When Rockets of Human Progress Fall From the Sky

What will you do?

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The famous quote —belonging to Neil Armstrong— was delivered once he stepped foot on the moon. While an extremely popular quote, it isn’t quite what Armstrong said as the letter ‘a’ was hard to hear during his transmission. His actual quote was, "That's one small step for ‘a’ man, one giant leap for mankind." However, the sentiment of the more popular version of the quote has been embraced by many over the decades. With each new SpaceX rocket that dons one of Earth’s orbits with a new satellite —rocket booster recaptured with incredible precision— wide-eyed progressionists clap and cheer as they envision the stars drawing that much closer to their grasping hands. Humanity, moving forward.

Many people aren’t familiar with the term “progressionist”, yet they heavily subscribe to what it means —a belief in the biological progression or evolution of the human race. It is a desire to be more than what we are and to have more than what has been graciously allotted. If we were to meditate on the spectacularity of what we’re part of it becomes obvious that a rock, spinning in deep space sustaining all life is beyond human comprehension. While we can realize what is happening as a fact, the how and why behind it all boggles the human mind. But, one thing is certain if we’re honest with ourselves and that is nothing appears to be by mere accident. Move just one of our planets and the gravitational disruption alone is enough to destabilize every planet including Earth. Yet, despite the exactness, wonder, and awe of what is our home we still desire more –reaching for the stars.

Up until now humans have accomplished incredible feats through the use of technology —no matter how crude— with the ultimate goal of creating as much efficiency as possible. Yet, it seems efficiency is no longer the goal and I’ve begun to question if it ever was. When I look out at the world I don’t see a family of human beings working together to exercise perfect dominion over its planet. Instead, I see something else —a species constantly trying to break free from its purpose and role. For example, humans aren’t meant to live forever, but living forever is the desire. Humans aren’t meant to live on other planets, but living on other planets is the desire. Humans aren’t meant to be half-cyborg, but transhumanism is now the desire. Humans aren’t meant to be gods, yet here we are, attempting to manipulate life as if it were a sci-fi Hollywood movie. I believe we’ve taken our eye off the ball —pun intended— in our pursuit of progress.

The story of humanity attempting to be more than it is traces back to our beginning. The Adam and Eve account most people are familiar with captures the great temptation resting at the core of man’s heart —the desire for more than just Eden and to be more than just a gardener— discontent with his position in life. Adam and Eve wanted out of the Garden before they were ready. In the biblical account Yahweh creates humanity as His image bearers to exercise dominion over the earth. Pleased with His labor that took place over the course of 6 days He finally rests. The ancient Babylonian account of creation captured in tablet VI of Enuma Elish puts a different spin on the human creation story. In this account humanity is created specifically for the purpose of doing the work of the gods —work that was considered drudgery. The creation of man would relieve the gods to focus on the rest of the cosmos. But in both accounts we see man was created with a purpose and duty to work the earth.

However, the temptation to not live out God’s decree doesn’t stop at the Edenic event. It continues with the Babel event which takes place post flood as man unites to build a ziggurat —a divine temple— in order to bring the divine realm to the earth. Since man could not reach the gods, the idea was to establish a way to bring the gods down to them. This causes Yahweh and his divine council to descend but, only to address man’s disobedience by confusing the rebel’s language, followed by separating them into nations. Once again we see humanity discontent with its purpose and job of stewarding the earth. It rejects God’s decree to fill the earth and exercise dominion over it —the same decree given to Adam and Eve.

But oddly, it’s not only humans who have a problem with sticking to the plan. In the biblical account, the catastrophic flood event known throughout the ancient world was a consequence of the planet becoming corrupted. The corruption was a result of the supernatural sons of God copulating with humanity —causing women to bear a new species known as the Nephilim who led humanity to depravity. This depravity spread and fully corrupted our planet. This is important to note because we see supernatural beings also refusing to follow their purpose which was to maintain the supernatural realm. Instead, many attempt to interfere in the business of humanity on earth in order to live as humans. The problem —and there are really many— with not being God is the absence of knowledge and wisdom known only to God. As a species we seem to never learn, much like a hard headed, belligerent child that kicks and screams in the grocery store because they’ve been told, “no candy”.

As a species we often make things worse in our attempt to make things better as if the cosmos needs our help. We’re quick to start a work, only to leave it half done before we jettison off to the next thing to disrupt. Should we be surprised that when humans attempt to do more than what is required it finds itself closer to chaos and destruction? Whether it is the advent of agricultural technology which causes destruction to the planet and increases disease through poison peddled as food; the field of medicine that rakes in billions annually while not actually curing anyone of anything; innovation in nuclear weaponry meant for deterrence yet we’re closer to using them than any point in history; or digital technology which is used by governments to create honeypots for its citizens or disseminate false information to manipulate whole societies; it is clear to me that humans usually start out with good intentions only for those intentions to quickly erode. We’re like little fire starters, setting everything ablaze wherever we go and then we wonder why it’s all on fire. Instead of putting out the previous fire, we set a new one somewhere else. We tell ourselves that the work we do must be done for the betterment of mankind and that we mean well. But there’s a familiar saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I believe this is a saying that we all need to start taking seriously as it concerns our progressionists efforts. I’ve written on the declining health of the human race several times before so I won’t do it here, but if after all we’ve built we’re losing our bodies, minds, and souls, then maybe, just maybe we need to hit pause on this movie we’re all in and start questioning our actions.

Where are we going? This is a question no one can answer but, my senses tell me that humans just want to simply do whatever they want, not whatever they should, all at the expense of human lives and the cosmos. Human accomplishments are normally couched in language around ideas such as bettering society, progressing the human race, or advancing human civilization. But none of this actually means anything as there’s nothing substantive behind such ideas. It’s language that puffs up the ego of humanity while leaving everyone blinded by pride. A destination can only be determined if there is a clear understanding of what that destination happens to be in relation to the point of origin. And how will we know when we’ve arrived? Who is in the driver’s seat? The human race appears to be white-knuckling a steering wheel motoring through space and time with no real idea of where it is going, yet thinks because it has created new technology it is somehow progressing. Who determined humanity needed to “progress”? Who gets to determine what defines progression? Who gets to play God with the human race? Why can’t we get our own house in order before we destroy something else?

The danger of technology doesn’t lie in itself, but in the hands of those who wield it and have become enslaved to it. Artificial intelligence and rockets aren’t a sign of human progress as there is nothing which can “progress the human”. The human is a wonderfully created spectacle fashioned by the ingenuity and grace of an amazing God. The earth was and is a gift bestowed upon the image bearers of this God to steward and protect. The obviousness of this fact is etched into the soul of every human being that realizes we are connected to the planet we live on. Nothing else no matter how shiny enables such a bond.

Absent from the conversation of human progression is the concern of the human heart. The pride of humanity attempts to subvert the issue we all know exists —depravity— by focusing on technological progress. We often ignore the proverbial elephant in the room. But the many ills we face in the world aren’t due to a lack of technology but a lack of love towards the human race and a rejection of God’s will. World hunger isn’t a result of food lack. It is a result of poor stewarding of the earth’s resources. Disease isn’t prevalent because we need better medicines or new technology. It is prevalent due to the creation of toxins and poisons that are a net result of our modern living —compounded by our refusal to live according to nature’s laws. Poverty isn’t a result of technological lack. It is a result of the poor use of citizen’s tax revenue and corrupt government officials that depress an economy.

I’m reminded of ancient Israel that implemented a system to ensure that those who were poor could glean from the fields of those that set aside a certain percentage of their harvest —which was commanded by God. Furthermore, every seven years ancient Israel practiced what was known as Shemittat Kesafim —the release of monies— which meant the forgiveness of all debts. This was essentially a reset of the economy and every 50 years Jubilee was celebrated which alleviated all debt, enforced the return of land to the original owners of those who sold it to pay off debt and also to free anyone that was a slave. This was a 50 year reset of the entire nation. Socialism not required. But this kind of “progress” requires a change of the human heart and it is a type of progress that carries with it a lack of interest in our day. Man always thinks his ways are loftier than his Creator’s.

Real progress in life demands real sacrifice. It is the type of sacrifice humanity has been unwilling to bear since its creation. Since the dawn of time humans have sought after ways to build until it can touch the sky, foolishly thinking that by playing God we can progress past what we are. But no matter how many supplements one swallows, botox procedures one endures, green smoothies one drinks, rockets we blast, robots we build, medicines we create, or planets we touch, if the human race still carries the same rebellious heart the end result will be chaos. We can try to convince ourselves that we’re different, better than those who came before us and that we’ll never make the same mistakes such as starting a world war. But, I’m willing to bet everyone before us thought the same.

Each and every one of us are caught in what I call the chaos cycle. I believe time is in fact not linear, but cyclical and it includes resets. The great lie is that the story of the human race is linear and it is this lie that keeps everyone focused on the wrong thing —eyes only forward reaching for what’s past our grasp. It is akin to a driver who never uses their rear or side view mirrors. It is akin to a horse with blinders on. The more the system we all live in keeps us distracted with the false narrative of progress the higher our chances are of heading towards disaster like those who came before us. Human pride would have us believe we who live today, are at the precipice of the human race. But everyone that came before us was able to make that very same claim during their time. Kingdoms rise and fall. Civilizations come and go. The earth morphs and shifts, hiding its past from those who live in the present —leaving everyone to wonder what was.

The system we live in is designed in such a way that we believe it is necessary for us to survive and thrive. The deceptive mantra is, “build or die” so we blindly keep churning as cogs in a wheel seeking ways to optimize our output. What would the world look like for each of us if we simply stopped trying to build and started stewarding what exists today? I believe a world exists where our mental and physical health does not take a nose dive. A world where stress is no longer king as we worry about things beyond our control. A world where we use our ingenuity to improve the conditions of our planet while eating a species appropriate diet. A world where we find better ways to mediate economic energy so waste doesn’t create unnecessary poverty. A world where we can stop inhaling and lathering in toxins. A world where we all seek ways to share instead of storing up what we can’t take with us when we die. There’s much work that can be done to help the human race and our home but, solutions don’t start with star gazing at the technology built by wayward people.

I know what I’m proposing may sound like an attempt at utopia but I don’t subscribe to the idea of a utopic earth —not until the return of Christ and the remaking of the earth. We will still have wars, people will fall ill, die, and there will still be corruption. But the point, is that we should be striving to get our own house in order while our “modern” civilization has a chance. If not, we need to ask what will we do when the rockets we’ve built start falling from the sky, only for the next civilization to wonder what was.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed it, please restack and share it! Feel free to leave comments as I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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