“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” – Mark 10:15
I’m sure I’ve said something like this before – but the audacious truth of it is so strong that I’m going to going to take another shot at getting the point across. So here goes:
If you believe that, “The world is going to hell in a hand-basket;” or that, “America is going down the tubes;” or, “We need to go back to the good old days;” or, “Today’s generation are a bunch of entitled spoiled brats;” or, “We want our country back!” or any of the similar drivel that gets passed around the Internet by fearful, aging, sourpuss reactionaries, then let me invite you to meet our grandchildren, their wonderful parents, our son and his wife, and the intelligent, thoughtful, public-spirited generation they represent.
The more time I spend with young people (especially the amazing community of children and teens at Wake Forest Presbyterian Church) the more hope I have for the future. They approach everything with unrestrained creativity, wide-eyed wonder, and unflinching belief.
It’s not the emerging, but the ruling generations who concern me. People who have taken the New World ideal of freedom for all people and bent it into a self-serving nationalism that has evolved into a religion built around the credo, “I’ve Got Mine.”
With an important – I believe, critical – election coming up, I’d like to see a slate of candidates in their twenties and their thirties running for public office. Seriously, can those of us over 50 claim anything but embarrassment at the way we’ve been running the world?
We’re taking David and Beks home again Sunday evening – but I sure hope I don’t lose this beautiful view of the world, and the limitless potential held in building the Kingdom of God, that they keep sharing with me. I sure hope we don’t look back in thirty years and see that our endemic cynicism has ruined it for them.
Hopefully – DEREK
Beautiful family. My husband grandfather taught him how to remove nails and straighten them to reuse.
I hope this doesn’t seem too self serving here goes – I recently wrote a post on my blog about voting in the upcoming Canadian election that I think you should read, even if choose to moderate this comment off your site I still hope you read my post and let me know what you think. It’s called “An Ambassador Votes”
I enjoyed your post. Thanks.
What a lovely post. I teach first grade and I find the same thing with the children I teach. We are so often bombarded with negativity in regards to the ‘younger generations’ (at 27 years old I would be included in this!) and how everything is going downhill. The little children I teach are amazing, inquisitive, sensitive, kind and tolerant. They often share more wisdom than I ever hear come out of the mouths of our world leaders. They give me a lot of hope for the future and I’m proud that one day they will be the generation running the joint!
Thank you!
[…] ← Previous […]