I read a thought-provoking article last week which highlighted the thinking today – a thinking that suggests that there is some sort of inevitable, cosmic flow of history and that democracy and democratic ideals have now been shown to be on the losing side of that history.

But our view of the past and the future is colored by events in the present.

The article made this point by noting that for generations, 1917 loomed as one of the most significant years of the 20th century. When the Soviet Union was sowing discord and expanding its borders, it was an open question as to whether the future belonged to communism or not. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, 1917 became less important.

And when we changed our focus to the Middle East on September 11, 2001, then 1923 (the year the Ottoman Empire collapsed) suddenly rose to the top of the important years of the 20th century.

The article zeroed in on the prevailing thought today that the future is already cast and democracy is not likely to be in it. But then we are cautioned:

“… the future, like the present and the past — which is to say, like life — is complicated. It depends on what men and women and nations do in life, as history unfolds.

The idea that there is a moral arc to the universe, that history has sides, is dangerous because it can lead to forgetfulness of this basic fact and absolve us from taking our personal and collective destinies into our own hands. Putting your faith in a dialectically deterministic universe is very different from putting your faith in God, in countless ways … God asks much of us; a benevolent universal algorithm asks nothing. “

The importance of our action was played out before me a day later as I watched the movie “God’s Not Dead”. And the direction of our action was fleshed out Sunday with our pastor’s sermon on following Christ.

So, I am reminded once again that this world is not driven by some cosmic force but by the hand of God and our actions define the present, the future as well as the interpretation of the past.

I finish this post with the movie theme and lyrics from “El Dorado”.

Both the movie theme lyrics and the concept of El Dorado can refer to either a worldly quest for riches or a quest for the Kingdom of God. I choose the latter.

(If you have 2 minutes and 40 seconds, enjoy George Alexander’s rendition of the song.)



Title Music from the film “El Dorado” (1966)
(Nelson Riddle / John Gabriel)
George Alexander & The Mellomen (Soundtrack Recording) – 1966

Through sunshine and shadow, from darkness till noon
Over mountains that reach from the sky to the moon
A man with a dream that will never let go
Keeps searching to find El Dorado

So ride, boldly ride, to the end of the rainbow
Ride, boldly ride, till you find El Dorado

The winds become bitter, the sky turns to grey
His body grows weary, he can’t find his way
But he’ll never turn back, though he’s lost in the snow
For he has to find El Dorado

So ride, boldly ride, to the end of the rainbow
Ride, boldly ride, till you find El Dorado

My Daddy once told me what a man ought to be
There’s much more to life than the things we can see
And the godliest mortal you ever will know
Is the one with the dream of El Dorado

So ride, boldly ride, to the end of the rainbow
Ride, boldly ride, till you find El Dorado