The Future Part 3

Todd concludes his look at life prolonging technology and our desire to control the future. He looks at what could happen if we stopped fearing death, and the peace that comes with relying on God. -Editor.

The last couple weeks we've had a look mostly at Raymond Kurzweil's view of the not-too-distant future. The main theme is robots and technology become a part of us, and we gain the ability to escape death. Kurzweil's future isn't that far off, about 30 years or so, but what if we take a look farther into the future? Then what can we hope for? Funny you should ask, because a man named Robert Monroe, a fellow who I've referenced before in an NCP article (http://www.newchurchperspective.com/essays/2010/9/17/weird-ii-what-kind-of-weird-are-you.html) had a out-of-body experience where he was taken into a potential future for the earth, sometime beyond the year 3000.

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The Future Part 2

Carrying on from last week's article about technology prolonging life, Todd ponders why humans might want to extend their time on earth. Why be afraid of moving on? Is it good to live longer or are we trying to outsmart God? -Editor.

Last week I introduced you to Raymond Kurzweil, a prominent inventor and futurist. Kurzweil believes computer intelligence is advancing so rapidly that in a couple of decades, machines will be as intelligent as humans. Soon after that they will surpass humans and start creating even smarter technology. By the middle of this century, the only way for us to keep up will be to merge with the machines so that their superior intelligence can boost our weak little brains and beef up our pitiful, illness-prone bodies. His predictions for the future are somewhat like the Borg from Star Trek, in that we will be assimilated into cyborgs, but with a more immediate timeline for these developments that is like the Terminator movies. Oh, except in Kurzweil's future the machines will be nice. Great!

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The Future Part 1

There are many ways to try and control our future life and death, and Todd starts to look at a technological one and all it's implications. -Editor.

What keeps you up at night? Is it the anticipation of another great day?! Or is it the worry of impending doom? I suspect for most of us, it is more the latter than the former. What often gives me a restless night is the worry that I'm going to oversleep and miss my flight. Hasn't happened yet, mind you, but that doesn't keep me from worrying about it. Other times it can be a concern over what is happening or not happening at work. Do I have all my work done? Have I done a good enough job? Will people appreciate what I have done? Whatever the specific nature of the concern, they all have one thing in common: they are concerns about the future.

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The World Is Amazing and Nobody Is Happy

Relentlessly upbeat, Todd pokes us to question why we aren't happier. How do we appreciate the incredible luxuries and conveniences of life without immediately absorbing them into our set of expectations we can be disappointed over? This post was scooped from Todd's Blog. -Editor.

Recently I came across a comedian, Louis CK, who was on a late night talk show and explaining to the host how, “The world is amazing and nobody is happy.” I posted a link to this on the Hurstville Facebook page, and encourage you to watch it. This guy is absolutely right. We go to the airport, complain when our flight is delayed by 30 minutes or an hour, totally forgetting that it really is amazing that we can travel coast to coast in about 5 hours. Even if you add in the time it takes to get to the airport, going through security, etc., you can make the Sydney to Perth trip in 8 hours. Amazing. Consider that 100 years ago that trip wasn’t something you did in a week, much less a third of a day.

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Weird V: Evil Spirits in Your Intestines

There are some strange and far out passages and descriptions in Swedenborg's Writings. What are we to do with them - embrace them or keep them at arms' length? Todd looks at one of these teachings and offers a way we can use them in developing a fuller New Church outlook. -Editor

It's been a while since my last installment of “Weird.” The original idea behind them is this: perhaps the New Church isn't as weird as it should be. What would the church look like if we actually embraced some of the seemingly weirder teachings in the Heavenly Doctrines? What would happen if we put it on the line: the second coming has already happened, there are beings on other planets, and there are spirits with us that have a profound effect on our thoughts and emotions.

That last one is a biggie in my opinion. All through the Heavenly Doctrines we are told again and again how closely we are connected to other spirits, and how they profoundly influence us. Now I've been through most of the General Church's educational system, and while I heard plenty about the second coming, and occasionally a reference to other worldly beings, there were regrettably few references to the spirits that are with us. I'm starting to think that is because we're not wanting to be that weird.

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Part 3: Obey

This is the final article in a three-part series looking at the model Jesus provided for evangelisation. Here Todd focuses on how Jesus asked people to obey Him. Todd views this as matter of common sense. If you have come to believe in Him, doing what He says is the only rational path. When the storms come, and we do as He instructed us, we survive. Our lives then become a testament to the power of His teachings and may draw others. -Editor

How do we grow the church? The purpose of these articles has been for us to take a look at how Jesus started the Christian church. Up to this point we've looked at asking people to follow us, to just see for themselves the healing teachings. After a while, Jesus asks them to believe. Now that they've seen and believe, things actually do take a different turn. This is the practical part, the “do” part. They were asked to obey.

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