Christian psychologist, priest, and spiritual father Henri Nouwen wrote, “When our good plans are
interrupted by poor weather, our peace of mind by inner turmoil, our hope for
peace by a new war, our desire for a stable government by a constant changing
of the guards, and our desire for immortality by real death, we are tempted to
give in to a paralyzing boredom or to strike back in destructive bitterness.”
I must admit that I dislike the word boredom. I especially disliked it coming from my
children when they were teenagers. I have
observed that what would have excited me to no end when I was a teen can be
very boring to today’s teenager. I
remember being thrilled to get a wrecked 1962 Ford Falcon in my senior
year in high school! I fixed it up and it became my pride
and joy. Have you seen the nice cars and trucks in our high school parking lots?
Nowadays, parents feel pressure to provide lots of experiences for their kids. There are so many good activities and things from which to choose today! But in exposing our children to so many options, we may be inadvertently creating a kind of immunity in our kids, thereby raising the level of excitement needed to conquer their boredom. Today it simply takes more novelty and excitement to keep kids interested. The entertainment bar keeps going up.
How do you think this is affecting the spiritual lives of our children? I think about the negative effects of our consumeristic, entertainment-driven culture on our children. Recently a TV ad featured several young people following their dreams to play sports, dance, or sing on a stage. In every case the passions people followed were about entertaining others. I guess it is hard to pitch an ad to get people to join the Peace Corps or build a Habitat for Humanity home.
And this is why the world needs to hear the voice of God through us, the Church! But this voice must be heard by each would-be-disciple of Jesus and ACTED if the gospel message is going to be welcomed by others.
What can you do to keep the entertainment bar from rising in your life?
Grace Always,
Dave
Nowadays, parents feel pressure to provide lots of experiences for their kids. There are so many good activities and things from which to choose today! But in exposing our children to so many options, we may be inadvertently creating a kind of immunity in our kids, thereby raising the level of excitement needed to conquer their boredom. Today it simply takes more novelty and excitement to keep kids interested. The entertainment bar keeps going up.
How do you think this is affecting the spiritual lives of our children? I think about the negative effects of our consumeristic, entertainment-driven culture on our children. Recently a TV ad featured several young people following their dreams to play sports, dance, or sing on a stage. In every case the passions people followed were about entertaining others. I guess it is hard to pitch an ad to get people to join the Peace Corps or build a Habitat for Humanity home.
And this is why the world needs to hear the voice of God through us, the Church! But this voice must be heard by each would-be-disciple of Jesus and ACTED if the gospel message is going to be welcomed by others.
What can you do to keep the entertainment bar from rising in your life?
Grace Always,
Dave
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