Unmoored And Adrift

Today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 12:38-42) is about Jonah and Jesus’ reply to “some of the scribes and Pharisees.”  Jesus said, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign…” This remark from Jesus fits quite well with two Boston Globe articles today. 

The first is “Sexual assault and a culture unmoored” by James Carroll.  He said, “…Everywhere one looks in today’s US society, a profound loss of ethical awareness shows itself…Social justice, in sum, has been pushed to the margin of American public discourse.  But is that surprising?  Today’s young people have grown up without religion as a credible source of moral instruction – with, especially, the hollowing out of Roman Catholic integrity through the church’s own sexual assault crisis…Sexual nihilism among the young, in other words, is the tip of the iceberg, betraying a vast culture of amorality.  When sex is wholly impersonal, an offense is committed against the core value of human life.  Love and empathy can be lost.  That is what the unmoored young among us are warning of.  We have made them moral orphans…”

Then there is the piece by Deborah Kotz, “Survey says teens rank achievement above compassion,” in which she said: “…Caring ranks a distant third behind academic achievement and personal happiness, according to a recent survey of 10,000 middle and high school students from 33 schools across the nation…”  She reports, “There is overwhelming pressure for kids to succeed.” 

She ends her article by suggesting,: “Parents can certainly play a strong role in modeling caring for their kids and not just by volunteering at a local food kitchen or homeless shelter” and by highlighting an opinion of the survey’s author: “It’s about showing that you’re engaged and giving back to people around you, being thoughtful and kind in interactions with a bus driver or server in a restaurant…Kids are razor sharp to hypocrisy, especially teenagers, and it’s good for parents to know if what they are modeling runs counter to the kindness they preach.”

It appears we have a generation seeking a sign from all of us parents.  This generation obviously is not “evil,” but just confused by our church, our culture, and by perhaps most of all, parents pushing for our children’s success above everything else.

Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh telling them to repent – to change their ways.  None of us have to spend three days and three nights in the belly of a whale before deciding to do the same.  All we have to do is see and heed the sign our children are giving us.  They may be unmoored and adrift, and it’s up to us to throw them a line out of our compassion and love for them.

Deacon David Pierce