I once heard of a college president who, at the beginning of every year, would issue a memo to
the entire staff concerning the new students entering school as freshmen. He would outline historical events taking
place within the typical 18 year-old’s lifetime, and those predating them. The purpose of the note was to bring
awareness to the teachers and staff of how the new student’s perspective on
life may be different than expected.
“Do you remember where you were when…?” is a phrase that
always brings back vivid memories of significant events of our lifetimes. The thing we tend to forget is that our
lifetimes will include events not experienced by younger acquaintances, and
therefore, may not impact them as they do us.
An 18 year old today will certainly remember the terrorist
attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but
will not remember the first attack Bin Laden orchestrated against the north
tower on February 26, 1993. The Space Shuttle Columbia exploded in
mid-air on February 1, 2003. Our 18
year old would have been 9 at the time and would remember it pretty well.
There was another explosion of a Space Shuttle, the Challenger, occurring on
January 28, 1986, before they were born. I remember the deaths of three
astronauts in a launching pad fire on January 27, 1967 and the subsequent
near-disaster of Apollo 13, launched in April 1970 which made famous the phrase
"Houston, we've got a problem".
The fact that I vividly remember the assassination of John
F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, the Watts Riots in the 60’s, and two of my
brothers serving in the Vietnam War has an effect on the way I view the world
around me today. It’s the same for all
of us. Our world-view is shaped by the
experiences we have had more profoundly than anything we have studied or read
about. I think this is partly what
accounts for the so-called “generation gap” in our society.
Those of us who have been around awhile need to realize that
our kids and grandchildren can only see the world through their own eyes unless
we help them to understand the significance of our history. To a young person Ronald Reagan is no
different than George Washington. The
first Gulf War, the Vietnam War, the Korean Conflict, World Wars I and II are
all history. The Iraqi War and
Afghanistan are experiential and real.
Understanding the significance of the first attack on the World Trade
Center brings perspective to the second attack, and understanding the position
of Israel historically brings new depth to today’s conflict.
As I see it, our job as the more mature members of our
families and society is to find ways to communicate to a younger generation
those things, which we hold dear. Not
just what we believe but why, and how the perspective of our parents influenced
our own values
So, how do we keep from losing ourselves in the constant
changing of perspective and understanding?
We have to hold our history in high esteem being willing to share it and
gain understanding of others. Most importantly we have to settle on core values
that are unchangeable in our lives. The
one constant, unshakable, and dependable perspective we can have throughout the
generations is that of God’s, shown to us through His Word. My view on life is necessarily shaped by my
upbringing in a suburban Phoenix area mostly by a single Mom. Others will be different. Even my brothers and sister had a different
life than mine but if I gain my life-perspective and world view from the Bible,
and God’s principles I can have commonality with anyone else who holds to those
same principles. I can have a stable
belief system to guide me while handing those values down to the
generations. When I espouse God’s
eternal perspective as my own I see myself as an eternal being, born into an
eternal family. My view of everything
around me will be influenced by the fact that I know this is all
temporary. I begin to make my life
decisions based on that perspective as opposed to my experiences. I can then bring spiritual influence on my
world with eternal results, and live my life unencumbered by my past. I know that noone here has complete control
and lives, events, and the future can be changed by hooking up with the God in
faith who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving.
In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus said:
“You are
the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be
seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled
underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a
lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Mark 16:15-18 gives us the final earthly instructions Jesus
left with us:
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned. 17 And
these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out
demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it
will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will
recover.”
He was telling us that we are responsible for influencing
this world not the other way around. We
are supposed to be the salt, the light, the bearer of the perspective that God
is a god of love, mercy, healing, provision, and forgiveness. It is our responsibility to find ways to
communicate these unchanging principles to those who don’t see them. As such, when we express our own
perspective, through relationships, social media, family interactions,
political involvement on every level, it is most important to adhere to those
things which we know transcend our own experiences and those of our
ancestors. It is most important to
stand for those values that we know bring life as God has it (John 10:10) as
opposed to what seems reasonable in our own minds at the time.
I stand for the undeniable right of an unborn child to live
regardless of external circumstances because I know that God is the creator of
all life and He doesn’t make mistakes.
I remember a time when a mother would gladly give up her own life to
save the life of her child.
I stand for freedom of speech because without it we are not
given the freedom to express the eternal principles God has given us to teach
and to share the history and perspective left to us.
I stand for freedom of religion, not because I agree with
every religion, or lack of religion that exists but because I believe it is
God’s assignment to preach the Gospel and to worship Him according to my understanding
of Him.
I stand for the sanctity of marriage because Genesis 1:27
says: So God created man in His own image; in the
image of God He created him; male and female He created them. The fact that God created men and women in a
way that makes it possible to procreate only through an interaction of the two
says to me that a sexual relationship is to be only between a man and a woman. I don’t hate anyone but I will stand for
God’s principles against any kind of perversion whether it is sexual or
otherwise (I Tim 1:8-11). Also, I’ve
observed over my lifetime the deterioration of the family in our society. I’ve seen the results of the gradual de-emphasis
on honor, commitment, shared responsibility and influence of a father and a
mother in a nuclear family on children.
We have a lot to be thankful for in this nation but we are
forgetting to honor our core values. I
believe our recent election was a statement about how we have become
short-sighted in many ways concerning our immediate needs and desires and
forgotten to hold to the long-term base values that are necessary to give
generations to come the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Have a happy Thanksgiving
