Which generation are you?

It has been quite the contrast the past couple of weeks, hasn’t it?

We’ve gone from the rather calm quiet of the Winter Texans’ visits to the torrent of Spring Breakers. I always have to admire how everyone in this city transitions and gears up so well. Many of you have had enough experience to know what to expect. Personally, I think it is fun to see the beach and community so much enjoyed.

That is – except for the noise at night when it’s time to go to sleep. My time that is! You see, we had what seemed liked 40 “Breakers” staying in housing just behind our residence. I think they must have gotten their clocks greatly confused at the recent time change: turning the hour hand back ten hours.

While they were here, they didn’t go to bed until it was around five in the morning – real time. Then, there was the blast of car speakers blaring at 10:30 at night. It was enough to send the migrating birds straight north with no stopover. A little bummed, I went over to speak with the culprits. One of them looked at me like, “Hey, what’s the problem?” What’s the problem? They were all gathered in a garage while their car (with all four doors open and an oversized speaker in each) was parked on the opposite side of the turn-around – with the volume set to screeching!

“What’s the problem?”

I just heard a report on the radio that, according to a recent study, this generation “Y,” or whatever it’s called, is the most self-centered generation to come along. They have low regard for environmental issues. They want everything now. The study’s list goes on.

At first I nodded my head in agreement; but then, I remembered my elders saying the very same thing of my generation.

They’d say, “Why, in my generation . . . we had manners.”

“In my generation, we had respect for our elders.”

“In my generation, we knew what a dollar meant.”

“In my generation, we had to work for a living.

“Why, this world is going to hell in a hand basket!”

Hell in a hand basket? What does that mean?

Doesn’t it seem strange to you that every generation views itself as more mature, more respectful, and more capable of handling the world than the previous one? In my case that certainly is true! For example, my generation has respect for elders. We know the worth of a dollar. We have had to work for a living; whereas, today, this genera- tion is going to . . . yeah . . . that ol’ basket.

To be honest, even if we were to go as far back as Moses (no, further back than then . . . to Abraham. No. Further than that . . . to Adam and Eve) it is likely that same expression of going to “…the basket” was in the offering.

That is why God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden. That is why a covenant was given to Abraham: that if he and his generation promised to be faithful, they would be blessed to be a blessing. That is why Jesus came into the world.

He came because of the condition known as sin, which turns us away from God and causes us to center our lives on ourselves.

Easter is the celebration of forgiveness and the gift of new life through Christ. It isn’t God’s intention that we view each generation as going to . . . that basket. Because of the glorious gift of resurrection, we are each given the opportunity to receive forgiveness and new life in Christ.

So every generation is a part of the one generation: those who have been reborn in Jesus and who serve one another in His love, mercy, and compassion. The next time you think that this new generation is going to you know where . . . think this: that without Christ in your life, you may be going there, too!

Father Doug Schwert is the vicar at Trinity-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Port Aransas.