Two events recently happened that got me thinking about our obsession with predicting the future. About two weeks ago, we experienced a significant snowstorm here in Ohio, as did much of the Midwest and Northeast. And, more recently, the championship football game for the NFL took place. I will add a third event, that being my recent retirement. And yes, I will tie these seemingly disparate topics together in the end. Now to the subject of our desire to see into the future.
In the days leading up to the recent winter storm, forecasters were constantly revising the predictions of the amount of snow we would get when it hit. Like has been done with hurricanes for years, winter storms now receive names. This storm was named Landon and predictions in our area early on were for anywhere from eight to 22 inches of snow. Before I get in to how the forecast aligned with reality, a word about naming storms. I understand why we do so for hurricanes. Generally there are several that hit the U.S. each season and naming them helps us to remember them better. Not so for winter storms. At least ones worth remembering. For those of us who are of a certain age, the memories of the blizzard of 1978 require no name for that storm. The entire state of Ohio was shut down as the snow piled up, temperatures dropped, and the wind created white-out conditions day and night. Even after the storm passed, the amount of snow on the ground made travel hazardous if not impossible. For those who lived through it, it is simply ‘The Blizzard of ‘78’ or simply, ‘The Blizzard.’
Back to the recent storm. As the date for the storm approached, the projections for snowfall began to drop. Two days before it was 12-16 inches. Then the day before 8-11 inches. On the eve of the storm the forecast changed to 5 – 9 inches. In the end, we received about 7-8 inches of snow. Enough to close things down for a day or two, but not enough that this storm will be remembered once the grass starts to grow again in April. As usually is the case now a days, the lead up to the storm was much more intense than the storm itself. To be clear, I am not criticizing weather forecasters. They are simply responding to our desire for to know what is going to happen with the weather.
Photo by Dave Adamson
As for the recent football game, the scenario is similar. Once the two teams were determined for the championship, there began two weeks of speculation as to who would win and what would happen during the game. And this should be no surprise to any of us. Afterall, much if not most of all sports programming on the air today is analysts and experts prognosticating about the outcome of upcoming games.
Every strength and weakness of each team is minutely analyzed and the experts tell us how they will impact the ultimate outcome. Some watch these endless hours of speculation because they are enthusiastic fans of the sports. Other perhaps to determine who they will bet on. In either case, sports speculation is big business. There are dozens of sports channels to watch and sports betting has proliferated into a billion-dollar industry. And both seem to relegate the games themselves to the background. The prediction becoming more important than the contest. Everyone trying to prove that they knew ahead of time who would win.
The third event I mentioned, my retirement generated a lot of speculation about the future on my part. As retirement approached, I spent much thought and consideration on what I would do in retirement and what it would be like to be retired. How would my daily routine change? Would I get bored? Would I get a little rounder in the middle or maybe slim down because I no longer sat at a desk all day? Would the stock market be kind to our portfolio or would I need to find another job? Many questions to think about and I came up with many more answers to ponder. The variables were almost overwhelming.
So what ties these three subjects together? The obvious answer is that, in all three cases, we are trying to predict the future. We want to pull back the curtain and get a glimpse of what will be. And there is something else as well. There is a lesson to be learned here. Obsessing about the future can, and often does, prevent us from experiencing the very thing we are so obsessed about. We might miss the beauty of a snow-covered landscape because we are mad at the weather person for getting the forecast wrong. Or we become so distraught at the fact our team lost the game, that we did not enjoy watching it at all. Or worse, we become despondent and act as if a tragedy occurred in our life. And finally, we are so preoccupied with preparing for retirement that we miss those first few days of relaxation and sense of accomplishment because we have a plan to execute.
I have to admit, it took me a full week to start to relax and let my days flow as they will. Yes, I am keeping busy and am enjoying getting some projects down around the house. I am in the final stages of completing a new book that I hope will be out later this year. (More on that in the near future.) And I am learning to start each day with a different attitude. One that is open to whatever God has planned for me.
If this all makes some sense to you, here are a few scripture verses that may help to let go of worry and obsession with the future. I know they help me.
Matthew 6:34
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
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