Origins and Origami

The Book of the Future calls my name today, like every day, throwing open the pencil sharpener and scenting the air with fresh shavings.

As you and I have seen, the Book of the Future shows all events that will happen, including what to us looks like the past because, time being relative placement, everything changes in any moment.

You are the change the Book of the Future revealed today.  Can you see the change?

Shall I reveal your change to others?

Smell the air.  Look at the sky.  Observe any plants growing in a natural environment nearby.  The change is there in the interaction between you, the air, the sky, the plants and the ground.

The blindfolds of Justice - when the nose itches, do the scales become unbalanced?

Have you ever served on a jury of peers and watched your peers assume the plaintiff is guilty by default of being arrested, the evidence irrelevant?  Were you the leader of the jury whose members elected you because they thought you were the kind of person who'd put "bad" people in prison and throw away the key as a service to society?  Did you surprise them with your insistence on examining the evidence rather than the plaintiff's character or lifestyle?  Did you persuade them to set a person free on lack of guilt for the crime?

Do you understand a little more about the future?

Open your eyes.  Look around and feel the warm breeze.

Now close your eyes and hold out your hands, if you can.  If not, imagine a space in front of you which can accept an object like a large beach ball.

There, now, I've put the future in your hands.  Feel the weight.  Note the texture.  Can you describe to me the flexibility or rigidity of the future?

With your eyes still closed, tell me what you think the future looks like.  Do you think you're holding something made of metal, cloth, or synthetic rubber?

As you open your eyes, I want you to note the way the future can unfold and fold back again to its original shape.  Like a map, you can fold it into many shapes, something like origami, paper airplanes, cutout dolls or transforming toys.

You see, the Book of the Future had a special gift for all of us today - the future of tomorrow is unknown and left up to you to form from a generic blob in your hands.

Every now and then, the Book of the Future leaves moments untended and unformed, allowing us to make a brand-new moment unattached to the past that builds a new future direction we decide all on our own.

I'm glad to be here with you now to see this wonderful moment the Book of the Future has given us.  Whole lifetimes pass without a moment like this.  I can't wait to see what you do with it, especially since you're all my friends.