That's because you don't see where it's coming from, what it used to be, and how much it changed.

Let me illustrate: Imagine a call to the past. Say you call up your great-grandparents.

"Hi, great-grandma, great-grandpa! This is your great-grandchild calling from a hundred years later!"

"So wonderful to hear from you! How is life in the 21st century? Do you have enough to eat?"

"Well, when I want to eat, I go to my refrigerator. It keeps the food cold and fresh."

"You only eat cold? Poor thing!"

"No, I stick it in the microwave for a minute and it comes out warm and cooked."

You go on to describe your menu, including produce and packages from every part of the world. You can take a cute little device out of your pocket and converse with someone anywhere in the world, anytime. If you need information on any subject, you have access to millions of computers all around the world, without even stepping outside.

Your home is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. No Cossacks coming to burn it down. In fact, the government is generally helpful and tolerant. Remember Communism's war of Religion? In the former Soviet Union, the government helps build schools and places of worship for Jews, and people of all faiths.

The world produces enough to feed each of its six billion citizens. Rather than challenging faith, Scientists point out the mysterious wonders of the universe and its essential oneness.

For the first time in history, war is questioned and world peace is a value.

To your grandparents, you are describing a miraculous world. A world more distant from their world than theirs was from the ancients. They could only reach one conclusion: You must be calling them from somewhere very close to the Times of Moshiach.

Yes, you left out a few details. You still owe the bank for your house. The food produced is not reaching all those who need it. That the information superhighway is often used for junk and trash rather than for the wisdom it is destined for. That the world still has evil and suffering.

But basically, the stage is set, all is in place. Never before has the world been anywhere near this position. All that's left is for the curtains to be drawn, and the lights to shine on the scene.