Generation. . . Z ?

I finally got my copy of "Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millenium," by Dick Meyer. I'm doing a little do-si-do with this book and Ravi Zacharias's series on Meaninglessness.

What a dance.

Only knee-deep in both, I already see what's quite possibly, dare I say it, "hope" on the horizon.

Historically, a great civilization like America should fall right about now and I think we've seen it coming. The collapse of the family, of religion, of quality public education... these are the foundations of the degradation of a nation. What follows is moral, social, political and, finally, economical decline. Sound familiar?

So I sit back in my recliner & watch suspiciously as Obama creeps in, looking too good to be true, sounding faintly like the anticipated antichrist , breezing in with his Messiah-like promises. I find myself circling around the Obama camp, eyebrows raised, itchy with bad intuition, hesitant, distrustful, hopeful, eager.

The bubbles above my head as I recline contain excerpts of Obama's Utopian hope and energy, Zacharias's accurate philosophical darts about the futility of humanism and Dick Meyer's pragmatic, clear-eyed portrait of a noisy, senseless, inattentive, self-indulgent people group (us) (as in you and me).

So I sit, think, observe. A new thread emerges leading possibly to a new weave. It is the silky thread of an energetic, candid, dissatisfied new generation that emerges from this tangled web we've woven. I've gotten glimpses of them (when they're unaware). I've seen an act of good will here, an act of self discipline there, a bold proclamation here and a convicted stance there. In our older teens/young adults, I've caught a whiff of change -- a much exploited word lately, forgive me for using it. This generation rises out of a self-destructing nation, having learned something, stepping up to the plate with:

• a sense of eternity
• a concern for the future
• a compassion for humanity
• a hunger for candor
• a grip on personal and collective responsibility
• economic restraint
• unwilling to buy into our generation's "Truth 2.0" (truth as a consumer good where you choose and create your own personal truth).
  

I can't offer this as certainty yet. I feel just a tremor of hope. But it's there. Either way, my conclusion is the same: We're either approaching the beginning of the end of The End Times or the uprising of a new generation, a multifaceted revival of sorts. And, honestly, I'm kind of ambivalent which one it is.

"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." James 5:7,8