Are Kids Smarter Today?

Are kids smarter these days or am I just getting dumber?   Please don’t answer that question.   The answer is probably “yes.”  I must admit that I wondered where some of my brain cells had gone as I sat in the balcony at Church Sunday.  It was graduate Sunday and a number of FBC’s graduates shared in the worship with a meditation.   They proved to me that they can do sermons both better and shorter than I ever did them.   They also impressed me with such wisdom that I suspected that the President’s speech writers may have composed the meditations, and if not a professional speech writer, then certainly the Church’s ministers!  Then again, the speeches had to be authentic.  They were too filled with personal stories and chocked full of nuggets of each graduate’s personality to be anything but original. 

Anna recounted the importance of community during a medical crisis she experienced.  Justin spoke of being a shy introvert who would hardly talk to others, to  become the person who was able to stand at a pulpit and face five hundred listeners with ease and eloquence. Morgan spoke of how connecting with the past gives direction to our futures.  Ian reminded that Church provided him a balance and gave to him stability in the move to a new city and the many other transitions he has experienced over the years. And Luke spoke of the importance of relationship, service, and mission in his pilgrimage of faith.

All pointed to mentors in the community of faith and to relationships developed during times of crisis, transition, social engagement, and mission.

Kudos kids!  Or better said, “thank you, young men and women of FBC.”  You show us older folks who are losing our brain cells what we too often forget:  It is in relationship and community that our faith grows, and that we continue to learn and become the children of God. Even us old folks with diminishing wit can learn that.