The Priceless Gift of Generations, by Teresa Neumann
My dear friend Teresa reminds us to pass the baton…and to grasp it when it’s been passed to us.
The Priceless Gift of Generations — Teresa Neumann
“Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD – with the first of them and with the last – I am he.” – Isaiah 41:4 (NIV)
God was absolutely brilliant when He sorted human beings into different generations. Can you imagine life without babies, or children, or teenagers, or grandparents or senior citizens?
God could have grown tired in the midst of His creative mode and simply ascribed to humanity the same ephemeral attributes of, say, certain flowers, or fish, or insects. After all, if humans were like salmon there would be no overlapping generations. No broad spectrum of age from newborn to ancient-of-days. No ability to share the unique gifts inherent to each generation. We would be a sorry mass of tunnel-visioned individuals struggling through life’s various stages with no other living soul to lead or mentor us other than our equally flawed peers.
Take dying, for example. My mother passed away three years ago. Though I loathed the painful moments, I learned they were, in retrospect, opportunities for me to function as one of her royal escorts into God’s Kingdom. She was able to teach me what it is to die nobly and I was privileged to bless her in ways that were only possible because I had the energy and resources of comparative youth.
Again, reeling from the recent news that my father was diagnosed with lung cancer, my niece – a single mom of 13-month-old twins – flew to Oregon with her children to stay with us for two weeks. The timing was perfect. Depression has had little time to dig its poisonous claws into me. Not with twin babies around.
Yesterday, Landon, my downy-skinned, saucer-eyed grand nephew, slept peacefully in my arms for nearly an hour. I had forgotten what it was like to willingly drop everything to comfort an innocent, baby soul. It was pure bliss, and feeling his little heart beating next to mine, I was struck by the pricelessness of staggered ages. One generation gives awe and revelation, another comfort, another direction, another financial security, and yet another wisdom and hope. We temper each other with our age-appropriate gifts.
So, the next time you pray for your children, pray for their peers. Pray God will equip and enable America’s youth to do the work of the Kingdom despite a culture that mocks godlessness. When you talk to your grandparents, remember their failing generation and pray for their blessing. Pray for the mothers and fathers in this nation, that they would demonstrate the wisdom and love of Christ to their children to the extent they would indeed someday be called “blessed.”
And most of all, remember: “The plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” – Psalm 33:10-11
Visit Teresa on her blog, The Vortexiverse; a Journal of Vicarious Living: vortexiverse.blogspot.com