This morning as I read Richard Rohr, I couldn't help but grieve for a generation, which for the most part will be raised without the groundedness that nature can provide. (You might want first read the link provided below).
Whether one was raised with sharecroppers or land wealthy, the experience of field and stream, the sound of hound after prey, skinny dipping with friends, even trespassing to do so, in many ways has "saved" my soul.
The thoughts of kids raised in tightly bounded urban streets with asphalt and sidewalk only, though given access to the occasional corner recreational park, seems no match for acres of soil, and forests vast enough to require a compass or the guidance of an experienced uncle.
Better yet, becoming the hunter under the watchful eye of a caring dad seems hardly replaceable to this 75 year old male.
I'm sure my male bias and early on rural preference reveals an ignorance of learnings possible in concrete jungles for both male and female children.
So, I thank God on their behalf for the benefit of urban recreational departments, little league coaches and public school athletics.
Yet, as I watch my own grandchildren raised though in abundance, spending downtime more on tablets than creek banks, it truly gives me pause, and a sense of loss that AI is unlikely to recover.
Although my adult life by way of organized church has been spent "saving" the world, I could easily pine away what days I have left were it not for the hope restored as I ruminate upon God's promises.
As I opened my daily read, I am now passing through the last three chapters of Mark and the brutal crucifixion story. Here is God in finality, by way of the Christ, fulfilling forever Moses' remedy of covering for the children of those once enslaved in Egypt. It's the promise remembered by them as Passover. For me, a reminder that remedy has been made by the God of the Galaxies, with whom my near eight decades of sojourning have taught me to trust!
The God who brought back that same Moses who had orchestrated the first Passover, along with Elijah as well, both still in existence though in a different dimension than us. Setting them up as witnesses to the Transfiguration, and the soon final victory over the long feared death, hell and the grave!
The Good News, "It is finished!"
This Sunday morning, my hope is again renewed, for God has surely provided remedy for my own household as well, regardless of their growing digital enslavement. The Presence in me assures such grace for them, though the world I knew as a child has surely passed away.