Crunch Time

Welcome to the outer limits

The old, funky television show “The Outer Limits” had one of the most creative openings I can remember. The screen you were watching would begin as a test pattern. Then suddenly it would begin to morph and act erratically as an ominous voice would begin to narrate,

“There is nothing wrong with your television set” it would intone, “Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. For the next hour we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the outer limits.”

It seems today that we have entered a place in the outer limits. The speed of change is mind boggling. We are held captive to a test pattern and we feel as if we have no control over our situation and its extraordinary changes.

The subsequent anxiety often expresses itself as a vice-like compression deep in the gut. Our thoughts race around in our skulls first thing in the morning toward what seems an insurmountable finish line. Days become reflective, many times obsessive, about the state of our lives and the condition of our world.

It’s no wonder. I believe we are in an unprecedented time of change, the likes of which have been experienced only a few times before. It’s an evolutionary exclamation point in human history.

Alvin Toffler’s "Social Wave-Front Analysis" looks at history as a succession of rolling waves of change and asks where the leading edge of each wave is carrying us. It focuses our attention not so much on the continuities of history as on the discontinuities--the innovations and breakpoints.
The First Wave in human history was the agricultural revolution.  It was during this time we learned to cultivate the land and grow fruits and vegetables from seeds.  It lasted for thousands of years.

The Second Wave was the industrial revolution. During this time we learned to harness the energy of steam, coal, and oil to advance the ability of machines to make work more efficient and our lives more convenient.  This lasted for hundreds of years.

The Third Wave of human development is what Toffler calls the information age.  This movement is only decades in the making and we are still trying to catch up with the speed of its change and its far-reaching impact on what it means to be human.

This is our time…this is when we discover what we are really made of...

That's the irony. Our true character doesn't reveal itself when times are sedate or situations are easy. It emerges when we are brought to the brink of intense challenges.  What a great opportunity to strengthen our resolve and build the mental and emotional moxie such times require.

 

Six pack abs and Family Dinners

A new study revealed that average bodies are as appealing to others as men who have six pack abs. That is good news for the majority of us who either by genetics or by lifestyle have bodies that are, quite simply, average.

Due to time constraints and shifting demographics, less and less families are sitting down at home to share a common table together. They seem quaint, unrealistic and outdated these days.  Average. They are mundane it's true, but how critical they are to communal health. 

It seems to me that most of the ills we are experiencing today is because we didn't want to be average. The mundane was something to be avoided and seen as a roadblock in our pursuit of excellence. The creation of exotic mortgage packages, our overspending, and intense sports activities for the kids are all symptoms of our flight from normalcy.

The point? All of our striving today and our frenetic attempts to be "excellent" may not be the best thing for us. We are conditioned by the myth of progress and the tug to be outstanding to believe that everyday life just doesn't cut it. Yet it is everyday life with its dirty dishes, pesky weeds and average tasks that ground us in reality and provides the greatest joy.  Being average doesn't mean mediocrity. It does mean that every moment of every day is spent unleashing the power of average.

The cultural consequences of unemployment

David Brooks, an editorial writer for the New York Times, referenced a powerful essay in The Atlantic.  He broke down its main ideas into the societal segments who are disproportionally effected by the current recession and the subsequent cultural consequences:

Men: Last November nearly a fifth of all men between 25 and 54 did not have jobs, the highest figure since the labor bureau began counting in 1954.  We are very close to marking the moment when there will be more women in the work force than men.

Cultural Consequence:

Long term unemployment is one of the most devastating experiences a person can endure equalling the death of a spouse. Men who are unemployed for an extended length of time are more likely to drink, abuse their children more, and suffer debilitating blows to their identity.

Young People: High School and college grads are entering a miserable job market.  College grads who entered the job market during the recession of 1981 earned 25 percent less than grads who entered when times were good. 

Cultural Consequences:

Over a lifetime, recession kids can expect to earn $100,000 less than their luckier cohorts.  They are less likely to get professional level jobs through life. They are less likely to switch jobs later in their career, even in pursuit of greater opportunity.

These are challenging times and our social fabric needs a tightly woven response. As a christian, I'm convinced that the church is gathered for such a time and place. It's people need to gather in those who are impacted; providing meals, rental payments, or job search services.  It also needs to provide places of meaning for unaffiliated and disenfranchised 20 somethings - giving them an intergenerational community of care beyond the network sites of Facebook and Twitter. 

Every solution will entail inconvenience, but the call of faith has never been free from it.