The Next Generation
Dan Kunz
The Lost Generation, The Silent Generation, The Greatest Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y, and Z, Generation Alpha -- it seems each succeeding generation needs its own name or label to identify it. The point is, one generation is always replaced by another, and will be until Jesus comes back to gather his people to himself. One of the Lost Generation, writer Sherwood Anderson, described, in his short story, “Sophistication”, this endless cycle. Character George Willard sees “as though they marched in procession before him, the countless figures of men who before his time have come out of nothingness into the world, lived their lives and again disappeared into nothingness. The sadness of sophistication has come to the boy.” Imagine the Kansas hit song, “Dust in the Wind”, playing in the background. A glum, dreary, picture it is. But it’s not accurate -- at least not for us as Christians.
We do count. We do matter. We are important to our loved ones, but more importantly, to our Heavenly Father! He has created us, “knit us together in our mother’s womb.” Because we matter to him and because the next generation matters to him, we have a responsibility to teach them, mentor them, and nurture them.
Of my four grandparents, I only knew one of them. My maternal grandfather passed away long before I was born. My paternal grandmother died seven years before I was born and my paternal grandfather died the year I was born. My maternal grandmother was an important part of my life until she passed when I was fifteen. Maybe that’s why our grandchildren are so important to me. I love spending time with them. I share family history. I make jokes. I give them my perspective of how things are and how I think they should be. Most importantly, I teach them about Jesus. I wouldn’t trade this time together for anything! I’d like to think that long after I’m gone, they’ll remember something that Grampy said, or did, or taught them. Proverbs 22:6 Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
If you’re a grandparent, make sure to take advantage of the time you have with your grandkids. Teach them, love them, and share Jesus and the relationship you have with him. If you’re a parent, make sure that your child spends enough time with whatever grandparents he or she has available. If you’re young enough to still have a grandparent or grandparents of your own, make sure they know you appreciate them and the time you have spent with them and the time you’re going to spend with them.
Speaking of time, for years psychologists have tried to sell us on the idea of “quality time” as compared to “quantity time”. They are trying to peddle that to parents who feel guilty about spending too much time at work and not enough with their family. The amount of time you spend with your kids or grandkids is very important. “I wish I had spent more time at work” said no one on their deathbed!
As society seems to look less and less to the wisdom of the previous generation, it becomes more and more important to learn from them. It is said that “experience is the best teacher”. No one has more experience than the ones who came before us. The phrase “been there, done that” is probably true in many, many ways! Speaking of God’s words of wisdom, the psalmist says in Psalm 78:4 “We will not hide them from their descendants. We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders that he has done.”