Mulling it over
Sharing the wisdom
I once heard my old professor of biochemistry, Frank Hird, deliver a school speech night address in the Melbourne Town Hall entitled ‘Things I Think About’. He got away with it.
Frank, who had a funny limerick for the biosynthetic pathway of each of the 22 naturally-occurring amino acids, was a Fabian who believed that biochemistry would eventually do away with the need for psychology. In his final lecture to us he invited questions on any topic.
Smart Alec, I quoted Jack Lewis:
‘If minds are dependent on brains and brains on biochemistry and biochemistry on the meaningless flux of the atoms, I cannot see why the thoughts of those minds should have any more significance than the sound of the wind in the trees.’
Pretty smart, I thought. He stared me down!
Frank had the maturity and the runs on the board to be engaging and interesting on the subject Things I Think About.
I remembered Frank’s talk when Bruce took me to lunch at Portobello Road last week.
Comforted by our lattes, we chewed over the common heritage – the pop culture of the 50s and 60s. Bruce has a heart for the needs of the ageing: ‘Godliness with contentment…’, the older Paul reports to Timothy. Dylan Thomas’ opposite take was, ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’.
Whatever, as one gets older and (hopefully) wiser, one also progressively loses the forums to share that wisdom.
Parents pass on, leaving few if any really interested to know. Retirement shrinks the pool of associates. The younger generation, that 40-year old group, is solicitous but, you know, things are so 10 minutes ago. Physical deterioration restricts social mobility. One has a lifetime of accumulated wisdom and experience but steadily fewer people interested or ways to share it.
All power to Bruce, then.
His genuinely evangelistic ministry scratches this cohort where they itch. And itch they do. It’s not the Gen Ys who wonder about the meaning of life.
The musical Fame tells their story… ‘I’m gonna live forever.…’ It’s the Builders and the Seniors where the regrets set in, the depression, the questions. But right there’s a readiness, a bridge for the Gospel.
OK, OK, I know the stats show most people come to faith as children, few as older adults.
But isn’t that because the great majority of Christians are Christians because their parents were Christians?
Now don’t get me wrong. We must build youth ministry. It’s a no-brainer that parish youth groups and that wonderful enterprise known as Anglican Camping deserve every encouragement and support; they are prime mechanisms by which young people come to know Jesus and are nurtured in their faith.
Which is not to ignore the work of the Spirit of God and the reality that people can be ‘readied’ at any age and stage to come to saving faith in Christ. But I reckon Bruce is onto something. Pray for the bloke. Encourage him. Watch him. He’s up to something.
I suspect we are seeing a model under development for reaching a significant cohort of our community with the best news, the Good News of Jesus.