One Generation Away

My recent visit to Upstate New York to be with my terminally ill sister and siblings, sort of a solemn family reunion, brought to light a lot of changes since I was there last. I added the years to be right at forty and although many things were different, many things remained the same. Landmarks that I could clearly see in my mind didn’t exist any longer and those I expected to never to see again stood as tall and proud as I remembered. The Erie Canal locks system and the river it serves hasn’t changed one bit. The drive-in theater where I watched “2001 A Space Odyssey” in 1968 is still in operation and hasn’t aged a year. The old neighborhoods where I lived and played look the same, but with one dramatically noticeable observation. My sister and I had the same thought at almost the same time. Everything around us seemed much smaller than what we remembered them to be as children. The streets were narrower, the houses closer together and the distances from point A to point B shorter. The unforgettable distinct smells and tastes of my youth are still prevalent everywhere we traveled. Yet, I think no matter how far you travel from home some things never change. Every community has its dirty laundry flapping on the nightly news and every other road is under construction, reconstruction, just finished one or the other or needs one or the other. Automobile drivers perform the same stupid moves, yet roadway courtesy abounds. The one thing I miss most about living in Texas is the forestry of the New England states, which I was in awe of once again as we traveled about. It’s one of those things in life you never seem to notice until its not there anymore, one of those things you take for granted.
[Judges 2: 6-11] My visit to my childhood/adolescent home-place was indeed a heart wrenching experience knowing I may never see my sister again in this life. I also witnessed another odyssey, which brought my spirit low. I saw many large church buildings boarded up, abandoned, no longer in use. I learned some are being used as warehouses and outlet stores, and a few simply fell down due to lack of proper maintenance. “After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.” Joshua, servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers (died), another generation grew up, who never knew the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baal’s.” Most of the rest of the book of Judges reads the same. When the people had a God-fearing leader, they walked in the ways of the Lord until they no longer were taught the ways of the Lord. God had to raise up another leader to bring his people back in line. We are only one generation away from default because congregations of the Lord’s people are not teaching the children what Jesus has done for them. God is unable to raise up God-fearing leaders if our young people do not know God and follow His ways. The foundation of the church in America is eroding away, dissolved by ignorance. Our country is losing its freedoms because we no longer seek God-fearing policy makers to lead us, and our government, based on Christian principles, is evil in the eyes of the Lord if we are serving Baal’s.