Generation to Generation

When a generation tolerates a sin, the next will celebrate it, and the generation after them won’t even know it is a sin.

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I have been sitting with this quote for a few weeks now. So I invite you to sit with it for a little bit before continuing…

Every generation is marked with their “successes” and “failures.” Every generation is labeled these days and tagged with the “tech inventions” of the day. And I am not saying this is all bad, but hear me out, because it does become nauseating at some point.

I am a Millennial/Gen Y, born between 1980-1996. My generation is tagged as the Information age, or the age of the Internet, AOL Messenger and MySpace. Although my house didn’t have a computer until I was on into double digit birthdays. We relied on my Paw-Paw for a computer. And Internet, well, with dial-up internet, you were not getting information too fast. AOL and MySpace came along when I was around high school age, and that was controversial.

What I want to write about today, though, is bigger than being pegged for a millennial or baby boomer or Gen X or Gen Z. I want to address the drastic change in character, morals, general considerations that have been completely forgotten, and ask why?

Disclaimer: I am not implying that all the following is a sin. However, we do need to care if it causes someone else to trip or fall, and in that way, you make the call.

Let’s start with something basic: Saying “Thank You.” Someone opens the door and holds it for you, you say thank you. Someone gives you a gift, you say thank you. Someone helps you with a task, you say thank you. Thank you becomes an automatic, but not heartless, act of gratitude.

Consideration. Others matter, and you matter. You consider how your actions could be effecting those around you. And you consider how your actions will reflect on the way they consider treating you.

Telling the Truth. A lie is a lie is a lie. period. Once you start telling a lie, you gotta keep up with the lies you have told. This never ends or begins well. When did this concept become so hard to comprehend? And when did we stop holding people accountable? When did we stop holding ourselves accountable?

Language. I am not a language police, far from it. I can watch a tv show or movie and if its message is out of this world, the language is the least of my worries. But the use of language on live shows, speeches from leaders, and everything in between, has gotten me rattled. Speeches are written, live shows are usually written, I’m all for free speech, but can we not go a little while before spewing words that are categorized as “foul” before 8:00pm?

Sacred Rest. Family together. Whether it is literally resting, or just hanging out at home as a family, no one else. Time to breathe. Time to really know what’s happening in each others lives. This was a must growing up for my family, simply because we had chronic illness and struggled at school. My parents had to come home at shut the door for the night. After school activities had to be limited. Busy could not and was not tolerated, because it would beat us to a pulp. Now that I am an adult, I admire how much they had to put their foot down. I have always been a homebody, but when you are little you don’t know what you are asking for- activities, schedules, etc. I see how differently, not only my generation was raised, but how somewhat countercultural my parents had to protect our rest, family time, and to be frank, sanity! Crockpots, canned vegetables, casseroles this is what my childhood dinners consisted of and they were the best meals ever! Why? Because we were together! And my mom is a fabulous “dumper,” that’s what they wrote in the local newspaper about her, when they published her recipe of the week.

These next few, I know, you can take it or leave it, but I would like you to consider. The thinking about the access and flippancy on these topics that have occurred between my childhood of 1990s and now, blow my mind. What blows my mind the most is the people who were on one end of the thinking, now have completely landed on the other end, and disagree with their thoughts 20-30 years ago. I am all for free thought, and being able to change your mind, but just hear me out. 😉

I’ll address the hardest one first: alcohol. I’ll admit, I have all these voices in my head that say “you are being so judgmental.” “You have no right to say anything.” Because these and many harder things have been said to me, but I will not let them override what I know I need to type here. I have tried to think of one friends’ home that I grew up going to that I ever saw alcohol easily accessible. I am talking ages 2-12, so roughly up to 2000. I cannot remember seeing any. Maybe a wine bottle that had been untouched. But no liquor or anything in the refrigerator. Now, this doesn’t mean it wasn’t there, but it wasn’t within reach. The more unnerving and perplexing thing though, came when the adults who had taught what alcohol had the potential of doing and why they chose not to partake- compromising your thinking and judgement, one drink is all it takes to find out your have an addictive personality, which are all true- began all the sudden drinking in public spaces and events. High school was a pretty firm time in my faith, so it wasn’t that I was questioning what I believed, it was more so, who can I trust is speaking truth. Because as the years went on, the conversation has broadened to: “well, we let our children have alcohol when they are under our roof, so when they go out they won’t be tempted to try it there.” Umm, I will say, this is illegal still, that’s just the law. My concern is the contradicting messaging becomes confusing and hard to discern. My greatest concern is the kids who are watching, because I have been one of those kids, but I had safe place to ask questions. And one of the very alarming “trends” I am seeing more and more everyday on social media, is having full glass liquor bottles in dining rooms. If you have never been around someone that is impulsive, or curious, or a teenager, let this be your warning- they will most likely get curious after seeing these bottles after so long, or friends will see it there… you write the rest of the story…

Guns. Just because laws are horrendous doesn’t mean we need to neglect responsibility. I have nothing against hunting, if that’s where you are happy, out in nature, please be safe. If you are in law enforcement of any kind, thank you, and please do what you need to do to protect you and your family. With that being said, the mental health of our world in general is not good at all. So let me ask a question, how many guns do you reasonably need to go hunting? How many guns do you reasonably need to protect yourself and/or your family (law enforcement or non-law enforcement)? And with the mental health, the social media influencers, and all the chaos, how about we make sure they are all secured at all times?

Let us be open to acknowledging what we’ve strayed away from. Let us admit to the damage we may have caused. Let us work on bringing the good back into the generations we are raising now. And press on for there is always hope!

Life Book of the Week: Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun, by Maria Dismondy