In My Day

About a month ago, I had a conversation with an older gentleman in our church.  He was reminiscing about when he was younger and actually said, "When I was in school, I walked a mile to school in 20 below weather.  And my dad called to make sure my mom made me wear a warm coat."  Get out of here.  I didn't really think that this story happened to anyone.  I was wrong.

And it's got me thinking about any tales that I'll tale about "back in my day".  Sadly, I don't think many exist.  I could complain about school uniforms being more restricted, but that's not really all that bad.  And that leaves me with very little to hold onto.

Then it hit me - are we losing the notion of a unique story?  Am I a part of a generation that hasn't had a codifying event?  The Boomers had Vietnam and Reaganomics.  The Millenials are being formed in a post 9/11 world with dot.com potential and a President inspiring the country.  The single event (at least the one most identified by others) that gets listed for Gen X is the explosion of the Challenger in 1986.  The identifying marker of my generation is failure?  Not exactly something to rally around.

I think one of the greatest challenges facing American culture centers around a generation that has slipped between the cracks.  At first Gen X was cool and trendy, until society realized something "cooler" and more adaptable followed in their wake.  The generation that struggled to find a home in the Boomer world wasn't ready for the fluidity of the emerging landscape.  

To add insult to injury, the Boomers who recognized a new landscape leapfrogged the Gen X folks and grafted in Millenials to help them transition, more fluid and ready for what's next.  So an entire generation sits displaced.  Not fit for the old world, not equipped or overlooked for the new one.  We reach back to find our story and are grasping at straws.

As I've been searching for the story, I wonder if the most appropriate story resembles what the first Easter Saturday must have felt like.  The one between death and resurrection.  The one that gets lost in our own celebrations.  What do we do with the time in between?  Fortunately for us, we know that One's death leads to our resurrection.  But how does that inform how we approach today?   

I guess that leaves a generation to hope against hope.  More importantly, we must become a generation that is ready to believe when the unexpected happens.  How do we respond when we encounter the Resurrected One who calls us to something beyond?  Do I know the Story well enough to hear that call to become a part of something better? 

And I wait, hoping against hope that there's more to this story.  And maybe I'll be able to share about what it was like in my day...