It’s all for the toilet?!

Early this morning I sat musing on my bed. Pondering life. My mind turned to the “Raising Healthy Children” psychological survey I take every year so they can see the affects parents have on their children. (I have participated in this University of Washington funded survey since I was in the second grade. I receive a nice compensation for my time.)

I began to compare my responses from last year to this year. I was excited to realize that this year I will be able to declare that my parents are not funding me in the least. It's all my own efforts.

I continued to process, “If my dad hadn’t asked me to come back and live with them I would have been paying for all my expenses long before this. Long ago I would have been able to show that I am a successful young person.”

Did you read that response?!

SHOCK!

Bleh.

Yick.

How does my inner being, apparently, define success?

It seems to be defined based on my independent ability to provide for myself – and impress others.

And what would I have expected myself to be providing in order to fulfill the “successful young person” category?

--a furnished and somewhat well-decorated (enough to give that “welcome home” feel) apartment

--enough food and furniture to invite others to join me, and be comfortable

--nice, well-fitting “young teacher” clothes

--fun and stylish outside of work clothes

And where is any eternal perspective in this list?

No where.

My inner core, my inner, cultural context has no eternal perspective.

Stumbling upon my own inner being begins to confirm my thoughts/theories that one of the main reasons [western] “Christian” young people aged 18-32 (we’ll paint in broad strokes,) are participating less and less in the church is that they don’t see its value.

The value of the Church is not in their/our inner, core culture. We don’t know why the church exists EXCEPT, perhaps, as an organization that’s supposed to keep you thinking about Jesus every week, or whenever you can find time to attend.

That’s a scary future for the culture of those people’s children, their eternity, as well as the culture of the nation.

And so, my age group will continue to plan life around their careers, seeking nothing more than multitudes of toilets they don’t actually need, in order to live.

We cannot stand without a foundation.

We cannot build a foundation when we don’t know its materials.