Re-Thinking The Wisdom Of The Criticized

by Eric Elkin

“Whenever I am in deep trouble,  you make me live again;  you send your power against my enemies’ wrath;  you save me with your strong hand.

The Lord will do all this for my sake.
Your faithful love lasts forever, Lord!  Don’t let go of what your hands  have made.”

— Psalm 138: 7-8

Could my daughter’s generation be the next “Greatest Generation?” I can hear the critics screaming at me for the mere suggestion this might be true. Boomers and sociologists have criticized her and her Millennial community so much it is impossible for them to be impartial. However, I am beginning to believe this statement to be true.

My daughter always told me, “Your generation gave us medals every time we farted. Then criticized us for needing medals. We didn’t ask for the medals, nor did we want medals. You made us take them.” My daughter’s generation understood objects are not authentic expressions of worth. Her medals are stored in a box in the shed. They have been there for the last 15 years; it is a value statement.

For over 100 years, women have fought for equal pay. As far as I can tell, the only group to effectively narrow the gap was a collection of female Millennial soccer players. These women were ridiculed by traditional Boomer feminists as dumb jocks. Yet, they are the ones changing the world.

Millennials have a tendency to be comfortable around people not like themselves. They don’t want to hear stories or theories about equality. For some strange reason, they want to experience it. And they are working to make it happen. They have rejected coaches who yelled at them and called them worthless for a better way. In addition, they have exposed the Boomer idea of Free Love for what it is, sexual assault.

“Don’t lament so much about how your career is going to turn out. You don’t have a career. You have a life. Do the work. Keep the faith.”

— Cheryl Strayed, "Tiny Beautiful Things"

Who is behind “The Great Resignation?”, Millennials. Boomers will call them lazy. Yet, they are again rejecting a Boomer trait they find unhealthy. Millennials do not want to work 70 hrs a week in hopes someday they can retire and travel. They would rather work less now and travel when they are young enough to enjoy it.

Millennials were born under the influence of the Latchkey generation. As children, they watched the Towers fall. Their entire childhood was shaped by war and a Stock Market crash. Now their professional lives are being shaped by a pandemic. Boomers will scoff at their suffering and say it is not like their own generation or the ones before them. Suicide rates in the United States may tell a different story.

I was thinking of my daughter’s generation when reading Psalm 138. Often finding ourselves in trouble is where we discover how to live. We, the older generation, have discounted their experiences and traumas. We have tried to convince them they have less value. Millennials are not buying it, and it gets us mad. They may not be in church, but they know God will not let go of God’s children. Especially when those children were formed by the Creator’s own hands.

Instead of criticizing Millennials, we should start listening to them. Perhaps, if we re-think their wisdom, we may just find a different way to live. We may discover a promise to help us live more fully in the present age.

Click to read Psalm 138