Some time ago, I saw the history of the Italian town of San Gimignano. In the past, there was a frenzy of competition to see who could build the tallest tower.
Most of the towers were, in fact, tower houses, which, interestingly, weren't all that comfortable. After all, because there wasn't as much technology to build tall buildings, the walls were up to two meters wide, leaving little usable space.
The urge to flaunt their power was greater and led them to build higher and higher. From an economic and political rivalry between two families, Ardinghelli and Salvucci, the towers were born. Each tower displayed the conditions and financial power of the respective family, and by the end of the 14th century there were 72 towers.
When we look today at images of cities like New York, Dubai and Shanghai, and the fierce competition to see who can build the tallest tower, it's impossible not to notice the pattern. This race is nothing more than the age-old contest to display economic and technological power. Ostentation, summed up in a single word.
Human beings don't change, time passes, seasons change, generations go, generations come, and the issues at the heart of human beings are always the same.
I used the construction of towers as an example, but I could use so many other patterns that are repeated with each new generation. We are no different from our ancestors, we suffer the same anguish, we face the same challenges, and we have the same heart, just with different packaging.
In the end, the problem of the human heart is and always will be deception. It's an illusion to think that the era we're in is any different from any other, and that we need to formulate new wisdom to deal with the same issues we've been facing for millennia.
The truth is
⁹"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 1:9
Modern issues are only old, and ancient wisdom is more contemporary than you think
"There will be something you can say:
Look! This is new! No! It existed long ago, long before our time..." Ecclesiastes 1.10
Running after new concepts, values and reshaping old principles is like sowing the wind. The problem is that whoever sows the wind reaps the storm (book of the prophet Hosea 8:7).
The Bible doesn't change, God's word continues and will always be the firm path for those who want to live wisely.
"Do not remove the ancient landmarks that your fathers have set." Proverbs 22:28 NAA. They are there for a good reason!
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