Editorial October 19, 1992 Issue

Keeping pace in a changing world

William E. Moody

The newspaper heading caught my attention: "Time traveler' cosmonaut returns to changed world. Last March, after nearly a year orbiting the earth in the Soviet Mir space station, Sergei Krikalev was finally able to come home. But it was a much different world that awaited him. As the news report observed, "While he was circling the Earth ..., the Soviet Union fought off a coup, changed leaders and went out of existence. ... Even his hometown changed its name while he was in space—from Leningrad to St. Petersburg." In fact the changing political scene at home had stranded Krikalev in orbit five months longer than originally intended. Upon his touchdown in Kazakhstan, the media gave the cosmonaut the nickname Time Traveler, comparing him "to science fiction characters who suddenly find themselves catapulted into a new century" (The Boston Globe).

It probably isn't uncommon today to feel stranded by events, at the mercy of a constantly changing world, perhaps even victimized by the rapid pace of change over which any one person seems to have little or no control. How many may feel on the verge themselves of being "catapulted into a new century" with insufficient preparation and too few options for determining their own future? Having any reasonable opportunity to prepare for the year 2,000 and beyond may not even appear possible to most people, and more than a few undoubtedly are frustrated in the effort to deal with the ongoing demands of each day while never quite catching up.

Although there's certainly much that we can all do to look ahead and make provision for the future—through continuing education, staying knowledgeable about current affairs, and alertly watching trends—very few can make a full-time occupation of it. What each of us can benefit from, however, is a new outlook on life itself—a spiritual perspective, an understanding of our own individual purpose in God's design, and a confidence in our God-given spiritual capacities to meet whatever our changing world may bring.

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