future derives ‘from 14th century. Via Old French from Latin futurus "going to be." Ultimately from an Indo-European verb meaning "to grow, become, be," which is also the ancestor of English be and build.’
Have you noticed GOD, in all it’s forms, deals with the future…of being, in becoming, in building, and as a guide God does not exist in the past (although GOD’s creations do). GOD is forward looking; GOD is enlightening; GOD must be cause for optimism (the future must always be). GOD is entangled with us in the present…precisely because GOD is the future. Christ almighty!!!. Jesus was a time traveler!
The idea of ‘future’ has been expressed in many forms prior to the establishment of the term itself. From primitive man painting animals on cave walls to representations of a promised land and an AFTER - LIFE. One can say GOD has been with us all along and, hence, the idea of GOD cannot be dismissed.
Now the future exists with or without man. All life forms, indeed all that exists must contend with GOD. Life forms evolve various specialized mechanisms in their quest to survive. The differences of these traits among life forms is more often just a matter of degree. Most animals can see, but an eagle can see for distance. Man can ‘see’ the future on an order far more advanced than any other creature on earth. This is precisely what sets man apart and it’s manifestation is revealed only in the individual as the upper regions of the cerebral cortex… the area of the soul; of consciousness and of conscience. It is in the individual human where GOD becomes prominent.
We live in a universe of probabilities. The future is changing and dynamical…not static and independent. Within a specified time frame, the future is neither entirely fated nor does it offer infinite possibilities. Our ancestral caveman may have opted to improve his tools. He did not have the option to become an astronaut. Nevertheless, the future offers man a plethora of options from which to act.
When options become limited, then man becomes deprived and will act accordingly. The imposition of static rules, of ritualistic practice, of burdensome taxation, and of ideas that punish him for his very existence, by religions, governments, and other collective bodies, render the individual absent of any viable future. The future, in this sense, has been hijacked by the few in the name of the collective.
The absence of light, according to the poet Dante, is darkness…and the absence of hope is frozen hell. And likewise, to limit man’s options, to deprive him of his liberty… of his future is to bring hell on earth. The practice of depraving the individual is devil worhip.
Is it clearer for you now, James
John Galt |
