Understanding Alice: An Interview with a Gen X Christian Across the Pond

I'm a fan of Understanding Alice, the blog of a Christian youth worker in England. I interviewed her sometime back, and am glad to finally introduce her to my blog community. God bless you, UA!

First - out of curiosity - what is life like for Gen Xers in the UK? Any comparisons or contrasts you're aware of with life for Xers in the states?

Having never visited the states (R has, its alright for some!) my observations of the US are from this side of the pond. I think we share that sense of disjointedness, not having all the Boomers do. I'm from a generation that was promised endless work in the 80's, and then when it came to it in the 90's, there wasn't any...

However we are also very much influenced by class. I would consider myself lower middle class and if you asked for a working class Gen X world view, it might well be very different.

We have that Gen X cynicism towards the establishment and in the UK that has worked us into a secular country. I think Christianity looks very different depending what side of the pond you are. In the US it seems Christianity is still part of main stream culture, with lots of people going to church. Here church attendance stands at 10 to 15 percent depending on who you ask. And Christian culture is in a minority and I would say, not part of mainstream culture at all.

It means that as an English, Christian, Gen Xer, my cultural experiences are different from your average English person of my generation.

Where did you grow up? Tell us about your childhood. Were you a latchkey kid? What Gen X touchstones do you recall from childhood and youth? What were your major cultural influences?

I grew up in rural Suffolk, my father was a farm manager until I was ten when he fell victim of the ongoing decline of farming in the 80's. "In 1939, 4.5% of the country's workforce was in the farming industry. By 2000 this had fallen to 1.3%." I guess that was the point we became latch key kids as my mother then went out to work. (My dad went self employed with his own gardening business.)

The music of my teens was all Bon Jovi, Rick Astley, Bananarama, the bangles, Tiffany.... I remember I Think We're Alone Now, Walk Like an Egyptina, Living on a Prayer Eternal Flame, and where would I have been without WHAM!? Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. That, and one luminous green sock and one luminous pink sock. Later in my teens, it was all Nirvarna, Guns and Roses, lots of black, long hair and purple mascara.

As a Christian, the summer camps had a huge effect on me. I grew up is a quiet, rural Anglican church with what my dad would call "Anglican aerobics" (stand up and sit down as the book says), but the camps were charismatic, focusing on lively worship, the holy spirit and scripture. When i came back from one at 15, I think my parents thought I'd joined a cult, but it was just teenage zeal.

As I look back now, and as I talk to my husband who only became a Christian two months before we met, I can see that this socialisation - going on camps, being in a church club, they are things secular society doesn't seem to replicate - we don't have camp America! And songs from my teens? Has to be Come On and Celebrate and Be Still For the Presence of the Lord, and of course Shine Jesus, Shine.

What were the defining mile markers in your faith journey?


Well, the camps I mentioned above, but also, like most people, it has been in the difficulty I have found what it means to be loved by God. At 10 when my dad lost his job, we lost our home. God providing us a new home caused my act of commitment. It was on summer camp at 15 I discovered the work of the Holy Spirit; in my late teens that even when we feel we can't cope, Jesus is the light of the world; and in my mid 20's illness taught me that, as the Anglican liturgy says, "All things belong to you and of your own to we give you."

He is ever faithful, even in dark times and I love him for it.

How did you get started in youth work? Can you share three challenges? Three blessings? Three insights? (Something along these lines.)

I worked as a volunteer from the age of 16, taking a year out to do youth and schools work - then I went to university and graduated at 24. I have worked in both Christian and secular settings since. At present. I work for three Anglican and one free church. Challenges... time, money and apathy! There’s never enough of the first two and way too much of the third. Gen Xers who are parents, quite often expect lots and are less keen to volunteer. The majority of volunteers I work with are boomers or digital natives.

Young people have a lot on their plate. The exams are more, the expectations earlier and higher both academically and in relationships. Low level, ongoing persecution of young Christians, I feel, is a real issue. Our society doesn't really like Christianity and if you are a card carrying follower of Jesus in school, it is really hard, even in so-called faith schools. Being a Christian is often seen as weak, irrational or bigoted.

Being a church youth worker can be as much about reminding them that being a Christian doesn't make them weird, as anything else.

For me, youth work is both a blessing and a difficulty. I love my job, I love what it means to walk alongside young people, to provide space and time for them to explore faith and identity as they journey into adulthood and beyond.

It also at times, takes more from me than I have. But I am blessed with people around me who understand and God continues to teach me in life, and in youth work, how to avoid the lows and be passionate for what he is doing in the world.

Do you have a favorite Bible passage? If so, what is it and why?

Job 19:25 and John 6:68
Because even in the midst of terrible suffering Job found the hope of a savior and because Peter was right; apart from to Jesus, where else would we go?

You've written some memorable posts. Which ones are your favorite?

This has to be the hardest question, but I think, UK chocolate week, Wedding Day, Role models for women, and as far as poetry goes, Everlasting and Winter Storms.

The 25th anniversary of 10 events that defined Generation X

USSR Stamp featuring Samantha Smith/Image via Wikipedia

This year, 2010, marks the 25th anniversary of the following events, all of which helped define Generation X in one way or another. Which event stands out most in your mind?

January 21
U.S. President Ronald Reagan is publicly sworn in for a second term in office

January 28
"We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa.



March 4
The FDA approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then to screen all blood donations in the United States.

March 11
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party

April 12
A terrorist bombing attributed to the Islamic Jihad Organization in the El Descanso restaurant near Madrid, kills 18 Spaniards; injures 82 others, including U.S. military personnel from nearby Torrejon Air Force Base.


July 3
Back to the Future opens; Becomes the highest grossing film of the year.

July 19
Christa McAuliffe wins a contest to become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

August 25
U.S. citizen Samantha Smith, 13, writes a letter to Yuri Andropov about nuclear war. She later accepts an invitation from Andropov to visit the USSR.

November 19
Reagan and Gorbachev meet for the first time.

November 20
Microsoft releases Windows 1.0

Oh, I almost forgot. I left one off the list. On May 19, 1985, this Gen Xer graduated from high school.

10 Cultures Seen at Oklahoma City's St. Patrick's Day Parade

Today was the annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Oklahoma City.

We had a great time! The kids really loved the Llamas!

I loved the Native American on the Harley Davidson with his

Nam 66 and Vietnam 67 patches. 

Nearly 12 percent of Oklahoma's population is Irish.

More than 11 percent are Native American - primarily Cherokee. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Native America/Irish American Culture

Boy Scout and Girl Scout Culture

Oklahoma Czech Queen

Piggy Back Ride Culture

Celtic Culture

ROTC Culture

Bagpipe Culture

Absolute Innocense

Big Sis/Little Bro Culture

More Celtic Culture

Clown Culture

Llama Culture

Dog Culture

What's Next, Gen X?

An apostrophe and an S can completely change a question, transforming it from insult to inspiration.

I've been making my way through Tammy Erickson's book, What's Next Gen X?, which came out in December. I'm really enjoying it, but, I'm not very good at writing book reviews. It's an exercise that reminds me of writing book reports when I was a kid. My summaries were either too long or too short. I either provided too much reaction or not enough.

Once, in college, I wrote a book report for Darkness at Noon. I hadn't even read the book. My friend, Debbie, who was in my class, read it and told me about it. I made an A on my report and she made a B. (She reminds me of this nearly every time I see her.) (Hi Deb.)

A couple years later, I wrote a report on a piece of holocaust literature. I labored over the summary, tightly crafting all the highlights. I loved that book, For Those I Loved. But, when the professor, a Jewish Rabbi, gave it back to me, he'd awarded me a big, fat B MINUS. At the top he wrote, "What about the author's will to survive?"

Oh, yeah. That.

Basically, I stink at book reviews. So, instead of writing one big summary or reaction to Erickson's book, I thought I would just spend the next few days (weeks? months?) responding to things in the book that strike me most. Suffice to say, it is a great book. I'm not sure she intends to invoke deep emotion in her readers, but still, you might cry or get mad or laugh or feel astounding pride over the things she writes about Generation X.

The first chapter deals with things that shaped us. All the usual suspects are featured - everything from the Cold War to latchkey kids. One of the things she briefly discusses is the rash of movies featuring "unwanted, unlikable, or simply horrifying children," which were popular during the Gen X childhood. She reveals that the percentage of G-rated films went from 41 to 13 percent of all movies during the 70s and 80s, and that for the first time cartoonists at Disney were laid off.

Below is a clip from the Disney movie, Song of the South, which was released in 1946. This is my earliest movie memory, one that has stuck with me through nearly four decades. The production is considered racially insensitive to African Americans, and as such, has never been released by Disney in its entirety. That may be true, but I could not have come away from that movie with more affection for Uncle Remus. I think I've been looking for him my whole life. And, I loved the blue birds and the song, Zip A Dee Doo Dah. Each time I've returned to this memory over the years, I've paid a visit to an innocent little girl I never knew very well or very long.

As Erickson says, Gen Xers grew up very fast. While she makes a concerted effort to not stereotype or over generalize the Generation X experience, she points out that Gen Xers were exposed to adult issues while we were still chronologically children. She later says this has helped shape our commitment to be excellent parents.

Over the past year, I've been diagramming the paradox of my childhood. I grew up in a household where my parents never cussed, smoked or drank. They didn't let me watch Speed Racer or TV shows for which parental discretion was advised. They took me to church every Sunday. I got the message. It stuck.

But, despite their efforts to keep me innocent, I was still exposed to way too much. They had no awareness of the leaking underground storage tanks in my childhood, and I am fierce about not blaming them for things that sometimes polluted my childhood experience. They sheltered me, and still, at critical junctures, like so many Xers, I lacked sufficient shelter.

Most Saturdays, I post a clip of a Saturday morning cartoon from the 60s or 70s. These walks down memory lane are entertaining. Sometimes they even help me reconstruct the past, much of which I've forgotten in the ensuing years of term papers, pregnancies and promotions. As Erickson writes, Gen Xers share a chronological location in history along with the experiences that accompany it. "These common experiences, in turn, prompt the formation of shared beliefs and behaviors."

6 Ways to Blow It The First 90 Days On The Job

I just finished reading Career GPS: Strategies for Women Navigating the New Corporate Landscape by
Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell, Ph.D with Linda Villarosa. Bell is African American business professor at Dartmouth, and this book gives special attention to women of color; however, it finds its widest audience among Gen Y and Gen X professionals.

There were about a dozen times while reading this book I bumped my palm to my forehead and said "I should have thought of that." I shared portions of the book with my Gen X husband, who especially liked the parts on personal branding. Being in PR, I take knowledge of personal branding for granted, but if you're in a profession like accounting, finance, law, medicine, etc., you might have a lot to gain from familiarizing yourself with the concept.

There's plenty of great material in this book for professionals from all arenas. I especially liked her discussion of extreme jobs and the sweet spot of organizations, which is not the executive suite. Chapter 8 was the most informative for me at this stage in my career as it deals with going global - preparing for work on the international front.

My favorite chapter was Chapter 4, which covers a variety of suggstions for the first 90 days on the job. Bells says to make your mark right away, because in the first three months, there's no room for error. (No pressure.) Thus, drawing from her material, here are six ways you can blow it during the first 90 days at a new job.

Failure to Decode the Company Culture
Bell defines culture as the glue that holds all the behaviors, values, norms, heroes and sheroes, and traditions together. Failure to decode the culture can lead to failure to fit into the corporate community. Basically, you gotta learn to swim with the other fish, which, Bell reminds, includes sharks.

Failure to Keep a Journal
Bell says the first 90 days you're on a job, you're in observation mode. She suggestions keeping a journal to help crack the corporate culture code. Keep the journal safe, but record the heroes; the folks with power; the golden child; the underdogs; who has lunch together; who takes smoke breaks together; who uses lunch to go for a run, play basketball or shop; how do people dress; who takes credit for successes; what time do people come in and leave; do people socialize during meetings; how is competition discussed, etc.

Failure to Brand Yourself
Your brand is your reputation and corporate persona. A good brand is a product or service you don't forget, that you want to use and always trust. Bell covers good buzz, bad buzz and so-so buzz in this portion, along with side-stepping stereotypes - especially for women of color. 

Failure to Establish Relationships
Bell says establishing and leveraging relationships during the first 90 days is more important than at any other time. Looking back on my career, my strongest and weakest alliances were made during the first few months on the job. She offers practical steps for establishing relationships including setting meetings with key staff.

Failure to Develop a Script
By creating a script that highlights who you are and how you want to be seen, you make it easier for people to get a sense of who you are. Bell suggests showing through your script that you are a team player. She also says you should give up something about yourself, like a good childhood story, and also talk about your life outside of work.

Failure to Plan an Early Win
Bell suggests showing that you can shine early on by coming up with a project with bells and whistles that you can deliver on within the first 90 days. This was the only suggestion I really had problems with. I took a job once in which I followed in the footsteps of a very big personality. As it turns out, this person was much beloved externally, but internally, her coworkers didn't like her. I never really figured out why, but one thing I did figure out - they wanted me to hang low, not hang ten, and certainly not make an early big splash.

Probably the best thing I can say about Career GPS is that it is a book I won't pass along. I will keep it on my bookshelf and refer to it in the future.

Follow Career GPS on Twitter and Dr. Bell on Facebook.

Gen X Tattoos

I invite you to read an article I wrote on Technorati about the owner of Cleveland's Gen X Tattoos. Here it is on the small business channel and this is the permanent link.

When I originally tweeted about discovering Gen X Tattoos, one of my favorite tweeps, an Episcopal Priest from Tennessee, responded: "Can't you imagine SilentGenTattoo shop - all anchors on crusty old men all the time."

I loved that! There is something eternally edgy about the name Generation X.

Many thanks to Ron Antonick for sharing his story with me.

Don't hate me John IV for writing about tattoos!

So, if Silent Gen men get anchors, what do Boomers get? What about Gen X and Gen Y? Antonick says the most popular tattoos among Gen Xers are religious or having to do with nature.

Do you have a tattoo? Forty percent of Xers do. So far, I've managed to stay in the 60 percent.

conan o'brien coming to tulsa

Conan O'Brien's Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour will make it to 20 cities, including Tulsa. O'Brien will perform at the Brady Theater May 15. The cheapest tickets are upwards of $230. Earlier this year, there was a Gen X vs. Boomer showdown when NBC promoted Conan to The Tonight Show and then booted him out in favor of Jay Leno's return.

Pac-Man turns 30: Gen Xers Still Like Chasing Ghosts

Pac-Man, the pellet devouring, woka-woka-sound making, fruit-consuming arcade superstar turns 30-years-old in May. Like the Gen Xers (born 1961-81) who made him an icon, he is too young to remember Woodstock, too old not to worry about the state of Social Security.

Gen X Takes Work Breaks To Play Pac-Man
According to a Sekita Ekrek, a New York-based entertainment PR consultant and Gen Xer, she takes at least one break during her work day to play Pac-Man on her computer. “It’s been going on for a few years now, since I rediscovered the game at a New York City bar. I can even play it on mute when I have to.”

Johna Burke, a senior Vice President for BurellesLuce, Scottsdale, Arizona, also blows off steam with midday Pac-Man breaks. She confesses sneaking out to a local pizza joint during lunch to play the arcade favorite. “I had the original portable Pac-Man and Frogger games," she says. "My Christmas wish every year is a full-size Ms. Pac-Man for my house.”

Namesake Software: PACMAN - Public Adjuster Client MANagement
Mike McManigal, a Gen Xer born in 1965, liked Pac-Man so much, he named the software he created for his public adjusting company PACMAN - Public Adjuster Client MANagement. And, Mandy Minor, a Gen Xer born in 1975 who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, still holds fast to her 24k Pac-Man charm. “I’m saving it for my daughter,” she says.

Pac-Man, the Greyhound Bus Station and Divorced Parents
Jimmy Moore, the 38-year-old owner of Less is Moore, Moore or Less, LLC, remembers the first time he ever played the game. “It was in a Greyhound bus station in Mississippi,” he says. “My brother and I traveled back and forth between Florida and Tennessee to visit divorced parents, so we took this trip a lot… I loved it when they sped up the character and I’d kick my brother’s butt.

“I watched the Saturday morning cartoon show and I couldn’t stop singing Pac-Man fever.”

Jay R. Koebele, also 38, remembers playing Pac-Man religiously on the Atari. “I spent countless hours playing game after game, using all of my allowance money every week playing, and buying the books that gave insider tips, secret patterns to follow.”

And Bruce Gray, a Los Angeles sculptor, liked the game so much he created hanging kinetic art mobiles inspired by Pac-Man.

A Quarter for Solace
For some Gen Xers, Pac-Man provided familiarity in a world framed by the instability of divorce and latchkeys; Cold War and jobless parents. “Moving a lot as a kid, the arcade was one of the few moderately consistent things in the world,” says Joseph Picard, who today, has had a hand in making games here and there.

“Almost any town I lived in, the yellow dude and his contemporaries were hanging around somewhere… A storefront with blacked out windows and a colorful painted generic logo offered what I needed - familiarity.

“Inside, the sounds were always the same. The lights were low, always the same. The people were different, but also always the same. The pixels called to me, asking just a quarter for solace. An eaten pellet, a stabbed ninja, a blown up alien later, I could forget for a while that I'd just lost all my friends because of a moving truck.

"Sure, I'd get a letter now and then, but experience made me a realist. They were gone. The pixels were here. So was a pusher, but Nancy Reagan told me to turn down those magic pellets. Winners don't do drugs, they play Donkey Kong until they can loop the score to zero.”

You Never Forget How to Ride a Bike
Other Gen Xers remember playing the game with their parents. “I was reminiscing on the phone with my dad about all the fun we used to have playing Pac-Man together,” says Meredith Turner who works for Farm Sanctuary in New York City. “He described the Pac Man high that you would get once you reached the third screen and the pace quickened.”

Late last year, Turner and her boyfriend discovered an old Ms. Pac Man arcade game in a bar. “I made a bee-line to it,” she says. “Not having played in a long time, I came close to beating the highest score on the machine in just two games. And that was just warming up.

“I guess having mad Pac Man skills is like riding a bike.”

Yes, and if a red, pink, cyan and orange ghost are chasing you, all the better.

According to John Yarborough, who does PR for Namco, the company that developed the arcade game, Pac-Man's birthday is definitely on the company's radar, though they aren't disclosing any specific plans for the celebration. Currently, three Pac-Man iPhone games are available.

***
Check out the Pac-Man hat my mom is selling on Etsy!
This article first appeared today on Technorati's Entertainment Channel.
The photo of the Pac-Man video game is from maxcady808 via Flickr.
The photo of the man in the Ink, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde T-shirt, is from massdistraction via Flickr.The image to the left is a creenshot of Pac-Man via iPhone courtesy of Namco Networks.

corey haim dead at 38

Image via Wikipedia

Very sad news. Gen X actor Corey Haim, who starred in the 1987 horror movie, The Lost Boys, has reportedly died of a possible drug overdose. He was only 38.

Here a couple of blog posts about his death from Gen X bloggers, Generation X Examiner and Latchkey Man.

RIP Corey Haim.

Hat Tip: @shawn_wright.

20 cities where the most baby boomers will retire (the graying of America)

If I gave you time to change my mind
I´d try to leave all the past behind...
-- From the forever young Rod Stewart, 65

Last night, I stumbled upon a 2009 report from the Brookings Institution that listed the top 20 cities in the United States where the most Baby Boomers (b. 1943-60) will retire. According to the report, most of the Boomers have lived in these locations for a long time.





Raleigh
Austin
Atlanta
Boise
Las Vegas
Orlando
Houston
Dallas/Fort Worth
Colorado Springs
McAllen/Edinburg/Mission, TX
Phoenix
Charleston
Albuquerque
Tuscson
Washington D.C.
Salt Lake City
Charlotte
Denver

Nashville

Ogden

Interestingly, on page 14 of the report, I discovered that only five states have fewer Boomers retiring than the state in which I reside, Oklahoma. (If you read this post earlier, and are looking for the conclusion I drew, I deleted it. In the middle of the night, I realized I'd interpreted the data incorrectly. I need to get more sleep.)

Do Gen X Actors Fear Being Wiped Out?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

After Van Toffler said MTV was pushing out Generation X (15 years after we, um, dumped the network) I'm reluctant to link to their content. So, excuse me while I get over it.

(OK. I'm over it.)

Ha! That took a second.

With all due respect, there is an interesting piece on MTV.com about Avatar possibly losing out on a big Oscar sweep because members of the Academy (specifically mentioned - older Gen Xers) are afraid of being "digitally wiped out."

"...Critics point to several inherent weaknesses, however, including actor fears within the Academy, traditional notions of film and political trends.

"For whatever reason, boomer-age people, older Gen X-ers [in the Academy] are threatened by it," journalist and Hollywood Elsewhere writer Jeff Wells told MTV News. "They feel on some level that they're going to be lost, that they're going to be digitally wiped out in the future."

The basic summary of the article is that things have changed - "big time." The majority of Academy members who vote on the Oscars aren't working much anymore and are "marginal."

It's really going to be interesting to see the influence of Generation X members of the Academy in years to come. To quote the Gen Xer who ran away with the best actress Oscar this year: "I don't like when people tell me I can't do something. Just because I did commercial films doesn't mean I can't do wonderful, small art-house films." (Sandra Bullock)

Did the Self-Image of Gen X age 10 years on Sunday?

When the Brat Pack of John Hughes fame appeared on stage at the Oscars Sunday night, I was like WHOA!!!!! Who are those people? If I'd passed Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwold or Anthony Michael Hall on the street, I'm not sure I would have recognized them. Then, I read something James Poniezowik wrote about the Oscars in a Time Magazine blog post:

"...an extended, and sweet, tribute to John Hughes (even if the appearance of a crew of Hughes alumni aged the self-image of Generation X about ten years).

Did your self-image age Sunday night? What do you think about the Brat Pack after all these years? I'm thinking remake, remake. There are plenty of new Gen X archetypes the pack can explore and develop: the over-educated; the under-employed; those who've left the church, and let's not forget, the hyper-parent. Ha!

hey ferris, is this your day off? oscar tribute to john hughes

In case you missed last night's Oscar tribute to John Hughes, here it is. The video below this is of Molly Ringwold and Matthew Broderick introducing the tribute.

you don't see this tattoo everyday

Gaelic to English: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

photo from tquizzle via flickr.

2 things Gen Xers can do to fight the locusts eating their future

Not Birds., locust. Image by [niv] via Flickr

Bob Burnett is one of the founding executives of Cisco Systems, the leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet. Today, he is a Berkeley writer and activist. He is also a Quaker, and he has written an essay, America's Locust Years, in which we have more stunning finger pointing at Baby Boomers for "eating through a staggering amount of our national wealth and natural world."

I come across content of this nature often in my research about Generation X, but this is the worst such indictment on this generation I have yet to read. It is not pretty, and it just makes me wince a little to even link to it. But, I am linking to it because Burnett does something that a lot of people who write similar content don't do. He offers a suggestion on how we can turn the ship around and end these locust years. "Speak the truth and fight the locusts," he writes.

The American progressive tradition has to been to stand up and fight whenever it appeared that democracy was on the ropes. This is one of those times. America has suffered thirty years "that the locust hath eaten." Time is running out. We may not survive another "heart attack."

There is so much that needs to be done that it is difficult to say where to start. Each of us has to think about the moral commitment we are prepared to make. Here are two modest suggestions: First, speak the truth. Tell everyone you know about the locusts, about the terrible problems that Americans must face. Second, prepare for sacrifice. Dealing with these problems is going to hurt, but the pain will be bearable if we face the locusts together.

What moral commitment are you willing to make? Burnett says since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, Americans have become moral weenies. I'd like to write an article for Technorati - 10 Ways Generation X Can Fight the Locusts. What sacrifices do you suggest I include? What truths do we need to speak? Leave a comment or email me at jenx67[at]cox[dot]net. If I use your ideas, I will provide attribution and a link to a site of your choosing.

i was so lost, i should have died. how 'bout you?

I was so lost I should have died
But You have brought me to Your side
To be led by Your staff and rod
And to be call a lamb of God
--from Paris and Lamb of God

Pretend the big one is God and you're one of the little ones.

photo from tambako the jaguar via flickr

Richard Beck, an associate professor of experimental psychology at Abilene Christian University, has a blog, and today he has a post about how Facebook killed the church.

In case you're late to the party, a large portion of Generation X (by broadest definition those born between 1961-81) pretty much left the church a long time ago. It appears that Generation Y is leaving it in even greater droves. There was a popular Christian song many years ago: My House is full, but my fields are empty. Who will work for me today?

I'm not so sure it's relevant anymore, because the House of  God, um, not so full. So, what happened?

Beck, who writes a compelling essay, believes social computing is to blame. He says Gen X and Gen Y will blame leaving the church on things like shallowness and hypocrisy, but writes that the church's main draw is social connection and affiliation. He says Generation Y (Millennials) (and Gen Xers) don't have to go to church to stay connected. Basically, we just have to jump on Facebook - where not only our virtual friends exist, but our actual friends, too. 

I think Beck has it partly right, but here's what I'm thinking. Facebook and Twitter can be just as lonely as church. How many burdens can you share in 140 characters? How much community can you have via status updates? And, what about Jesus? The irresistable Son of God?

After I left a comment on Beck's post, in which I mentioned Jesus, I went back and hit CONTROL F and then typed "JESUS" in the dialogue box that appeared to see how many times the word was mentioned in the essay or in the 18 or so comments that followed. The only time it appears is in my comment.

Interesting, how often Jesus is left out of these conversations.

Here is a link to a sweet Oklahoma boy singing Lamb of God Bluegrass style.