This holiday week offered a timely lesson in humility—specifically, in how little we truly know. Yes, for those of faith, it’s a humility rooted in reverence for an all-powerful God. But even if you set that aside, there’s still a sobering reminder of just how helpless we are in predicting the future.

The past three months in the United States—along with their echoes across the globe—have been dizzying. And it’s not just the events themselves that have been unsettling, but the way so many of us are rushing to conclusions about what it all means. We’re quick to analyze, to speculate, and to build narratives around each passing headline. But in my view, the most important takeaway is this: very few things are certain. The world is a lot less predictable than we like to believe.

Five years from now, I’m willing to bet that most of what’s dominating the news today will be utterly forgotten, barely a footnote in the history books. If you need proof of this, consider the way we’ve collectively forgotten the chaos of five years ago. Back then, every country on earth came to a screeching halt—no travel, no gatherings, no “normal” life. It was as if the world pressed pause, and we all waited to see what came next. But today? That feels like a distant memory, a bad dream whose sharp edges are rapidly fading.

It’s strange how quickly time erases our sense of urgency. Remember the global panic, the unknowns we faced, the fear that the world might never be the same? Now, in the blink of an eye, it’s as though those moments never happened. Life goes on. We’ve adapted, we’ve moved forward, and we’ve forgotten just how much we didn’t know back then.

There’s a lesson here in humility. We tend to think we have it all figured out—until we don’t. The future remains as elusive and unknowable as ever. And maybe that’s a good thing. It forces us to remain grounded, to accept that while we can influence certain things, we are ultimately at the mercy of forces much larger than ourselves.

As we head into this holiday season, it’s a good time to reflect on that humility. The world has a way of surprising us, of throwing curveballs when we least expect them. And as much as we like to believe we can control outcomes, we can’t. Five years from now, the headlines will be dominated by something new, something we can’t even imagine today.

So, rather than rushing to conclusions, maybe we should take a moment to breathe, to appreciate the uncertainty of it all. And as the days tick by, let’s hold onto the reminder that there is far more we don’t know than we do—and that’s okay.