SomethingElse

I both love and hate this meme, since I’ve been on both sides of it. Everyone my age knows the problem of eager young men wanting to “do something” yet everything you suggest they do is beneath their concern. Holding events is “just hanging out” Doing sport and fitness is “just self care” Politics is “just voting” Arts and Letters is “just intellectualism” Homesteading is “just retreating” On the other hand I remember what it was like being young, showing up to my local church for the first time wanting to give myself to a new vision and them having NO vision for me to follow. Their congregation was geriatric, their Mens groups’ youngest member was 60, their event rosters were all just pancake breakfasts and round tables of 70-year old women. I talked to the priest and ask for a big picture and then got a lecture about humility and service. Yeah sure, you’re right about sacrifice and respect for elders but a 26 year old needs more than that. What is the long term vision for my life if I make this church my community? I spend my weekends helping old people do bingo until they pass and then the bishop shuts the parish down for lack of attendance? Speaking generally, this is an absolutely disrespectful vision to sell to young people. They are bringing you the prime energy of their lives and you can’t be bothered to provide a vision that lasts for longer than a decade? This is a failure of leadership and I am tired of pretending it’s not.