“If I Could Change a Moment in Time”
STUDENTS in a school in California, U.S.A., were asked to write an essay on the above theme. One of the finalists in the essay contest was Eric, an 11-year-old son in a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He composed the following Bible-based essay himself.
“World War II was a deadly war. Many innocent people died. But the moment I have chosen would make this war not exist in the history books at all. Think about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This man died an ugly death, but the moment I have chosen would make this too not exist in the history books. Martin Luther King, Jr., died in 1968 for trying to change the thinking of the world, but the moment I have chosen would predate this time also. If I could change this moment in time, the world would be different, everything as we know it would be changed, and all things, including times and people, would be different. This moment the course of history was changed to make the world as we know it today—deadly, violent, sick, and wicked.
“Well, you might be wondering, ‘Is this moment a disease? Is this moment a government? Or is this moment a war?’ Ask yourself, ‘If it were a disease, how could it keep the acts of men from being wicked?’ ‘It couldn’t,’ you would say. Then you think, ‘It must be a government that would fix all our problems.’ But a government is run by men, and all men are imperfect and die. So wouldn’t their good works die with them? Then you say, ‘It has to be a war like World War II.’ No! It couldn’t be that because in war one side wins, and with that, the other side loses. None of these things mentioned would permanently end death, violence, sickness, and wickedness. You may be wondering what this moment in time is that I would change.
“Sin. Death. Sin and death are what I would change. But how? We have always had sin and death. Sin and death are part of our daily lives. Then how can you change what has always been here? You would have to stop it at the moment it started. The rebellion of Adam and Eve against God’s government caused things to be the way they are today. The ones involved chose to do things their way, and thus we have sin and death.
“So the exact moment that would have to be changed is when the first lie was told by Satan the Devil against that perfect government. Because of this lie, all of us are suffering for what our first parents, Adam and Eve, did. They sinned against the only true Leader of government, God.”
On Saturday, August 12, 1995, Eric read his essay at a special assembly day of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Norco, California. The audience was delighted to hear of a youth taking advantage of an opportunity at school to give a thought-provoking witness about the cause of human suffering. How grand it will be when Jehovah God destroys “the original serpent” and removes all the suffering for which the Devil has been responsible!—Revelation 12:9; 21:3, 4; Genesis 3:1-6.