2010, the future is now

The other day when I was writing something I wrote the date and it actually struck me, we're living in 2010. I started thinking about that date and the litany of films that came out in the 1970s and 1980s about the future. I wonder what those filmmakers would say about what the work looks like now.

When you see things like "2001: A Space Odyssey" or anything based on a Philip K. Dick story, it's set in the early 21st Century. We are at or have surpassed that time, but we have hardly developed the technology for a fuel-efficient vehicle, forget flying cars, space travel or the look of the world.

In fact, many of those films feel quite dated by now. What we're missing, however, is the new wave of futuristic films and predictions. So far they don't seem forthcoming.

Today I had the chance to catch up with an old friend. I was thinking back to our early days in college, remembering that first semester when we were getting ready to go home for winter break wondering if we'd even have a college to come back to following the Y2K crisis that loomed that New Years Day. It seems silly now, but then it loomed large.

Looking back now, it's amazing home much the world has changed in the seven years since I graduated from college. Some good, some bad, but plenty different.

Now, many people again believe the apocalypse is eminent. Many have circled 2012 — based on ancient prophesy — as the year the world comes to an end. No doubt in 2015 people will look back on the film "2012" and laugh at its outdated predictions.

I guess the point is that we could spend a lot of time thinking about the future, what might happen and what might be created. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's also important to be in the moment, living our lives and doing our part to further the Kingdom of God.