Generational Contempt - Deuteronomy 5:16

   
Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. - Deuteronomy 5:16

    As a man in my early 60's I often wonder how we ever got along without the younger generations. I mean how do we manage to get out of bed in the morning, dress ourselves, and go through our days without the immediate supervision of younger people? Of course the remark reeks of sarcasm and facetiousness - it’s supposed to!
    But the fact remains that the younger generations are just as scornful of my generation as I was of my father’s. I was wrong then and they are wrong now. “Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.” - Proverbs 23:22.
    Part of a generation’s contempt for previous generations is that they cannot experience the wonder of the past’s accomplishments and innovations. All they can do is reap the benefits. They flick the light switch, not anticipating the light, but expecting it. So yes, familiarity does indeed breed contempt. They scorn the past because the innovators were more imaginative and creative than they can aspire to be today.
    The greatest discoveries and inventions come as a result of the perfect marriage of knowledge,  imagination, and creativity tempered by wisdom. My generation and those of today are mired in the morass of fanciful imagination and unable to climb up and out of it to the apex of true creativity. The generations are the same. So how in the world can we possibly attain the heights, since our reach exceeds our grasp despite our imagination? The fact is that “in the world” we cannot. “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.” - Proverbs 22:4.
    Face it: there are very few “original concepts” alive in the world today. Most achievements are merely modifications of past ideas and accomplishments. The greatest inventors and innovators were men who realized they were adrift in a world created from nothing by a God who is all powerful! Without the humility that comes from recognizing our God as almighty we are simply slapping a stick against a stone and expecting a skyscraper to rise from it. Humility begins in the heart and only our heavenly Father knows what is in each of ours. “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” - 1 Peter 5:5.
    Our hearts and minds can only be inspired by the Holy Spirit. And Jesus Christ is the only true vine by which we can come to fruition with our hopes, dreams, and imaginations.