Future Shock

Life is too short.

Our days are like the grass; we flourish like a flower of the field; When the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place shall know it no more. But the merciful goodness of the LORD endures for ever on those who fear him, and his righteousness on children's children; On those who keep his covenant and remember his commandments and do them. - Psalm 106:15-18

If we didn't believe that we would live forever, what would be the best we could hope for?

I today's psalm, the lament over the short life we live is tempered by the fact that God is merciful.  But instead of believing we will be offered eternal life, the benefit we receive through God's mercy is for our children and their children.

I think of my grandparents who came to this country with the hope of raising a family that would have more opportunity than they had.

They endured hardship knowing they would not be the ones who benefited, but that benefit would be for their children and us, the children of their children.

That selflessness seems to fade over the generations, doesn't it?

I think my goal was to have a good life and to enjoy it, not to set the stage for my children to have a good life.

Of course I want them to have more than I have had.  That's normal, I guess.  But it is different for those of us who had less of a struggle growing up than our parents did.

We now may be seeing the opposite.  For many today, life is more of a struggle than it was for their parents, and so the pendulum may be swinging back.

The idea of working hard for the next generation to benefit may be coming back.  Not by choice, but by necessity.

To build a good future for our children should be our focus now, and that may not be an acceptable position to take for some.

If we want it now, and don't care what we leave for the next generation, what will our world become?

More to come...