Order of Australia
This Australia Day, my Dad won an award! Even more - he was accepted as a member of the Order of Australia, which as far as I can make out is like Australia's chillaxed version of the British knighthood.
"Sir Frederick and Lady Wentworth! It would be but a new creation, however, and I never think much of your new creations."
- Mary Musgrove, ( Read more... )
"Sir Frederick and Lady Wentworth! It would be but a new creation, however, and I never think much of your new creations."
- Mary Musgrove, ( Read more... )
Heh. Baby Boomer spirituality. I wonder if it's a country difference, or just a different perception, because the Boomers in the U.S. were the ones who instituted all the so-called revolutions. So even if that's not actually the majority of them, it's a LOT.
My dad has thought about the differences in generations as well - he's considered on the very tail end of the boomers, being born in 1958 - and he thinks a lot of it is due to the way the previous generation did not train their children. That earlier generation mostly grew up with Christian thought and morals taught both at home and school, and were accustomed to a culture that mostly worked that way. It wasn't necessarily a Christ-centered way of living, though; just cultural norm. So they brought up their own kids the same way - decent home life, sincere thought not clearly Christian moral expectations, and assuming the schools were doing the same. But decidedly anti-Christian minorities, particularly in academia, had gotten Christianity kicked out of schools. Their parents just assumed the boomers were getting the same moral grounding they had, but instead were being taught the opposite. And neither parents nor children had a real Christian spiritual heritage to rely on. The "revolutions" of the 60s, free love, drug culture, etc. grew directly out of it. And I think that the rise of the evangelical church(s) in the 70s was a response to *that*.
Great over-simplification! To round up, a think that boomers collectively have tried, or seen others, try lots of things, and seen how lots of it didn't work or isn't satisfying. Also, they're aging, and people tend to care less and take it easy when they get older, unless they've already got some kind of strong personal convictions or habits. So they've settled back for a comfortable type of "spirituality" that rejects nothing - because that would take a lot of effort - and offends no one, while still feeling good that they're on the side of "the big guy" or "spiritual principle".
That's just my ramblings!
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The thing is that it's so hard for me to really understand what's going on in their minds because I know their upbringing, life experiences and basic beliefs - their worldview - is just so different from mine and I as much as I learn about what they think I still don't feel like I really get it.
It freaks me out that one day I won't be able to understand the generations that come after us in a similar way. I'm scared of the cultural disconnect happening in more than one direction :S
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