BACK FUTURE 5'2m?f A new computer predicts the future. (door open) LIZ -- Welcome to Omniscient laboratories. Well, what do you think? (door close) JIM -- Wow! Look at all these computers! What do they all do? LIZ -- They record all events from the past and present. JIM -- All?! LIZ -- Yes, due to a remarkable breakthrough in computer information storage and retrieval technology, we are now able to retrieve all of human knowledge from the past and present just by pressing a few keys. JIM -- Everything? LIZ -- Everything from the prehistoric and ancient to the very latest publications. JIM -- So, the prehistoric and ancient stuff is displayed here on this TV screen marked PAST and the very latest information about any topic in the world is displayed on the screen marked PRESENT? LIZ -- Precisely. JIM -- But, what about this TV screen marked FUTURE. There's now way that even all this computer equipment can know the future. LIZ -- No, but thanks to a state-of-the-art turbomultiprocessor, we can take information from the past and present and predict what will probably happen in the future with incredible accuracy. JIM -- I don't understand. LIZ -- (keyboard sounds) Let me give you an example. JIM -- Hey, that's my name. What are you... LIZ -- Let's pick an investment of yours... This Individual Retirement Account that you started in 1984. JIM -- I remember that one. LIZ -- Suppose that instead of investing at that bank, you chose... (keyboard sounds) this mutual fund. According to the computer screen marked PRESENT, if you had chosen this particular mutual fund instead of the bank account, you would now have... JIM -- ...$12765 more. Wow! What a great machine! Do it again. What if I hadn't refused that job with that pharmaceutical company back in 1978? Can the computer tell what my life would be like today? LIZ -- Of course. (keyboard sounds) 1978... employment... interviews... JIM -- There it is: Smith, Cline and French. That's the one. LIZ -- Now we... (keyboard sounds) change this rejection to an acceptance, and we look again at the screen marked PRESENT... JIM -- Hey, I'd be making $40,000 per year more than I'm making now! LIZ -- Uh huh. And you'd still be married. JIM -- Go ahead. Rub it in. LIZ -- I didn't mean to... JIM -- I know. Hey, you still haven't shown me anything on the FUTURE screen. LIZ -- Yeah, well, I don't know about th... JIM -- Show me what my life will be like in... 20 years. LIZ -- I'm not sure you can handle it. JIM -- What do you mean? LIZ -- There's a reason why God only gives you your future one day at a time. JIM -- Come on, just show me. LIZ -- Well, alright, but I won't take any responsibility for the consequences. (keyboard sounds) JIM -- How bad could it be? LIZ -- Well, there it is. JIM -- There what is? The FUTURE screen is blank. LIZ -- (fading) Well, let me show you our other laboratories. Right this way. JIM -- Wait a minute. What's it mean when the future screen is blank? It means I'm not going to be alive in twenty years, doesn't it? LIZ -- (near) Well, the computer is only 99 and a half percent accurate. It could be wrong. JIM -- Golly. What difference does it make what my Individual Retirement Account pays? I won't live long enough to retire. Bummer. LIZ -- I told you that you might not be able to handle it. That's why the Lord only gives you one day at a time. JIM -- The Lord! Say, can that thing tell me if I'll go to heaven? LIZ -- (Keyboard sounds) Sure. There. Oh, oh. JIM -- That's really depressing, especially since I did so much good stuff in my life. LIZ -- I don't need a computer to tell you that it doesn't make a bit of difference how many good things you've done in your life. JIM -- What do you mean? LIZ -- I mean, going to heaven is not based on what you do or what church you belong to. It only depends on whether you have a personal relationship with Jesus. JIM -- I'll do it. LIZ -- Do what? JIM -- Start a personal relationship with Jesus. LIZ -- Hey, don't be so hasty. Receiving Jesus takes a big commitment. You have to give up your right to run your own life. JIM -- Well, I haven't done all that well on my own. Look how poorly I did on my investment, my job and my marriage. No, I want to give my life to the Lord. (to God) Did you here that, Lord? My life is all yours now. LIZ -- (keyboard sound) Look what happened to your future after you made that commitment to the Lord. JIM -- Wow! There's names and numbers on the FUTURE screen now. What does that mean? LIZ -- Well, as soon as you became a Christian, your future changed. If you keep letting the Lord run your life, you'll start eating better, exercising more, and stop doing things that are bad for you, you'll add years to your life. JIM -- I like this Christian stuff. Show me more. LIZ -- (fading) Well, the next thing I'd like to show you is right through that door. (footsteps, door opens) JIM -- (afar) But, this takes me back outside. LIZ -- Right. Now go start living your life more abundantly. (door close) ©2013 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it. Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances. You may reproduce and distribute this script freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org email: [email protected] BACK |