And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them, who did not know the Lord or the work which he had done for Israel. 2 Judges 10.
This verse follows the death of Joshua, a courageous and completely obedient servant of God. The photo is the church where I went as a child, my mother is buried, one of my sisters was married and I was probably christened. I went to Sunday School there and was in the choir.
My parents like the generation after Joshua stopped going to church. Perhaps it was a reaction to the Second World Way. I followed suit caught up in my own rebelliousness. I remember though the church being the centre of much of our lives. The rector visited on his bike and we went on church socials. We sang hymns in assembly even though it was a state school. The church helped us ‘match, hatch and be dispatched.’
I see a generation of young folk who shop and go to internet cafes on Sunday am and instead of praying and communicating with others have their ears permanently filled by headphones imbibing a constant diet of their handpicked music. They know little of the Christian religion and have little instruction in it.
I see a generation trying to find fulfilment in careers, consumerism, artistic expression, fame and non demanding ‘spirituality.’
Gertrude Stein called the generation who had lost their youth in the First World War a ‘lost generation. ‘ I think it is my generation and this one who are the lost ones.
He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life. 1 John 5.12
