On the new generation

From Poor Richard’s Almanac:

Each Age of Men new Fashions doth invent;
Things which are old, young Men do not esteem:
What pleas’d our Fathers, doth not us content;
What flourish’d then, we out of fashion deem:
And that’s the reason, as I understand,
Why Prodigus did sell his Father’s Land.

Now if this plaint sounds familiar it is because it is what your parents said about you and what you probably said about your children. If you do not have children, you will still understand someday once you get past a certain age. BTW, Poor Richard’s Almanac was published by Benjamin Franklin. He started publishing it before there was an United States of America. But, already in the 18th century, the complaint was current about the younger generation. In fact, one can look all the way back to Greek mythology to see the idea of the decay of the human race. The Greeks had the idea that the first race was a golden race, then came a silver race, then a bronze race, and we are what is left. So, even before the time of Christ, the common belief was that the generations were taking us down the drain.

In fact, when those who are older think of a great generation those ones are generally looking back rather than forward. When William Shakespeare thought of a great generation, he looked back to the time of King Henry V:

This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian.’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.’
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Those who are older in the USA also have the same exact tendency. Those ones call the generation of the Second World War the Greatest Generation. The Tom Hanks TV miniseries on the 101st Airborne took its name from this speech. Do you remember it? It was called Band of Brothers. And that generation does deserve our respect.

And, yet, here we have this age old tug of war. As Poor Richard’s Almanac points out the young look at the older generations with disdain. But, the old, in their own way, look down upon the young. The young are looking forward and thinking about how things could be done better. They are all too ready to see the places where the older generation has fouled up. Those who are older see those who are younger still learning and still making their mistakes and cannot imagine that the coming generation could be better than the ones that have already left the stage.

But, the truth is that each generation can be better or worse. And, no one knows ahead of time what mixture of challenges and attitudes produces a great generation. It is a truism to say that when people are honorable, honest, and so on, a great generation is born. But, that is a truism. There can be not-so-honest and not-so-honorable generations that can rise to the occasion. And, there can be generations that are honorable and honest, but have had no great challenges in their life. And, with no test of hardship, they may end up having only the appearance of honesty and honor. Part of what made the Great Generation rise to the occasion was that they had been tested by the Great Depression. Actually, among the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coastguard of World War II were many who had been in trouble with the law, had had no great future, etc., but yet they rose to the occasion. That is why Shakespeare has Henry V say, “For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition . . . .” Many had their condition “gentled” by the shedding of their blood during that war, and if they lived they came out of it as honorable men and women.

In fact, there are several Scriptures that address the situation. Among them are Romans 5:3-4:

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint . . .

And James 1:2-4:

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Notice that the “great generations” whether of Shakespeare’s time or of our time were generations that went through the shaping process of tribulation, of pain and suffering and hard times. It is a process that is just as true for groups as it is for individuals. This is why we look backwards to see greatness and have difficulties seeing it when we look forward. We do not know at this time the future “result” of the events through which the “new” generation is having to live. And we will not know. It will be left for future generations to say whether the young of this generation will be one of the “great” generations. But, we can certainly look backwards and see the generations that have lived out their lives and know which ones were “great” ones. But, that is because those generations have finished their walk and have shown who they are. And so it is with us as individuals. We will not really know what we have done until that day when we stand before Our Lord awaiting those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”