I stopped to help and discovered they were trying to retrieve a schoolbook that had a girl had dropped down into the sewer and which was lying, safe and dry for the moment, on a bit of concrete shelf. Being dressed down in shorts and T-shirt and already dirty, I offered my help and got down beside my friend. Though taller and having a longer reach, I couldn’t get to the book either even though I got down as far as I could into the sewer opening. Even using a pole with a gripping device wouldn’t work.
Well, we worked at it quite awhile before my friend thought about possibly prying the manhole cover from its rust-encrusted position so that he could drop inside. It wasn’t easy and the iron cover proved heavy and cumbersome -- but finally we got it off. Once we had, it took just seconds for him to drop down, retrieve the book, and but another minute to maneuver the manhole cover back into place.
Hooray! Our efforts had produced a successful conclusion and we all felt a wonderful sense of achievement. But the most notable detail of this story was one that wasn’t wonderful at all for that was the inaction of the young girl whose book had been saved.
During the whole time of the adventure -- 15 minutes since I had showed up and who knows how long before that -- she had merely sat in a nearby car, messing with her phone. It was the girl’s mother who had stood alongside watching our efforts in her daughter’s behalf. The mom was encouraging and very grateful. But, even when the book was retrieved, the girl herself displayed absolutely no gratitude, not even any interest.
The mother was terribly embarrassed by her daughter's attitude and she finally had to order her daughter to roll down the window and thank us for getting her book. (Remember, it was her book and she was the person who dropped it.) The girl, visibly perturbed, let the car window come down, snatched the book from her mom’s hand, gave us what was more of a quick smirk than a sincere smile, and…zip…up went the window and she returned her attention to her phone. The mom repeated her own thanks and assured us that her daughter was grateful too. The evidence of that, however, could hardly been weaker.
I shook hands with the other guys and thanked them for their efforts in behalf of the student. I thanked them too for letting me be a part of the project for, when all was said and done, it had been kinda’ fun.
But, as I walked the rest of the way home, I thought about how sad an example this presented of modern youth, even in Christian circles. Self-centered. Ungrateful. A haughty indifference to elders -- even when beholden to them. Indifference to parental expectations or feelings. And being so tied to “social media” that true social responsibilities are ignored.
I wonder -- will those of us who are older finally recognize the trouble our youth are in (and, through them, the whole culture) because of the counter-productive polices we’ve practiced in the schools, the church youth programs, parenting priorities, and the tragic extent that we have allowed kids to be engulfed in technology, fad and fashion, and Hollywood media?
And, even if we recognize the situation, will we begin to take steps to instruct (and require) our youth in respect, responsibility, a work ethic, humility, real life skills, rites of passage to adulthood, and a personal devotion to both the precepts and the power of biblical Christianity?
Make no mistake, this is a critical matter, one that must be seriously and continually addressed. If not, the future of Christian culture (short of heaven) is bleak indeed. Lord, please help us to help them.
