How Far (and Little) We've Advanced

Cell phones. Internet. Airplanes. Electricity. Computers. These are modern conveniences we often take for granted. Last week I was reminded of how recent and incredible is this technology.

I was in St. Louis last week for a short family vacation. There, we visited the Gateway Arch. Seeing it up close and personal is an awe inspiring experience. It's catenary curve is 630 long from leg to leg and 630 feet high. The margin of error for joining the two ends was only 1/64". All measurements were done without the aid of computers. When you watch the movie of how the Arch was built, you realize it was an incredible engineering accomplishment.

While we were in St. Louis, I learned that a 95 year old member of our church had passed away. This dear lady was born in rural Kansas in 1914. Rural Kansas a that time had no electric lines or telephone. Cars and farm equipment were scarce.

But fast forward 50 years later. Electricity, telephone, cars, and farm combines are in abundance. And in 1965, the Arch was completed. Obviously, the innovation in technology continued to explode. Today, we have robotic surgery, the Internet, cell phones, and computerized everything.

We have all this amazing technology--and it's come about in just the last 50-100 years.

And yet, humanity has progressed so little. 1914 was the start of World War I. A few more wars have occurred since then. We still have conflict, aggression, self-centeredness, and wickedness. We still need a Savior.

We've come so far, but not much has changed.