What Has Life Done To Us?

In an uninformed and overtly broad characterization, I would like to say that the people of the 1940s and 1950s seem to me to be an honest, compassionate, selfless generation. I learned that by watching Happy Days and Leave it to Beaver, but I still think it's mostly true. In my vision of how time flies when you're having fun, the 1960s and early 1970s saw a predominant cultural shift toward selfishness. "Do your own thing" was a fashionable form of selfishness, as was the sexual revolution. As the Seventies merged into the Eighties, economic prosperity took hold of the American landscape. The joys of getting the most toys became more interesting than sex. The parents of the Baby Boomers were wondering if they were out of their minds when they were busy making all those children. But now the Boomers had come into their own and they took the culture by storm. They felt they deserved all of the amenities for which their parents had worked so hard. But, they wanted them NOW. There's nothing much sadder for a gadget-addicted Baby Boomer than to see a commercial for his favorite gadget, except that now it is new and improved. And he doesn't have it. His old one goes on the junk pile in the double garage. He gets his already overburdened credit card and purchases the new model. There is no end to it. We are burned out, stressed, depressed, disfuntional, and we find in this propserous life nothing to help us cope. I think Americans have taken a long look at themselves and turned away from the vision. What did they see? *Their empty persuit of supreme gagetry has proven worthless. *Government cannot be trusted. Presidents can be murdered. Presidents can lie with a straight face. Presidents can turn the Oval Office into a brothel. Presidents can bring us into war. *Civility. I seem to remember what that was...what is that? We are reaping the benefits of generations of selfishness. If you have everything you could want but you are still unhappy, the natural conclusion is that there is something wrong with you. And I think this is what our lives have done to us. Our lives have convinced us that there's not much in us to love. The generations are looking at each other and pointing the finger of blame. This is a culture that loathes itself. It hides behind bizarre behavior, mutiliation of skin and flesh, and the hopelessness is exposed in the codeword "whatever". Even Christian music these days is filled with self-damning lyrics that are morose and dark as they take a microscopic look at our sin before God and our inability to be righteous on our own. Yes, it is a Biblical theme, but there is more news...good news. I think life in the twenty-first century has presented us with some troubling circumstances. This is what life has done to us. It was the liberal parent who let us do whatever we wanted to do. We ate too much in the candy store and now our tummy aches. I don't know what all the answers are, but I do know that God has them. At least I think He is the only One who can reverse the effects of selfishness in our lives. He can rebuild our broken lives. I can understand why many in the world do not believe this (just look at us!). Why do we not believe it?