Wednesday January 21, 2009
Confessions of a has-been
The U.S. has a new president. I haven\’t seen such a flood of hero-worship since the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, 48 years ago, when the nation seemed convinced that Camelot had returned.
I remember that. I also remember the Cuban missile crisis, and my utter disbelief of his assassination…
Obama cannot remember them. He was not born in 1960.
CBC Radio Two organized a campaign to identify songs that define Canada. They called it “Obama\’s playlist.”
I scanned the top 100 choices, from which a final 49 would be selected. I recognized only 20 of the artists. I looked at the rest and said, “Who?”
Given the difference in our ages, I suspect that Barrack Obama would be more familiar with the names I didn\’t know than the ones I did. Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Gilles Vigneault, Moe Koffman, Stan Rogers – all belong to an earlier era. Obama might look at them and say, “Who?”
Growing older
Obama\’s inauguration makes me realize how old I am becoming.
A minister told me about his father, who had been a senior official in the Canadian National Railway. He even had his own railway car.
He went into a bank in northern Ontario to cash a cheque. The young teller asked him for identification.
“Here\’s my card,” he said sadly. “I used to be somebody once.”
I have that feeling too, sometimes.
To paraphrase poet William Wordsworth, “The past is too much with me.” I prefer reruns of MASH to the latest episode of Survivor. I\’d rather play CDs where I can hear the singer\’s words than listen to a top-40 station. I watch video of Afghanistan or Iraq, and my mind superimposes scenes from the quagmire of Vietnam.
Wordsworth wrote his poem as a lament for the materialism of 18th3\”> century, 200 years ago: “Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers… We have given our hearts away…For this, for everything, we are out of tune.”
I wonder how he might describe our century!
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For a lighter look at ethics, faith, and life, I recommend Ralph Milton\’s weekly e-newsletter Rumors. You can subscribe to it at the Wood Lake Books home page in Ralph Milton\’s Site, or by sending a note directly to ralphmilton@woodlake.com.
It\’s also worth pursuing Charlene Fairchild\’s United Online site. Another site worth visiting is David Keating\’s \”SeemslikeGod\” page.
Professor Reg Bibby of the University of Lethbridge called me a couple of years ago, to ask if I could name some movers and shakers in the United Church of Canada.
All I could think of were people who used to be movers and shakers. Most have retired. They\’re shaking more than they did, but not moving as much.
An increasing number aren\’t moving at all.
I know, I know, it\’s an inevitable progression. Older folks must pass the baton to younger ones. Many a thriving enterprise has been run into the ground by an aging boss who refuses to release the reins.
In the stampede of technological change, simply hanging onto old ways becomes a formula for failure.
But letting go doesn\’t have to mean abandoning ship. Elders still have wisdom.
And what is that wisdom? Certainly not that we\’re smarter than the next generation.
Perhaps it is nothing more than recognizing that we live in more than just the present.
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Copyright © 2008 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups permitted; all other rights reserved.
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