What is Progress?

I have to admit, every time I think I understand progress, the great rallying-call and force that moves society, I suddenly encounter a small thing, a very small thing that perhaps only I see, and it reminds me that progress after all is found in simple authenticity.

I used to think that the most important parts of the pro-life movement were vast campaigns, protests, and vocal lobbying groups. Now that I'm pregnant I see it very differently. The most effective force for spreading the gospel of life is parents that adore their children. My love for my hidden little one, my excitement bubbling over onto posters about prenatal development for my classroom, and my joyful conversations about pregnancy with my students has done more to spread the pro-life message in a poignant and personal way to my 90-some students than any lecture, march, or money-raising campaign.

I used to think our society was not progressing because great minds were being silenced. Working in education, I now know that our society is regressing because great minds are not being formed. My most rewarding moments as a teacher come from intelligent questions, signs of an attempt at excellence, and honest curiosity. If minds are being formed in truth and logic, the persistent mantras of the negative forces in our society will be proved to be shadows and the people will speak again and challenge the nervous leaders that have listened to Iago's council too long.

Society cannot "progress" without a starting point, and that starting point is the traditions of the past. Too often, our world tries to out do itself creating something novel, but not good, or philosophically intriguing, but not based on reality or human nature as we know it. I once had a professor ask us, "Has all the technology and discoveries of mankind made man better?" The answer is "no." Perhaps we have new ways of understanding the world and interacting with it, but man has the same ability to find true happiness that he has always had. True joy is found in simple things . . . a loving way of interacting with others, intellectual curiosity, the discovery of unchanging truths on which to found your life, and God.

[The above is a bit rambly, but I'll publish it anyhow.]