The world was never the same after Johannes Gutenberg rolled off the first printed books in Europe in the 1450’s.

Cheap books, pamphlets, and tracts spread ideas that torched whole societies. Religious reforms followed in their path but also wars and revolutions. Religious persecution reached new heights. Sometimes lunatics raised large followings.

The power brokers, the political and religious leaders, no longer controlled ideas. More people learned to read. Ordinary folks read the Bible in their own tongue, not in the Latin of the elite. Cherished beliefs crumbled. Power struggles ripped apart kingdoms across Europe, creating hordes of refugees.

Yet, when greater stability took hold by the 1700’s, religious tolerance had increased. Though established religions lost influence, many faith-based religious groups gained. They led movements to block the slave trade, set up educational programs for the less well off, and send missionaries to serve native peoples harmed by Europe’s desire for conquest and wealth.

Fast forward to the 1990’s and the 2000’s. The internet and the computer power of tablets and phones have unleashed as much chaos as Gutenberg’s typesets.

But the promise is there, too, as it was in the early modern age for those who accept the changes and work with rather than against them. The world waits for those with enough compassion and self-discipline and courage to lead the way. The potential is there, gleaming among the raw newness that obliterates old ways of doing things.