I’ve always been sort of an old soul…a home body…usually quiet and introspective. Throughout my life that has made me different from most of my peers. I enjoy curling up with a nice book and a cat on my lap (or at least I did before Elias was born). I enjoy sewing and quilting. I appreciate handmade things more than store bought ones. Social situations were usually difficult for me…especially in college when I had no interest in partying.
I like to talk about music and books and child-rearing. But most of all I like to talk about real issues. The death penalty. Abortion. HIV/AIDS. Poverty. Hunger. Religion. Christianity. Jesus. I just can’t seem to find many people my age who are interested in talking about these things. I thought maybe it was because I’m just too shy to strike up conversations with people, or because it takes awhile to get to know people well enough to be able to talk about these things. But I feel like when I bring these kinds of things up I get blank stares…like I’m a weirdo….like I’m some radical that always has some “cause.”
But I don’t know. Maybe my generation is just one that doesn’t care about what I consider to be “real” or “important” issues. Hardly anyone around my age attends church…especially in Oregon. But the real disappointment for me occurred when a magazine was mistakenly delivered to my mailbox. The girl who lives above us subscribes to a magazine which I will not name…but let’s just say it’s one that you could find near the check-out at the grocery store. As I was walking up to her door to drop it off, I flipped through the pages (that doesn’t count as reading someone else’s mail….right?) The only stories in there were such trash. So empty. They devoted like ten whole pages to showing pictures of celebrities who accidentally got photographed with underwear showing. Actresses on windy days, or athletes who answered the door at the wrong time. They were trying to make a joke of it and saying who needs to be more careful out in public.
All I could think was…why do people read this? Why is this so much more important to my peers than the famine in Africa? How can this even sell? What is wrong with our society?
Then we had dinner with one of Nate’s friends last night, and it gave me hope again. He not only has compassion for the needy, but he acts on it too. I bet there are many of us young people out in this world who care. I’m going to be spending some time soon writing about the things that I care about. No more staying inside the quiet confines of my mind for me. Anyone out there reading this care to join me? Write or talk about what is important to you. I’ll read it!