I sometimes just don’t know. This is neither a good or bad thing, this not knowing. It’s just a state of being in between. While I undoubtedly find it frustrating, I have to trust that there is a plan. There is a purpose and a point to the waiting. I have a definitive path that I am on and while I am not sure exactly what happens along the way, at least my end destination is clear. Because it is. Of this I have no doubt.
I was having a conversation with friends about the here and now (sort of). It was a conversation pertaining to religion and theology, specifically, but I think I can broaden the scope of the points made to fit the secular. The argument was that previous generations were more concerned with the future – the when, the where, and the how of events and what needed to be accomplished to reach that end goal. My generation, specifically, is mostly concerned with today – the instant, the relevant, the present time. There are a couple of reasons why that may be; I think that maybe on one end it’s a result of easy access to information. Being constantly and pervasively informed of current events has a tendency to effect your scope of thinking to the present. I also think a direct byproduct of this media saturation is that my generation as a whole is vastly more cynical than those that have come before us. We are told a multitude of things in a multitude of different ways and each way has been structured to appeal to us on an individual and selfish level – by experiencing this over and over, we immediately doubt the motivations behind each and every appeal made to us. This is the case with politics, with consumerism, and yes, with religion. We are told that this will be good for us, this will make us more appealing, this will make us happier and most often it does not. My generation is that of the fast food, the 48 hour detox diet, the purity ring. Each is presented as a fad and easily dismissed with the next New Thing. It makes us tired, and when the New Thing comes along, we may fall for it a time or two, but honestly we’re more apt to dismiss it as an advertisement than as something that may really potentially hold some truth.
I am concerned with the now. Specifically and spiritually, I am fixated on living for the day – I am not concerned with eschatology or discussing the euthanasia of morality in the unknowable distant future. Contemplating this, while it makes for an interesting and sometimes fun conversation, does nothing for me today. As it as been so eloquently stated by my church, my goal is to experience life and experience all that my God has to offer me abundantly. It’s not my purpose to debate the unknowable and convoluted details about the future. I know the end result. Why can that not be enough? And why, accepting that my purpose is to live specifically for today without worrying about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34), is that questioned as an anomaly of my generation?
I segued from secular to spiritual here. Sorry about that. I was trying to keep it broad but ‘eh.
To go back to the original point, this current generation has been accused of having a transitory nature. I’ll have to disagree and argue that we’re fortunate enough to be presented with a larger amount of knowledge than previous generations, and as such we are more selective about how and what we believe. Things we find genuine are much more likely to make an impact in our day to day lives because we’ve selected them to be real out of a multitude of options. And I refuse all of the above to be a negative or a point of contention. I am happy with the way I am in my day to day operations and am, out of everything presented to me, secure in my end result. I don’t know the why or the how I’ll get there. But I know I’ll get there. And that is enough for me.
It’s time for bed now.
