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Past Tense

Brenda’s Blog – May 9, 2017

“I am so old I still have an AOL email account.”

The speaker opened his QConference talk with this line. The mostly 30 and 40-somethings all laughed. Of course, I hoped none of them was planning to email me – at my AOL account!

When my 8 year old grandson was 6 he told me he was “kicking it old school.” I laughed thinking about this little one doing something in a long-ago way! Imagine what he would think if I showed him a dial phone and asked him to “old school” it.

Bill O’Reilly and other authors have picked up on the concept of introducing values of the past into the current social mix. One book talks about ways to integrate honesty, integrity, and work ethic into everyday life. One of the challenges is to define relationship in a way that works for 30 year olds, as well as 70ish others. What they consider outdated is the operating system for us.

Their desire to engage in causes reminds us of our earlier days when we passionately appealed for freedoms and fairness. Their energies are directed in ways that seem strange, even sometimes off base, to us. But their longing to make a difference is still an old school value.

There is common ground we should explore. We should seek communication which doesn’t ignore our differences, but desires to expand the conversation. Admitting to an AOL account may be a start.

Sharing the best of each generation enriches us all. We will probably find that old school and new school are not really that much in opposition. And especially when we come to the table with our Christian faith as the core. Listening to each other may build a bond which can only be good for the world. Together we can be healing and redemptive people with a song of hope to sing with each other.

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