Dr. Norm Wakefield: "The Joyful Dad"

Looking Ahead

Back in 1962, Look magazine asked the day’s newsmakers to dream a bit, envisioning the world as it would be near the end of the century. Curious how they fared with their predictions? Judge for yourself. . .

•  “In 25 years, either our lovely earth will be a charred lump of rubble circling the sun, or we shall all be well on our way to universal peace.”—Irish playwright Sean O’Casey

•  “I would expect the world to blush with shame to recall that, three decades earlier, a human being was graded by the color of his skin.”—civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King, Jr.

•  “One of the most exciting vehicles will be a family jet-powered sedan for five passengers. It will be capable of flying at speeds up to 500 mph.”—Ben Kocivar, Look writer

•  “The twenty-fifth anniversary of open tennis championships. . .will be held on Saturn.”—Jack Kramer, general manager of Tennis Tournaments, Inc.

•  “The Cold War will be a thing of the past. Internal pressure. . .for more freedom and the pressure of the masses for raising their living standards may lead to a gradual democratization of the Soviet Union.”—David Ben-Gurion, prime minister of Israel

•  “The 10-foot hoop will have been raised to 11.5 feet in ’65, and another foot in ’73.”—University of California basketball coach Pete Newell

•  “In the next 25 years, it is likely that man will create life in a test tube.”—J. Robert Moskin, Look senior editor

•  “Genocide. . .may be part of every country’s foreign policy.”—U.S. ambassador Clare Boothe Luce

•  “Along with Lillian Russell and Mae West, [Marilyn Monroe] will live on as an enduring daydream figure of sex and wit.”—Jack Hamilton, Look writer

•  “A flyweight panel house, aluminum pipes to hold it up, a collapsible refrigerator, stove, and boat.”—camping equipment predicted by industrial designers Raymond Loewy and William Snaith

•  “A powerhouse Ivy League.”—college football prediction by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle

•  “Parents will start bringing up their children, rather than vice versa.”—historian Will Durant

•  “Navel-baring [women’s] fashions may help men bear the brave new world of 1987.”—Look fashion editors

What do you dream for your children in the days ahead? What predictions would you make? Remember that the future grows out of the fertile soil of the present. If you want a rosy prediction for your children, make every effort to plant a few rosebush cuttings of joy in their lives today.  

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Dr. Norm Wakefield is a popular author, speaker, seminary professor, and joyful dad to five happy, adult children. A few of his sought-after books are Legacy of Joy (written with his son-in-law), Men are from Israel, Women are from Moab(written with his daughter), and The Dad Difference (written with Josh McDowell).

"We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers."

—Woodrow Wilson