The Vanishing
Generation
Many years ago Dean Alfange, a Greek immigrant from
the Ottoman Empire, wrote what he called, “His Creed.” This creed was quoted
anonymously in 1985 in the newsletter of the National Foundation for the Study
of Religion and Economics, September/October. This creed, well written, thought
provoking, and today more relevant than ever speaks to us about the vanishing
generation of Americans.
“I do not
choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon—if I can. I seek
opportunity—not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and
dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk;
to dream and to build; to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for
a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill
of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for
beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master
nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations; and to face
the world boldly and say, ‘This I have done.’ All this is what it means to be
free.”
This quote represents a generation that is passing
away. Where did they go? How is it that the America I grew up in is so
different today? I was thinking of my father the other day. Dad has been gone
for many years now. O how I miss him. He would not recognize the America his
children and grandchildren are living in now. I would love to hear his
thoughts.
The scourge of this present generation is that so many
feel entitled. Few, growing up today, have a strong work ethic. Honesty, loyalty, and discipline are
vanishing virtues. Most do not know what was meant by the phrase, “The
Protestant Work Ethic.” Character, telling the truth, standing alone,
sacrifice, and personal honor seem like dreams of a by gone era.
Perhaps, what made the America that my father grew up
in so wonderful, in so many ways, was the influence of the Christian worldview
that is now under attack and is being systematically dismantled. Political
Correctness, Secular Humanism, the New Atheism, and a host of other weeds are
choking the flowers in what used to be a beautiful garden.
I think of a verse of Scripture that speaks to me
these days. Queen Esther was asked by her uncle to stand up in the defense of
the Jews who were under a serious threat from a wicked man. Her uncle spoke
wise words to the new queen, “For if you
remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for
the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet
who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14.
This is our day. This is our time. Let us lift high
the cross!
2 comments:
Thank you Pastor for this piece. We are the Vanishing Generation. I think it started when they took God out of our schools and started telling us the government knew better how to raise our children.
Debbie Brown
Fort Collins, Colorado
Well put Pastor, on one hand I feel like the persecuted Christians I teach about in Churches (not that we're persecuted like they are). They see the persecution they receive and it strengthens their faith, because they say "God said this would happen, His Word is more true to me now than ever".
In the same way, I see all the absurdity happening in our culture, and I remember that God said people "call good evil, and evil good"
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