Helping Our Young People

Help our young people --- why?  It’s not necessary.  They would be the first (and most emphatic) to say: “I don’t need any help.”  Taught to KNOW they deserve (and can get) anything they want, young people today routinely deny any offers of help given to them --- (they don’t want anyone to think they am dependent upon them).  And so, our children also hesitate to ASK for help, unless --- unless they believe you are SUPPOSED TO help them, in which case they DEMAND your help (and you are at fault if you don’t immediately give it to them).  And often we are guilted into giving it to them.  The youth of our culture are taught that they, and only they, are in control of their lives.  Even as immature young children, they are taught to take control, without ever having been taught how or why, outside of “to make themselves happy.”

So, I guess it is no surprise that when their control efforts do not result in their happiness, they are sad.  Even worse, they believe it is their fault they are sad, and they don’t know what to do about it.  Hence, a huge proportion of our young people are depressed and suicidal.

And we older people, often their parents, ask: “How can we help them, who refuse all help?”  The first (and obvious) answer to that question is to pray for them; God can touch any heart in ways we cannot imagine.  But we can do more.  We can witness our faith, and exhibit happiness.  Smile.  Even as the Roman citizens couldn’t understand why their Christian slaves were happy, our sad youths perceive they are missing “something;” they know they should be happy, but aren’t.  And so, sometimes just seeing a happy person picks at their curiosity.

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At breakfast this morning, the young waitress (with two rings through her nose) brought us coffee and took our order.  Then, we said we would be praying before our meal, and asked her : “Can we pray for you, or your family?”  She appeared flustered at our question: “Oh no, I’m okay,” she said.  But we pressed a little: “Are you sure; anything you want or need?”  And then she said she’d think about it and hurriedly left.  A few minutes later she returned to our table and asked that we pray for her relative who was in need.  And we did.

After the meal, my friend excused herself for a bit and then the waitress came over to me to pick up the check.  Then she stopped and asked: “Where do you go to church?  I used to go to a church in Dearborn, but we just moved to this area.”  And I gave her the name and directions to a nearby church.

What will happen next is beyond my control, but her curiosity was picked.  We had just offered a tiny bit of help, and now God might use that opening to bring about some greater good.  Help doesn’t always mean giving solutions; sometimes it means just pointing in the right direction.  And trusting in God to lead the way.