Thoughts on Generations: Mine and the Next

We spent the last month in Minnesota and Iowa making many visits to long-time friends and family. This year we have been on a sort of mission to see as many old friends and family as possible while we still have the health and stamina for long trips and the luxury of time to travel.  On this trip we saw several dozen friends and family - mostly our age, (give or take ten years), enjoying the kind of conversations one can only share with people who have come through the social and cultural milieu we have traversed together.  If you lived through the sixties you know what I mean!

My generation, those born roughly between 1925 and 1942, has been called the "silent generation"  - sandwiched between the "greatest generation" and the baby boomers.  We were children of the depression.  Almost all of those we saw on this trip grew up on farms or had working class parents who did not go to college, but almost all of us completed college or higher degrees and moved into white collar jobs and achieved relative financial security by the time we retired - though few of us got rich.  We mostly transitioned from small towns to urban settings and most of us followed the values of our parents - especially frugality, loyalty, and our faith traditions.

Amongst this group of our friends and family there are many retired teachers, nurses, social workers, and pastors.  I was asked to speak to a reunion of Lutheran Deaconess School of Nursing graduates - about 200 mostly retired nurses who have dedicated all their working years to tending the sick and infirm.  They seemed to really enjoy the thrust of my talk that was heavily laced with stories of missionaries and examples of sacrificial service and giving which comes out of our and their deaconess tradition.   

  

Last Saturday morning Judy and I attended a ceremony celebrating the completion of a course of study at Luther College - in this case with students who majored in social work.  The reason we were there is because one of these graduates is our granddaughter, Leslie Lucky, who has decided to follow the career path of her grandfather.  Her generation has been called the Millennials - those born between 1980 and 2000 - who came of age amid the rise of the new media - those who are constantly interacting through screens and walking around looking at their smart phones.  A recent Time magazine article quoted much data about this "me, me, me" generation,  "The incidence of narcissistic personality disorder is nearly three times as high for people in their 20s as for the generation that's now 65 or older, according to the National Institutes of Health".  Rather than make me feel self-righteous, that makes me feel somewhat anxious about the future.  

Well, thank God, we did not observe that narcissism last Saturday as each of these graduates got up and spoke of their experiences during their college years, their love for learning and respect for their professors. They spoke of their practice experiences in various programs with the elderly, the young and the poor with obvious passion for the needs of others.  

It may be true that old people like me have always been dismayed by the youth of the coming generation and as a generalization that is somewhat true for me. There is evidence that the millennials are plagued with feelings of entitlement and self-centeredness. They can so easily be absorbed and distracted. They don't see the need for the Church, (about a third of adults under 30 are religiously unaffiliated), so it is natural that we and friends of our age do wring our hands about that a bit.  You can call me old fashioned for that attitude, but I do wonder how and if those who say they are "spiritual but not religious" actually do spend much time with God in an intentional way.  Both the X Generation and the millenials might say they believe in God, but it is hard for me to see, on the surface at least, attention to spiritual disciplines or practices. 

 

But hay! We heard and saw great creativity in young people last week - the talent, poise, and beauty of their music, their joy in each other and humor in conversations, tears as they said good bye to a great college experience... these give me joy and hope.  So many said, "I can't believe how fast these four years went by!"  

Believe me, I can't believe how fast these 50 years have flown by!