The digital era has made instant access an expectation and a possibility. The very names ‘Instagram’ and ‘zoom calls’ reinforce this notion. We expect next day delivery of goods and supplies, instant feedback from messages and emails. We presume speedy assessments and solutions to complex problems such as Covid.
Likewise, we know that destruction can come very quickly. We can cut down forests in weeks. Wars can destroy whole countries in no time, just look at Syria. Tsunamis and earthquakes can have a devastating effect in a flash.
On the other hand, creating something new can take time. Forests can take 50 years to regenerate. Some consumer breakthroughs take a generation or two to evolve. The 1% inspiration can take 99% of further creativity and perspiration, built from commitment, endurance, practice, trial and error. The wireless phone was first adopted in Germany in 1919.The computer traces all the way back to Joseph Marie Jacquard’s wooden punch card loom of 1801 and Babbage’s machine of 1822. We had to wait until 1942 for another stage, Turing’s wartime enigma machine, then another 40 years for Apple.
Positive societal change can take time too. The women’s suffrage campaign, born in the 1860s, achieved its purpose about 50 years later in 1918. It takes a rare leader to inspire and galvanise a generation and the people beyond. The problem for leadership in democratic countries is that a 4 or 5 year period is used to judge the performance of governments, leading to short term fixes and to a scramble for the marginal votes. No wonder politicians always appear to fail.
Perhaps we could be humbler and learn lessons from our forebears over 3000 years ago. They understood the significance of 50 years in the ancient texts of the third book of the Torah. Instructions given by Moses to the Israelites on how the land was to be allocated and managed and how to treat others–kinsman, servant, stranger or foreigner.
They were to adopt a rhythm to life and to the regeneration of the soil. Cycles of work and rest – in sevens. The seventh day, a day of rest from toil, the seventh year the land left fallow to replenish the soil and regenerate the farms. The year following the 49th year, 7 cycles of 7 years, was declared as the Jubilee year, the 50th year. The word Jubilee derives from the Hebrew word, Yobel, a ram’s horn used to announce the year of emancipation and restoration.
An instruction over the Jubilee period only to gather the land’s natural provisions – freely available to all – the community, visitors and strangers. A time to step back and appreciate not just their own efforts but also the wonders of the natural world and the responsibilities of stewardship. People returned to their families and home communities, for reunion and celebration. They were liberated, accounts settled and some forgiven. An instruction to reorder priorities and objectives, opt out of the rat race, halt obsessive accumulation of possessions, and recuperate for the future.
‘Follow these instructions that you may live well in the land’.
50 years a great period for looking back, re-assessing what has been achieved and taking time to celebrate. Not a long time after all.