Army Helmet
Idealism of youth is not dead!
I scroll through the images of my friends [MySpace] "in the center of my screen and what I see, frankly, is an image of the Kingdom of God!
idealism of youth is not dead. It's just become less tangible!
Here I was, wondering what happened to the idealism of energy days in Vietnam, where young people hoped and dreamed and sang a better world, when all of a sudden, I found that same spirit of youthful optimism is alive and well where I least expected it – Built on my MySpace page!
As I watched the years tick by and saw the youth culture today give birth absolutely nothing to inspire a kind, I just assume (With everyone my age) that youth today are simply hopeless – lazy and selfish, too busy with their iPods and too bored with their studies, full of themselves and empty ideals, selfish, garish, insensitive, frank, and undermotivated excited, full of potential, but with nowhere to direct it, but I was wrong, and the proof is there, indelible etched in the virtual space.
Just look at the messages that have been left for me of my "MySpace friends.
Gabriel says: "May God bless you in your walk with Christ"
Dennis said, "a big smile, live strong, trust in God"
Raheel said simply, "Be Love!
Even my teenage daughter has left a comment: "love your father pimped myspace … way to cool .. '(OK, this is not entirely also idealistic, but I could not ignore)
In any case, there is another Guy on my page that gives virtual hugs! There is an Islamic girl, trying to make themselves understood to non-Muslim peers. There are dozens of young Christians fill my page with icons and images and messages of peace and good will, and yes it is all a bit casual and a little syrupy and very overly optimistic, but is not this exactly what we need in this world for the moment – a mind unpolluted hope? Indeed, when the Lord Jesus told us that we all need to become as little children, is not what he had in mind?
I scroll through the images of my "friends" in the center of my screen and what I see, frankly, is an image the Kingdom of God!
I see a great swell of smiling faces – men and women, young and old, black and whilte, some of the hip and beautiful, some shy and always beautiful. I see a girl in his modest Islamic hijab. I see a tough-looking African-American in his army helmet. There is an Orthodox Jew in the process read his Bible, and an orphanage full of children waving at me from Uganda. Through the magic of the Internet, these characters are shared smiles and messages of goodwill, they mingle happily alongside eachother.
Of course, it is not as that in the "real world, outside of MySpace, these people are not really" friends ". Even so, the picture that I see is a sign of Cyberspace is an image of what I think the world will one day, when this great and glorious day rises, when the earth is so full of knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover sea.
Meanwhile, my MySpace page reflects the fact that there are still a large group of young people out there who are trying to achieve in love to people they do not even know! And while it may be all too virtual for the moment, although it a beautiful reflection of light that shines in the darkness
About the Author
Rev. David B. Smith
(the ‘Fighting Father’)
Parish priest, community worker,martial arts master, pro boxer, author, father of three
www.fatherdave.org
Get a free preview copy of Dave’s book,Sex, the Ring & the Eucharist
when you sign up for his free newsletterat www.fatherdave.org
And you can find my MySpace page at www.myspace.com/fightingfatherdave
