Thanks for tuning in to my new series (hopefully) about humanity. As a species, we humans have two very interesting abilities. First, we are great at aggregating large amounts of data and understanding ideas on a large scale.  We understand that man-made pollutants are causing the world to get hotter. Even if the “large scale” I am considering is my own life, I am able to articulate where I would like my life to end up. If I were to ask the question: “Where do you want to be in 10 years?” Chances are, you’d have an answer. We’re good at that kind of long-range understanding.

The second thing we’re good at is making sure we do what we want to do today. I mean, sure, I have to work, and that’s not always fun, but I get to choose what kind of job I work at, and if I don’t like my job, I’ll just get a new one. Even if we cut out the eight hours a day we work (if you’re full-time), we’re still left with  lots of time to spend. I can plan my entire day around one event, making sure that it absolutely happens. No other creature on the planet has that kind of power.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to connect the dots between the two pictures. Sure, I’d like to be a lawyer some day, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to take the steps today to get there. I may desire to be more like Christ, but without taking the small steps now, I’m not going to move in that direction. What do we call people who can make those small decisions and end up at their goals? Abnormal. Annoying. Successful. I wanted another “A” to complete the alliteration, but I couldn’t come up with one.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about our ability to sense dramatic change. It should be fun.