04/23/2018

ALOA letter: Beyond a smart doorbell

II’d love to catch the “smartness” that’s flying around.

Our grandchildren learn from smartboards. The refrigerator re-orders groceries without help and we can’t even use the expression, “Dumb as a doorbell,” anymore. After all, through a smartphone miles from home, we can talk with the delivery person waiting at our front door. Even doorbells are smart. I can’t help but think, “Stop the world. I want to get off.”

It’s not surprising that the pace of change can be overwhelming. That’s especially true when we cope with the sometimes surprising and unwelcome aspects of our own aging. But instead of feeling “I’m too old to cope with all this,” perhaps we can take a hint from some of our Millennial children. Their generation is famous for practicing the art of mindful living.

One characteristic of the infamous Millennials (born between 1982 & 2004) is that they stop the busyness. They intentionally take time to breathe and reflect. These “found moments” can ground even the busiest person. Unfortunately, many of these Millennials, who are so eager to embrace a sense of inner calm, miss the most obvious way to capture a deeper sense of fulfillment.

That offers us an opportunity.

As older Christians, we have experienced the peace that comes through intimate conversations with God. When we stop to pause and pray, we reconnect to the blessings, not the busyness. We naturally add an intentional and conscious connection to God during these personal snapshots in time.

As we adopt the no-fear, Millennial-like approach toward atomic fingerprints, swooping drones and the robotic vacuum that zips around the living room, we can share with younger generations the peaceful contentment that comes through a relationship with our Heavenly Father. This cross-gen sharing makes sense: younger people age up as they pause to pray; we age down in our outlook toward change. 

That’s pretty smart thinking!

ALOA Board of Directors

Check out this video to find out ways to encourage sharing values among generations in your congregation. It's one of 19 videos on our website. A number of them have a related bible study that can be downloaded for individual or group use.