At the time of Jesus, the people sought for signs from God to
understand the second coming of the savior. Paradoxically today’s generation
seems to be looking for miracles to believe in God. This tendency postulates
the absence of faith and presence of godlessness attitude. I wish I am wrong in
making this premise.
Of late I was shocked when a couple of graduate students told
me that they do not believe in God. I was shocked not because they do not
believe in God but what would be their reason to say this, despite years of
formation and seminary life. I really wonder whether they understood what they
said.
Perhaps the change of times and the change of cultures and
change of belief systems could have influenced them. Let us not forget the fact
that there is nothing certain except the change
itself. Yes change is the only certainty. So it is the change that influences
the mind of the young today. The speed of change is tremendous. Just to put you
in context……Years ago the choices that my grandfather had to survive were simple
things like Land, Water, Cattle and Cart, Car, T.V and Radio. But today the choices
that I have…oh vow…I face a problem of choice because plenty of things at my
disposal. To drink, to eat, to wear, to travel, to relate and to live…the choices
are….Coco Cola, KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonald,
Samsung, Apple, Puma, RayBan, Reebok, fastrack, docomo, airtel, Ford, Marcedez
and the hub of everything facebook,
twitter, watsup and Google. Today
with all the facilities, still the young face tragedy in life unlike our
forefathers with minimum things. Believe me the young today is experiencing an Identity Crisis due to mishandling and
manipulating the things that are at hand; which unveil a way to Godlessness,
isolation and existential despair.
Once I was having a chat with one of my friends about what
actually were the reasons why the young people go away from God and thus lead a
Godless life that would certainly influence the others like any contagious
sickness. Some of the points of our discussion about the things that lead to
Godlessness today are…
Sense of Impatience: The young
today have developed a tendency to seek immediate results for the efforts that
they make; be it studies, work or prayer. Since they are in haste they forget
the fact that these things take years to bear fruit. Today we are living in the
age of touch, click, instant, fastrack, instant results, instant coffee and
instant. In this age of comodification, the qualities like patience, calm and
compose have become unwanted commodities. As a result we lose patience and
develop aggression, irritation and temper. And we know with this character we
get absolute disorientation having no standards in life. To give you an
example, we know formation is not a period of time or a stage of life. But it
is an ongoing process where one comes out of darkness and steps into light and
grace.
Sense of Disorientation: A life without goal
and focus will be like a ship without rudder. The journey of such life becomes
insipid and meaningless. There is nothing to work for and nothing to strive for
in life. What the young need at this level is to discover something that they
love passionately and get oriented in life’s journey. Then it becomes a dream
to chase and make a reality.
Lack of Sense of Humor: It is said that “A fool laughs at
others’ mistakes, and the wise laughs at one’s mistakes.” Yes, we lost the true
sense of humor. It is nothing but being optimistic about oneself. Such an attitude
makes one to find something good in him/her and find oneself worth appreciating
even in the worst circumstances. In this regard our parents can be the best
examples that we could find ever. Jesus Christ himself set a beautiful example
before us where we can see his death on the cross leading us to the joy of
resurrection; where a symbol of suffering becomes a signpost of resurrection.
Lack Sense of Family: If father is the head of the
family; then mother is the heart of the family. In family we learn the virtue
of charity. The youth today have a feeling that in family all are outdated and irrelevant.
So they give least importance to the parents. They forget the fact that parents
know everything about them despite what they are and what they are not. We know
all great people who left the legacy in the page of history are from a good
family who were obedient to the parents and to the family.
Sense of Independence: Yes, today’s young people are not
in a stage to listen to other. Because they have mass media in hand that shows
them all that they want and all that they need instantly. Therefore, strong
sense of independence creeps into their head; which is a great paralysis of
this generation. Thus they become no more the citizens of the society but the
natives of the Mass Media, as an analysis described. With this attitude they
conceive everyone as weak and incomplete. But they develop many fake friends in
the social networks forget to make good friends who are near. Today the young
have fake friendships and less good friendships. This is a tragedy in the lives
of the young. Because, today they are the friends who take advantage of
friendship and forget them in trouble. And finally end up seeking some
psychological and spiritual counselling.
