Take time to think "Why"

I'm smart enough to know I don't have all the answers, however, I took away a lot from Sunday service regarding last week's tragic event. After the Columbine shooting, the following letter was written by a teenager and was used by our pastor this weekend. Click to hear it read (approximately 4 minutes).

I am a member from the upcoming generation, the one after Generation X. So far, most people are rallying behind the idea of calling us Generation Next and I think I know why. The older generations are hoping we'll mindlessly assume our place as the next in line. That way, they won't have to explain why my generation has had to experience so much pain and heartache. What heartache you say? Don't you know you've grown up in a time of great prosperity. Oh yeh, we know, believe me it's been drilled into our heads since birth. Unfortunately, the pain and hurt I speak of can't be reconciled with money. You've tried for years to buy our happiness but it's only temporary. Money isn't the answer and it's time for people to begin admitting their guilt for failing this generation.

I will admit I wasn't planing to write this, I was going to tuck it away in some corner of my mind and fall victim to your whole next mentality. But after the massacre in Littleton, I realized that as a member of the generation that kills without remorse, I had a duty to challenge all of my elders to explain why they had allowed for things to become so bad. These questions don't only represent me, but a whole generation struggling to grow and make sense of this world. We all have questions, we all want explanations, people may label us generation next, but we are more appropriately titled Generation "WHY".

Why did you lie most of the time when you made the vow to death due us part? Why do you fool yourselves believing that divorce really is better for the kids in the long run? Why do so many of you divorced parents spend more time with your new boyfriend or girlfriend than with your own children? Why did you ever fall victim to the notion your kids are just as well off being raised by a stranger at a daycare center than their own mother or father? Why? Why do you look down at parents who decide to quit work to stay at home and raise their children? Why does the television do most of the speaking in our family? Why is work more important than us? Why is money regarded as more important than relationships? Why is quality time generally no more than five minutes? Why do you try to make up for the lack of time you spend with us by giving us more and more material objects we really don't need? Why does your work, in the form of an IPhone or laptop, always go with us everywhere we go? Why have you neglected to teach us morals and values? Why haven't you lived moral lives we could follow? Why isn't religion one of the most important words in our house? Why do you play god when it comes to abortion? Why don't you have enough faith in us to teach us abstinence rather than safe sex? Why do you allow us to watch violent movies, but expect us to maintain some sort of childlike innocence. Why do you allow us to spend unlimited time on the Internet and are still shocked with our knowledge about how to build bombs? Why are you so afraid to tell us no sometimes? Why is it so hard for you to realize that school shootings and other violent juvenile behavior result from the lack of your attention, leadership, and guidance more than anything else?

Call us Generation Next if you want to, but I think you'll be surprised about how we fail to fit in your little categories. These questions should and will be asked to the generations that have failed us. You've pursued your selfish desires for years, but now is the time for you to reap what you've sown. Some rude awakenings, like the Littleton massacre have occurred and probably will continue until you can begin to answer our questions and make the drastic changes to put us, your children, first. To lead us, disciple us, teach us that there is a right. Time is running out, for in just a few short years we will be grown and it will likely be too late. You might not think we're worth it, but I guarantee you, that Littleton will look like a drop in the bucket compared to what might occur when a neglected Generation "WHY" comes to power.

If you would like to listen more to this past weekend's service, visit Watermark and view Darkness in Newtown and the Light of the World.