5 January

Today's the day when in 1968 the Prague Spring began in Czechoslovakia, with the appointment of Alexander Dubcek as the national leader. In the first few months of his rule, Dubcek introduced a series of far-reaching political and economic reforms, including increased freedom of speech and the rehabilitation of political dissidents. His effort to establish "communism with a human face" was celebrated across the country, and the brief period of freedom became known as the "Prague Spring." However, later that year, the Soviet Union answered Dubcek's reforms with invasion of Czechoslovakia by 600,000 troops. Prague was not eager to give way, but scattered student resistance was no match for Soviet tanks. It was only with the fall of communism in 1989 that political freedom was restored.

Short-lived dreams soon shift from excitement to disappointment. When Jesus told a story about God’s word being planted in our hearts he gave us this warning:

Some people, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

Better to have a quiet, steady growth with God than a hundred inspiring moments that give a surge of enthusiasm but then come to nothing.