Monday Morning

It's Monday morning again.  Ugh......it seems to come once a week.

I'm sitting at McDonald's this morning.  I just ate my breakfast and am drinking some coffee.  It's about 15 minutes till 10 am.  You are no doubt wondering why I am at McDonald's at this time in the day.  Well, for one thing it's one of the few restaurants in the immediate area that has free WiFi.  Also I'm at work, strange as that may sound (and no I don't work for the Golden Arches).  I'm not going to describe or name my job except to say that it allows me time to do this, so I take advantage of it.

I actually have 2 jobs.  The other job is more of a volunteer job that requires only a few hours a week, not totally volunteer as I get paid a small amount for it.  For the most part I enjoy both jobs.  My second job is a church staff position, the main requirement of which is "teaching" teenagers on Wednesday nights.  I have teaching in quotes because teaching teenagers is a lot like herding cats.  Several things amaze me about teenagers.

1. Their interest in learning is minimal at best.

Perhaps this is because it was so different from me when I was their age.  I remember even before being a teenager I devoured the encyclopedias we had at home.  I became an expert (as much as an 11 or 12 year old can be) on World War II.  I wasn't the top student in school.  I was a good student but never what one would consider gifted.  I was just interested in learning.  That passion has never left me.  I would have loved to have had a tool such as the World Wide Web available to me when I was younger, it amazing how much it is used for the purposes of playing games, insulting people and causing drama on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and other questionable activities. 

2. Their ignorance of the Bible is staggering.

I don't mean by this that they don't understand deep theological concepts that seminary students argue about in class.  I mean they don't know basic facts about the Bible that everyone (believer and nonbeliever alike) knew in previous generations.  Who was the third son of Adam and Eve (and it may be a leap of faith to assume they know the first two were Cain and Abel)?  Who were the twin sons of Isaac?  List the 10 Commandments.  King David's son who became King was......?  What was the Northern Kingdom called?  What was the Southern Kingdom called?  Name the 12 Apostles.  If you can answer all of those you are way ahead of most teenagers, and I mean the ones who are in church on Wednesday nights.  Keep in mind I live in the area of the United States generally referred to as the Bible Belt.  The blame for this in my mind lies with both the church and the parents, neither of whom have placed a great value on this in recent years, but that's another ramble for another time.

3. Their sense of entitlement is unprecedented.

Teenagers have always had a sense of superiority to those who came before them.   However, recent generations of teenagers have had their overinflated egos reinforced by the system.  There are no losers, everyone gets a trophy.  Anyone who says or does something that makes you feel inferior or that offends you must be punished.  The self-esteem movement has done tremendous damage to the character development of teenagers.  

Well, that's my Monday morning sauntering.  Have a blessed day and week.