Today’s Reflection
When we wrote The Godbearing Life in the late 1990s, both of us were young pastors who were growing our ministries and our families at the same time. Now we are at the other end of our vocational lives, which has given us some wisdom and perspective and (in Ron’s case) some grandchildren that we didn’t have when we started. A year ago, my [Kenda’s] daughter Shannon—now a seminarian—read The Godbearing Life and circled every reference or section that sounded like it came from another planet. (“Mom: Malls? CDs? TripTiks? What the heck is a TripTik?!!”) Some of my exegesis raised her eyebrows. Her copy of the book looked like a paper I would flunk.
—Kenda Creasy Dean, Ron Foster, & Megan Dewald, The Godbearing Life, Revised Edition (Upper Room Books, 2023)
Today’s Question
What cultural changes have you seen take place in the past 30 or so years? Join the conversation.
Today’s Scripture
Be strong! Be fearless! Don’t be afraid and don’t be scared by your enemies, because the Lord your God is the one who marches with you. He won’t let you down, and he won’t abandon you.
—Deuteronomy 31:6 (ESV)
Prayer for the Week
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low by thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
—A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.
Something More
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Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
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5 Comments
We took a lot of car trips when I was a kid and I loved going to AAA to pick up the Trip Tik… and I loved following along – no one uses a paper map anymore – it’s all GPS – some kids haven’t even seen a paper road map. When I was in the outer banks this summer I went into several gas stations specifically looking for road maps as I wanted to see the area – the employees looked at me like I was crazy. A sign of the times.
Blessings on all who come here today. Prayers today for those who mourn – people or animals – grief is a long process. Thinking of you all and praying for your peace today.
I just looked it up – you can still get paper maps and trip tiks from AAA!!
This reminds me of what they are currently doing to Roald Dahl’s children’s books. I don’t believe it is necessary to change out of date references. Obviously this book is not about the culture of the time it was written. It was written about God in our lives. God enters our lives no matter the culture at the time. Maybe her daughter can look up the references and gain ssome understanding regarding her parents at that stage of their lives. Why must everything be altered to make life easier for the youth? Why should these references to older objects detract from the overall message for those who are reading the book now?
Perhaps I am an “old fogey.” A refernce to a TripTik should not elicit such an extreme reaction. Believe me there is enough in this world worthy of lament. I must get bloodwork done today and will take h along as he has bloodwork that his doctor wrote a script for also. Should be interesting as h’s condition changes from moment to moment. He can be coherent one moment and spouting nonsense the next.
Over the last 30 years, the big changes in our culture due to advances in technology stand out. An example is social media. I have enjoyed reconnecting to folks from past and making new friends on social media. I have most enjoyed making new friends and learning about what God is doing in the lives of my NEM friends.
But I have noticed that, like the author’s daughter, some among the younger generations seem uninformed about events which took place prior to their existence. I read that filmmaker Ken Burns decided to make a doc about WW2 after discussing history with some college students at a well-known Christian college who, after taking advanced history courses, thought the US and Germany were on the same side as f that conflict. My sister was recently corrected by a young person during a job interview, regarding what for my generation and some behind me, is an iconic pop-culture reference from a popular comedy in the 90s. The kid told Amy she was offended. That kid is about 25 and has grown up with the ability to find out almost any information on the internet. She wasn’t born in the mid-90s and didn’t know. Explaining to her what it meant didn’t help the person understand. Julie, I guess I’m an old fogey too. A friend recently called 80s movies “old”. To me “old” means before 1970😊. I had forgotten about Trip-Tiks. I must admit I don’t do the TV Guide crossword anymore because I don’t know anything about the clues. The AARP crossword is more my speed these days.
Printed paper maps work when there’s no internet connection or the directions are wrong. Still have them in my car. Some “old” ways still work! This “old” person still functions! Getting a new computer! Computers become obsolete faster than me. A lot of young people can’t read a clock unless it’s digital.
Yes, prayers for the needs, concerns, and condition of everyone and their pets. Thank You, Lord.
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