Teenage Wasteland

I noticed something about us humans this Christmas. It was something that the people in the picture might have missed; glued to their phones as they are. The gift of TRUE relationships.

My wife and I sat down with some life-long friends yesterday. A couple from our parent's generation. What a wonderful visit!

We shared stories from each other's lives. We ate cookies, we laughed, we ate more cookies. It is so good sharing life together with people we love.

Maybe I am overly sensitive but I fear for this current generation, growing up in a technology-filled world which embraces electronic relationships instead of real" ones. People are becoming attached to their phones the way we older generations are attached to human relationships. But we weren't perfect either.

In the late 60's there was this really big rock concert called Woodstock. It was pretty big as concerts go - 400,000 people attended. There were probably just about as many people on drugs and alcohol as there were attendees! Many people tried altering who they were through chemicals and other means to become someone they weren't. That was MY generation. We were just as bad as this current generation. As ALL generations.

The rock group The Who wrote a song about Woodstock and all of the drug use they saw there. It was called Baba O'Rielly. I wonder if wasn't written about ALL generations? Whether we stare into our phones like zombies, waiting for the apocalypse, or alter our minds through drugs and alcohol, we are pretty pitiful examples of perfect relationships. Where are the "other-centered" relationships that Jesus speaks of - those that create life-long bonds? And what about our relationship with Christ Himself?

Relationships are not forged by electronic means. They are nurtured and grown through the application of love. And not from a distance either, but face to face. Love comes from the heart, not through the eyes. Let us love one another and Jesus first loved us. Then we will see REAL relationships based in truth and light. Those relationships lead only to joy and last an eternity.

^"24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." - Hebrews 10:24-25


Baba O'Riley - The Who