I was born at the very end of 1954. That sorta barely makes me a Boomer, by sociological standards. I started college in 1971, at the too young age of 16. I knew all the words to "Aquarius" and "Jesus Christ, Superstar". I knew all the tracks, in order, on Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. I still know the birthdates of all the Beatles. I was a part of a very particular generation.
But so is everyone else. And though we are to some extent molded by our peer group, we are also molded by so many other factors: our parents, our extended families, our economic situation, our geographic location, our religious upbringing, our education. When all of that is combined with our DNA and our very own spark of individuality - well, it's hard to put a label on any one group, isn't it?
Certain belief systems defy age or anything else. Particular ways of thought cannot break through a closed mind or a closed heart. As I see it, our heart and our mind and our soul and our strength fight toward what we hold dear. It is difficult to keep our eyes and ears closed when we try to follow a living God that consistently leads us out of our comfort zones to places where we have lessons to learn; when we try to follow a Saviour that insists we eat with people we wouldn't invite to our own house; when we try to catch a Spirit that both burns and carries us. I see them all at church, from the seniors to the middlers to the young ones.
That Generation - the ones who keep trying - cannot be defined by anyone's standards, sociological or otherwise. We are the foolish, we are the optimists, we are the ones who have heard that our treasure is where our hearts are rather than the other way around, and we know that Love wins.
No gap there.
But so is everyone else. And though we are to some extent molded by our peer group, we are also molded by so many other factors: our parents, our extended families, our economic situation, our geographic location, our religious upbringing, our education. When all of that is combined with our DNA and our very own spark of individuality - well, it's hard to put a label on any one group, isn't it?
Certain belief systems defy age or anything else. Particular ways of thought cannot break through a closed mind or a closed heart. As I see it, our heart and our mind and our soul and our strength fight toward what we hold dear. It is difficult to keep our eyes and ears closed when we try to follow a living God that consistently leads us out of our comfort zones to places where we have lessons to learn; when we try to follow a Saviour that insists we eat with people we wouldn't invite to our own house; when we try to catch a Spirit that both burns and carries us. I see them all at church, from the seniors to the middlers to the young ones.
That Generation - the ones who keep trying - cannot be defined by anyone's standards, sociological or otherwise. We are the foolish, we are the optimists, we are the ones who have heard that our treasure is where our hearts are rather than the other way around, and we know that Love wins.
No gap there.
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