“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom.”

                                                                                                1 Corinthians 1:25

The devotionals lately have been a little heavy. A lot going on in our world to contemplate. This should lighten things up a bit. It seems that the human hubris that believes our society and culture is the be-all, end-all, is not new. We’re not the first to believe we have reached the apex of human intelligence.

In 1517, no one expected a little-known monk at a brand-new university in an out-of-the-way town to transform the world. But the printing press afforded Martin Luther a reach throughout Europe he could not have known otherwise. Over the course of the 16th century, printers issued nearly 5,000 editions of Luther’s works, and Luther was the most published author ever by the end of the century. He said this: “The printing press is the greatest and ultimate gift through which God continues to spread the word of the gospel. It is the last flame before the end of the world.”

In 1966, Time magazine ran a bold prediction: “Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds.”

In 1946 movie studio executive Darryl F. Zanuck said, “Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”

 In 1939 when England went to war with Germany, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, “Atomic energy might be as good as our present-day explosives, but it is unlikely to produce anything very much more dangerous.”

Before setting sail on its virgin voyage, Edward J. Smith, the captain of the Titanic said, “I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”

Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox made a statement on Dec. 4, 1941, to assure everyone that the situation was well in hand. “Whatever happens,” he said, “the U.S. Navy is not going to be caught napping.” The attack on Pearl Harbor happened three days later.

In 1964, National Review founder William F. Buckley described the Beatles as “so unbelievably horrible, so appallingly unmusical, so dogmatically insensitive to the magic of the art, that they qualify as crowned heads of anti-music.” Then when Decca Records rejected them after their 1962 audition, the reason was, “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”

In 1949 Popular Mechanics magazine said, “Where a calculator today is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may only have 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons.”

 In 1876, Alexander Bell was strapped for cash and offered to sell his new invention, the telephone, to Western Union for $100,000. They rejected the offer, saying, “We do not see that this device will ever be capable of sending recognizable speech over a distance of several miles. Bell wants to install one of their telephone devices in every city. The idea is idiotic. Why would any person want to use this ungainly and impractical device when he can send a messenger to the telegraph office and have a clear written message sent to any large city in the United State? This is hardly more than a toy. We do not recommend its purchase.”

“Father, Help us to learn to laugh at ourselves when we think we have reached the nirvana of enlightenment and remember that only YOU know what tomorrow holds.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Grace,

Rev. Dan