The Future

WED., APR. 26, 1989, 6:11 AM
FARM, STUDY

Your next “project” beyond your teaching here is a presentation on the future for your field. You shall have many ideas of your own, and you shall seek ideas from colleagues and from your literature. I, the Holy Spirit, just want you to know that I, too, have ideas, though I shall not share all that I know.

The future is partly determined, but this should not be your main emphasis in Utah. The balance cannot really be explained. I both know what the future will be and watch as it unfolds through the free will of many individual and groups. I know this should be either/or, but it isn’t. You cannot know the future, but you act in the present according to some vision of what shall be. Always assume you have some control over your own future, even as you recognize and accept forces that can make it other than you envision.

Will the future be one of more or less disease? On the one hand science and technology have great capacities to develop medicines and vaccines to combine both new and old diseases. Some of you in the world shall have more resistance to infection because of better diet, both theoretical and actual. On the other hand, the population of humans on the planet continues to increase, which means that the number of those who are “weak” in relation to disease increases. Also I am quite aware that one of the unfortunate side effect so high entropy production and living is waste that causes disease in some. Will AIDS increase, stabilize or diminish? What will Alzheimer’s be in the future? Just know, fundamentally, that any future in relation to disease shall be an opportunity for spiritual growth, for you, personally, and for your profession.

Will more or less medical care be needed in the future? It is logical that if there is more disease there will be need for more. Yet the counter is also a possibility. Health education could prevail, “producing” healthier lifestyles and a trend away from medication, particularly multiple medications. You, personally, have needed virtually no medical care. Shall that happy state continue? Naturally you shall live as though the current state shall prevail… and perhaps it shall. Be reasonably ready for either.

You envision a future of continued teaching, in this state of vibrant health. Yet here again you recognize forces that could shorten your professional career. Perhaps you can just coast through these last years, but also consider that you may have to revive your competitive spirit and show the vigor or youth in order to hold on to the benefits of your seniority. This may require some hard decisions.

One obvious powerful influence on the future is what happens with the economic system. I do not control this. I just help people as this is a factor in their lives. The system could crash in some minor or major way… or it could continue to muddle along, with forces in some uneasy balance. A collapse would be terrible for some but could have the positive effect of reducing expectations for affluence. My major objection to the so-called “developed world” is this push toward selfish affluence when so many opportunities are presented for those with wealth to help their fellow humans voluntarily.

All cannot survive. This is a hard truth rather than a prophesy. The human population cannot continue to increase as it is now. The adjustments shall not be welcomed, and some will be difficult to experience, but a different balance shall develop. This may not occur during your remaining time in this earth life, but it may begin in your era.