And we're back!

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving. I realized today it had been a week since my last post, so I thought I'd share something that has been in the recesses of my mind lately. I also wanted to say, I am studying/preparing for a test I'm taking on Saturday, so I'm not sure I'll post again before then.

I've been trying to put into words the frustration I feel with my generation, or with society in general (apologies for the cliche). I was reading a book by Chuck Colson called How Now Shall We Live a few years ago, and found this quote that I had marked. It's within a discussion about God's divine authority:

Yet, at the same time, many of us don't want to submit to that divine authority ourselves; we don't want to recognize an external, transcendent source of moral truth that restricts our own behavior. That would be a blow to human pride and self-centeredness, and a denial that choice is our ultimate right, that we are morally autonomous. What's worse, it would mean that when we fail to live up to that transcendent truth, we are in the very uncomfortable position of having not only to admit guilt before the divine tribunal but also to accept the consequences. This is the price we pay for accepting the Christian answer.
And yet the price for rejecting it is much higher. When morality is reduced to personal preferences and when no one can be held morally accountable, society quickly falls into disorder. Entertainers churn out garbage that vulgarizes our children's tastes; politicians tickle our ears while picking our pockets; criminals terrorize our city streets; parents neglect their children; and children grow up without a moral conscience. Then, when social anarchy becomes widespread in any nation, its citizens become prime candidates for a totalitarian-style leader (or leader class) to step in and offer to fix everything. Sadly, by that time many people are so sick of the anarchy and chaos that they readily exchange their freedom for the restoration of social order--even under an iron fist.

I want to focus more on the first portion of this excerpt, and how I see this reflected in those my age around me. I have said before, entitlement is a topic that I have a hard time keeping mum about, and my frustration with my generation is rooted in entitlement. In this case, moral entitlement. I have had countless conversations with people who are just seeking to "do what is right for me," without a second thought to the consequences to those around them. Don't get me wrong, some of these people are very genuine, caring people--but when push comes to shove, "me" comes first. The main problem I see is that people will push a social and political agenda of caring for others in need, i.e. the poor and the sick, but at the same time, protect themselves above it all. When their perceived "moral autonomy" is threatened, say by one of those in poverty, or one who is ill, you can bet who gets priority, and which political agenda is thrown out the window. It is an ugly dual personality that few people seem to take issue with, but that is so glaringly obvious to me.

To be more clear, I am frustrated with the general self-centeredness of those my age, myself included. I can see tendencies in myself to want to pick my own morals, forgetting that I have given myself to Christ, and his authority. I want to have my morality defined by "personal preferences." And this, I believe, is the crux of the issue. We set our moral authority by what is around us, by what we desire, and do not recognize the divine authority that God has. To be sure, even when we deny it, even for those who have never followed Christ, that authority is still there, and we will answer to it, whether on this earth or off.

In ending, this quote by C.S. Lewis has been in my head for months now, and inspired this post. I pray that we will not find ourselves to easily pleased, and rest in our Lord's perfect and sovereign authority.

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.