Venting the Wine
Who are the holders of wisdom in our age? Is it the old or the young?
It is not the old that are wise, nor the aged that understand what is right. Therefore I say, 'Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.' My heart is indeed like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins, it is ready to burst. I must speak, so that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer. I will not show partiality to any person or use flattery toward anyone. - Job 32:9-10;19-21
In this chapter of Job, the young man Elihu speaks. He has kept silent throughout the story and we didn't even know he was there, but he listened and now, he is ready to burst.
We cannot blame him, really. What he has witnessed has him fired up. He has watched Job suffer and seeks a voice to share his thoughts.
Do we want to know the thoughts of the young, or would we rather rally them to our side so we can have support in numbers?
Back in the days of my youth, students would gather together on campus to raise a loud voice for change. The voice cried out for peace and love and was a message that gained momentum with the young rock music scene.
But at the time, most of the world's economy was fueled by an older generation of mostly men, who had all the power. The cries of the young could be tolerated and ignored.
But something happened with the rise of personal technology. The young started creating businesses and those businesses grew in size and power so that today, much has sprung from those bursting wineskins.
We realized that these young minds may not have experience, but they have something worth listening to.
Ironically, though, today, we seem to have turned the technology that connects the world against those who built it, and once again, we are finding ways to use it to move the herd rather than to help individuals be heard.
The ability to share individual thoughts publicly should give rise to greater individuality, but instead it has caused us to take sides and fight against each other.
The individuals, young and old, are but poll points and likes.
So, like Elihu who patiently waited for his turn to speak, I invite the young to take their turn. I am eagerly awaiting the rise of the voices of youth, one by one, so we all can listen and judge for ourselves where the wisdom lies.
Of course it won't happen. Others will drown them out and call them names.
But the young wine needs to be vented or it will burst the skin, and I am afraid we have held it closed too long.
More to come...