Thursday, November 20, 2008

BOOMERS - WAKE UP, YOUR ALARM IS RINGING!


The Boomers are the generation who brought us our social philosophy - “Do your own Thing”.

In the space of one generation we turned our backs on the wisdom of our parents, on the authority of schools and on the relevance of the churches. Thanks to them we are now a materialistic, amoral and godless society - getting more so every day.

The essence of the philosophy is that I, an individual, am able to make better life judgments than the family, school and church which were our social foundations.

To help along this belief are both governments and businesses. Governments want our votes so they package up fancy “individual rights” (plus regulations). Businesses target individuals to sell us every possible item to make us successful.

The big problem is that the “Do your own thing” philosophy is directly opposed to the philosophy that says “It takes a tribe to raise a child”. Our addiction to individual freedom is shredding families as each person does his/her own thing.

The Boomers are quick to say we are giving our children the freedom to make their own social, moral and spiritual choices. The problem with that is they are not being given the options. The social, moral and spiritual lessons are not learned in school or from books. They come from their family and community experiences. These are the essentials children now do not have.

It is a tough, nasty and selfish world out there. Our children and grandchildren are being tossed into that world without the survival skills.

SO WHAT? It’s back to the family. The Boomers need to rediscover the family and rebuild it with all the players of all ages. That does a number of good things. It provides security for each person. It shares the wisdom and experience of those who have been there. It provides a personal identity, saving them from unhealthy identities offered by our unwell society.

Share with us your family’s methods of passing along wisdom and experience with this latest FAMILY CHALLENGE.

Friday, November 07, 2008

FAMILY - THE MISSING LINK


We are working hard to get ahead but are often falling further behind. We drive in faster cars and don’t have time. We can’t keep up with the new technology or the new drugs. We are surrounded by big problems of crime, addictions and garbage.

Our society can’t solve the big problems of terror, school shootings, HIV and death on the roads. Abortion, mercy killing, gay lifestyle and the ozone layer are unsolved challenges. We are using too much power, cutting down too many trees and using up too much water. We are living longer but can’t care for the elderly.

The magic of science is our big hope to live longer, better and healthier. Yet we all are going into big debt to pass on to our children. Darwin wrote “The Origin of Species” but with all the science advances, we still don’t have the answer to the secrets of life.

We are living in an age of spiritual upheaval. The older religions are consumed by political, financial and interracial issues. Instead of clear guides to living, we have ugly competing theories. None seem able to demonstrate the good life.

Enough already! How can the family handle all this? How can an individual handle all this? The answer is that the solo person cannot. It’s too much; the forces are too big and powerful. The individual cannot survive on his/her own.

But, biology has the big clue. It knows that a body is made up of cells. When cells work right, the body works right. When the body works right, it can use its God-given gifts to live well.

Those old religions had the right theory - The universe is designed so that bodies can exist and live together. That theory says we need to be together in belief and action. The trouble with the old religions is that they have lost sight of their unique secret. Togetherness is everything.

So, the family is the missing link. Its big secret is togetherness. When a family has that, its members have the support that they need to live well in this challenging modern world.