Cartoonoloby

Cartoonology. There is great theology in cartoons and comics.

Generation gaps have always been a problem, I suppose. Bridging those gaps has been a challenge. We baby boomers are finding ourselves moving over into the slow lanes while the younger generations are swiftly passing us by. Since I started driving school busses, I have realized how wide the gap has gotten. I remember when a stick was a stick, a “byte” was something you ate, a blackberry was a fruit you picked off a vine, a mouse was a rodent and a cell was a room at the local jailhouse.
My wife and I took our children to visit one of my uncles in West Virginia in the early 1980’s. He lived close to the New River Gorge and took us to see the construction of the New River Gorge Bridge, which was to be the longest arch bridge in the world. It was awesome at 900 feet above the river. The gorge is awesome. We drove down into the gorge and across the old tiny bridge. He took us up close to the project, which was in its early stages. We looked a the pin, which was 6 feet in diameter, that served to hinge the bridge as it was being built from both sides of the gorge to meet in the middle. Cables were suspended across the gorge from which some workers were suspended to work on the bridge below them. This new bridge would allow vehicles to cross in seconds what once took a lot of time and energy to cross. The four-lane roadbed would seem like you were flying in mid-air as you looked to either side of the bridge. Bridging this gap was quite a project.
Bridging any gap can be quite a task, especially the generation gap. One thing about bridges, though, is that they are designed to allow traffic from both directions. You can jump on at either end. Of course, that is if no one also constructs a gate, but bridges and gates don’t seem compatible, unless you are a communist dictator. I say this to also say that bridges across generation gaps need to allow the traffic to flow both directions, too. Our youth and young adults need to travel on it too. Some of us need to move over into the slow lane and let the traffic flow. Don’t jump over the edge. That can be fatal, if not crippling. Just move over a little and give some room for the youth to contribute.

Jesus was a bridge builder. He called young men to His side as disciples. Some were probably just teenagers. Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross as they nailed Him to it. They thought they were killing Him. He was just building another bridge across the great chasm that separates men from God. The apostle Paul was a bridge builder. He wrote to young timothy, his child in the faith.

1 Timothy 4:12 (HCSB)
12 No one should despise your youth; instead, you should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

In other words, Paul was saying to young Timothy, I have mentored you to be a leader. Be a godly leader. I’m moving over. 02-20-09

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