“I was a mere child of sixteen; I’ve aged a year since then!” So proclaimed platinum-selling artists “Dr Hook and the Medicine Show” in their gold-selling 1975 cover of singer-songwriter Sam Cooke’s original 1959 hit, “Only Sixteen”.
The song is written from the perspective of a seventeen year old who has aged a whole entire year since he was sixteen. In that (whopping amount of) time, a lot had apparently happened - not the least of which was the change in his perspective as the narrator.
Now, if one’s perspective can change that much in a single year from age sixteen to age seventeen, then imagine how much that perspective could change between birth and age seventeen. And now you grasp the point of today’s blog post. Seventeen years is quite a long time; and a lot can happen in that amount of time.
For instance, seventeen years ago, no one had heard of either a President Biden, a President Trump, or a President Obama. Multiple social media platforms like Instagram, Truth Social, Twitter (aka X), and the like did not yet exist. Even text messaging was not exactly the standard means of communication that it is today.
I could go on and on with examples. But the point remains. The world has changed significantly in seventeen years!
This begs a question. Imagine if you went to sleep tonight and woke up seventeen years from now. Just how much might the world have changed by then?
Back in the day, I remember viewing an episode of “The Flintstones” titled “Rip Van Flintstone”. (I now know that it originally aired in Season Six, Episode Eight on Nov 5, 1965.) In this episode, according to the Internet Movie Database…
At the annual picnic of the gravel pit where he worked, Fred is somewhat of a party pooper, unwilling to participate in the fun and games. Instead, he goes off by himself and finds a tree under which he falls asleep. He awakens to find the picnic over, and a good many changes besides. Barney has become an oil tycoon--and an old man; Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are grown and married; and Wilma is an old lady whom Barney has taken in as a charity case. Has Fred slept his life away?
Obviously, this episode is based on the classic short story titled “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving. According to Wikipedia…
“First published in 1819, it follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their strong liquor and falls deeply asleep in the Catskill Mountains. He awakes 20 years later to a very changed world, having missed the American Revolution.”
All of this has been on my mind as I have observed the recent emergence of “Seventeen Year Cycle” cicadas here in our neck of the woods. After seventeen years, an entire generation of these insects is, for the very first time, emerging from the ground to boldly check out the world of tomorrow. Can you imagine what they might be thinking if they were capable of any such activity?!
Better yet, imagine what you, yourself, might think if you had burrowed underground seventeen years ago, only to re-emerge again here in 2024. Seriously, what all has changed in this world in the past seventeen years? More to the point, what all might unfold in the next seventeen years?!
In 1900, few, if any, foresaw the advent of a first world-wide war. In the mid 1920s, few, if any, foresaw the advent of a world-wide depression, followed almost immediately by a second world-wide war. Yet, all of these horrific calamities inevitably came to pass. The same could be said for the Cold War, the War on Terror, the Great Recession, the pandemic, and numerous other historical occurrences since then.
So, what is my point here? Simply this… that none of us can foresee, let alone predict, the future. Surely, in light of this, it behooves each and every one of us, as believers, to make the most of each and every day in each and every way. After all, we really do not know what tomorrow holds!
And yet, it has well been observed that, while we do not know what tomorrow holds, we do know Who holds tomorrow. For nothing that has ever happened has ever caught God off guard. Nor will anything that unfolds in the future ever catch Him off guard. Ever was He in control; and ever will He be!
From our perspective, the future will always be a bit scary, as it forever remains a place fraught with ambiguity, uncertainty, and inevitably, even difficulty. And yet, countless generations of men and women have boldly gone forth into it anyway. And they have done so in and through their faith in the One Who is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, Jesus Christ. For He alone is the author and finisher of all things!
That is why one of my favorite Biblical words has always been “tomorrow”. Millennia ago, Joshua (in chapter three, verse five) reminded God’s people: “Tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among you!” And when that tomorrow unfolded, God did just what He promised to do. What is more, with each and every new tomorrow since then, He has continued to do amazing things in and among His people, all throughout history. He continues to do so today; just as He will tomorrow!
And so, my friend, irrespective of what you have been through, irrespective of what you are going through right now, let me encourage you with regard to tomorrow. For when it unfolds, despite all the uncertainty that has continually veiled it, it may well be a much better day than you may have foreseen.
I leave you with the words of that classic show tune from the hit Broadway musical “Annie”, titled simply “Tomorrow”…
The sun will come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!
Just thinking about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!
When I'm stuck in a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh
The sun will come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!
You're always a day away
When I'm stuck in a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!
Amen! And Amen!
SOURCES:
SONG LYRICS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_Sixteen;
https://genius.com/Sam-cooke-only-sixteen-lyrics.
TV SHOW SOURCE:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0580221/.
LITERATURE SOURCE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_Van_Winkle.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/revelation/22-13.htm;
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/12-2.htm;
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/God~s-Action-Tomorrow.
BROADWAY SHOW TUNE LYRICS:
https://www.songlyrics.com/annie/tomorrow-lyrics/;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_(Annie).
The song is written from the perspective of a seventeen year old who has aged a whole entire year since he was sixteen. In that (whopping amount of) time, a lot had apparently happened - not the least of which was the change in his perspective as the narrator.
Now, if one’s perspective can change that much in a single year from age sixteen to age seventeen, then imagine how much that perspective could change between birth and age seventeen. And now you grasp the point of today’s blog post. Seventeen years is quite a long time; and a lot can happen in that amount of time.
For instance, seventeen years ago, no one had heard of either a President Biden, a President Trump, or a President Obama. Multiple social media platforms like Instagram, Truth Social, Twitter (aka X), and the like did not yet exist. Even text messaging was not exactly the standard means of communication that it is today.
I could go on and on with examples. But the point remains. The world has changed significantly in seventeen years!
This begs a question. Imagine if you went to sleep tonight and woke up seventeen years from now. Just how much might the world have changed by then?
Back in the day, I remember viewing an episode of “The Flintstones” titled “Rip Van Flintstone”. (I now know that it originally aired in Season Six, Episode Eight on Nov 5, 1965.) In this episode, according to the Internet Movie Database…
At the annual picnic of the gravel pit where he worked, Fred is somewhat of a party pooper, unwilling to participate in the fun and games. Instead, he goes off by himself and finds a tree under which he falls asleep. He awakens to find the picnic over, and a good many changes besides. Barney has become an oil tycoon--and an old man; Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are grown and married; and Wilma is an old lady whom Barney has taken in as a charity case. Has Fred slept his life away?
Obviously, this episode is based on the classic short story titled “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving. According to Wikipedia…
“First published in 1819, it follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their strong liquor and falls deeply asleep in the Catskill Mountains. He awakes 20 years later to a very changed world, having missed the American Revolution.”
All of this has been on my mind as I have observed the recent emergence of “Seventeen Year Cycle” cicadas here in our neck of the woods. After seventeen years, an entire generation of these insects is, for the very first time, emerging from the ground to boldly check out the world of tomorrow. Can you imagine what they might be thinking if they were capable of any such activity?!
Better yet, imagine what you, yourself, might think if you had burrowed underground seventeen years ago, only to re-emerge again here in 2024. Seriously, what all has changed in this world in the past seventeen years? More to the point, what all might unfold in the next seventeen years?!
In 1900, few, if any, foresaw the advent of a first world-wide war. In the mid 1920s, few, if any, foresaw the advent of a world-wide depression, followed almost immediately by a second world-wide war. Yet, all of these horrific calamities inevitably came to pass. The same could be said for the Cold War, the War on Terror, the Great Recession, the pandemic, and numerous other historical occurrences since then.
So, what is my point here? Simply this… that none of us can foresee, let alone predict, the future. Surely, in light of this, it behooves each and every one of us, as believers, to make the most of each and every day in each and every way. After all, we really do not know what tomorrow holds!
And yet, it has well been observed that, while we do not know what tomorrow holds, we do know Who holds tomorrow. For nothing that has ever happened has ever caught God off guard. Nor will anything that unfolds in the future ever catch Him off guard. Ever was He in control; and ever will He be!
From our perspective, the future will always be a bit scary, as it forever remains a place fraught with ambiguity, uncertainty, and inevitably, even difficulty. And yet, countless generations of men and women have boldly gone forth into it anyway. And they have done so in and through their faith in the One Who is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, Jesus Christ. For He alone is the author and finisher of all things!
That is why one of my favorite Biblical words has always been “tomorrow”. Millennia ago, Joshua (in chapter three, verse five) reminded God’s people: “Tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among you!” And when that tomorrow unfolded, God did just what He promised to do. What is more, with each and every new tomorrow since then, He has continued to do amazing things in and among His people, all throughout history. He continues to do so today; just as He will tomorrow!
And so, my friend, irrespective of what you have been through, irrespective of what you are going through right now, let me encourage you with regard to tomorrow. For when it unfolds, despite all the uncertainty that has continually veiled it, it may well be a much better day than you may have foreseen.
I leave you with the words of that classic show tune from the hit Broadway musical “Annie”, titled simply “Tomorrow”…
The sun will come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!
Just thinking about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!
When I'm stuck in a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh
The sun will come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!
You're always a day away
When I'm stuck in a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!
Amen! And Amen!
SOURCES:
SONG LYRICS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_Sixteen;
https://genius.com/Sam-cooke-only-sixteen-lyrics.
TV SHOW SOURCE:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0580221/.
LITERATURE SOURCE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_Van_Winkle.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/revelation/22-13.htm;
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/12-2.htm;
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/God~s-Action-Tomorrow.
BROADWAY SHOW TUNE LYRICS:
https://www.songlyrics.com/annie/tomorrow-lyrics/;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_(Annie).