One hundred years ago, in 1908, the world was a very different place. It’s rather hard to grasp, in fact, how much the United States and the world have changed over the course of a single century.
One hundred years ago, the average life expectancy in America was 47. Only 14% of American homes had a bathtub, and just 10% had a telephone.
In 1908 Henry Ford began production of his Model T. William C. Durant established the company that would become known as General Motors. There were fewer than 10,000 cars in the United States and less than 200 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were all more heavily populated than California. About 30 people – ranchers and their families – lived in a desert hamlet known as Las Vegas, Nevada.
One hundred years ago, sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Most women washed their hair only once a month, using borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Some 18% of American households included at least one full-time servant or domestic.
More than 95% of births in the United States took place at home. About 90% of US physicians had no college education. Only 6% of Americans were high school graduates.
One hundred years ago, marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine. One pharmacist gushed, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.”
As 1908 came to a close, Republicans were celebrating president-elect William Howard Taft’s victory over Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Europeans were confident that a century of peace and prosperity lay ahead. Germany was considered the global center of Christian scholarship. A number of scientists and politicians predicted that the emerging field of eugenics would soon allow humanity to purge itself of undesirable breeding populations.
On hundred years ago, the Boy Scout movement was founded. Mother’s Day was celebrated for the first time. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were gunned down in Bolivia. And the Chicago Cubs won the World Series – something that only seems like 1,000 years ago.
Looking back over a long stretch of history can be an interesting exercise. It can even be provocative. But one would hardly consider it transforming. History is, well…history. If it’s a change of life that we’re seeking, there’s only one direction to point: We must look ahead.
Specifically, what will be true in your life one year from today?
At the doorway to a fresh set of 12 months, people generally wonder how many pounds they will lose, what vacation spots they might visit, and how their investments will fare. But certain other questions are of considerably greater value.
Within the next year, what significant books will you read? What habit will you confront and leave behind, by God’s grace? What broken relationship will you seek to restore?
What changes will come about in your prayer life? What experiences will stretch you beyond your current comfort zone? What will you sacrifice to help the poor?
What teacher from your past will you go out of your way to thank? Who will be emotionally richer because of your friendship and encouragement? What more will you know of God’s love, grace, and faithfulness by choosing to be brave instead of safe?
As Alfred, Lord Tennyson once wrote, “Today is yesterday’s tomorrow and tomorrow’s yesterday.” The intersection between our recollections of life a hundred years ago and our hopes for 2009 is today. We can remember the past and we can yearn for the future, but today is the only day that in which we can actually live. It also happens to be the only place where we can trust God.
May God bless you, then, with an entire year of today’s – incredible, unrepeatable 24-hour gifts in which your life becomes more and more like the thing of beauty he intends it to be.
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