No one enjoys walking people through dark valleys or through painful reactions, but love says, I’ll be there for you. I may not know what to do or what to say. But I just can’t let you go through this alone!
Read the entire article by Wayne Jacobsen here.
What are we looking for? In the internet, and especially in life?
My guess, which without scientific back-up, is just what it is… my opinion. (redrafted)
First, this generation (from teens up to those in their 30’s at least and perhaps beyond) is looking for something real. Not a fabricated facade, and not a pretty face… but real. Gut level, see it how it is, real…. honest… one day I was so angry at the facades I see around me that I made up a song asking “where are all the real people.” It was a joke for a friend who understood a little… but not a very funny one, because I still ask myself that question.
My mother grew up in the day where you just “don’t air the dirty laundry!” She STILL doesn’t know much about her family history, because none of the older relatives would tell her. That just doesn’t wash anymore. We may keep some things personal and that is fine, but we want people to be ‘real’ with us, and we want to know that if we do tell them personal things, that they won’t judge us for it, and they won’t try to fix us.
We need emotional outlets. Journaling has found its way into the mainstream through blogging. Our diary is no longer under the mattress, but now public. What do we do with our joys, our pains, our struggles and our successes that beg to be shared? MySpace, Facebook, blogging, are all outlets.
Many of us need a constructive way to let out our emotions, because there is no other place we can do so. In church we are expected to tow the line. In school, there just isn’t time. And at home, well… I suppose it depends on the home, but the dynamics of a family often don’t lend themselves to times full of personal conversation. We fall into rat-race of days full of the car-pool, soccer games, grab a quick dinner, homework, video game and tv time, then bed.
The only place we ever seem to truly be ourselves is with our friends… and let’s be honest here, once we are beyond the teenage and college years, that is gone also. There is no place where we can be ourselves! That is one of the appeals of the internet… our own corner of truth. Or the reverse can be true… the place we can pretend to be someone else.
In this day and age of separation (I live in my house with my 3, you live in your house with your 5, and so on), we are looking for connection. Some kind of community, which is relatively easy to find on the net. Teenagers seek it out with their friends, at coffee shops, parties, hanging out at someone’s house, but our society is truly lacking in relationships. We are far removed from the day where small communities raised their children together, relatives lived together, or within a few blocks of family, and where everyone knew our name.
On-line communities, chatting, blogging, all offer a sense of community beyond the walls of our house that we are desperate for. A connection to another person. Someone that actually cares what we wrote… even if it makes them mad…it is still a connection! I know that my life is lacking relationships. Is yours?
Where are the mothers and fathers we need? Where can we find someone to take an interest in us. The first that does, we will follow. The first to believe in us, and encourage us is where we place our loyalty. We desire more than just friendships… we also need mentors.
Yet, without the Lord Jesus, we still have an empty place, no matter what we seek and strive to fill it with. First of all, we are searching to fill that void that is God Shaped. But beyond that we need loved, discipled, encouraged, related to, seen, listened to, and more.
What else are we looking for? Please let us know your thoughts.
This blog is just a way to express thoughts and feelings about life, faith, and what it is like to be a fool for Jesus. To learn more about the name of my blog, please refer to my previous post about it by clicking here.
