While our ability to microchip brains and help the mute speak, our character seems to be steadily sliding south. I might sound like negative Nelly, but perhaps some of the following things will resonate with you:

No doubt you can think of your own experiences in the recent decade.

Not to mention “fake news” . . . contrary reports from the same source . . . people believing one thing but doing the opposite . . .

A friend owns a grocery store. He expressed the lack of motive for kids to show up for work. “They just don’t care.”

Another friend is a high school teacher. He wants to quit due to the fact that he can’t seem to motivate his students to do their work.
“They just don’t care.”

My husband is a construction superintendent. His job has been increasingly painful due to the above bullet points. “They just don’t care.”

Of course I’ve pondered this question as I’ve heard the frustrations and considered the problem. A story from a young woman who came into my shop one day comes to mind. She’d just finished college and took her first job in early childhood education. When I heard, I smiled big and asked if she was just loving working with the little people. Her reply surprised me. “Actually, it’s really hard. When the parents drop off their children, the children leverage the parents. This makes for much tension and great challenges.” I’m not sure if she stayed the course or not.

My grocery store friend said often the parents pay for what the kids want and they simply don’t need to work.



The construction industry, though rocky for my husband, somehow progresses and comes to completion, but not without exceedingly frustrating labor and communication for the superintendents.

I went LIVE for the first time on YouTube. I can’t tell you how much I had to push through giving up. The technology was challenging for me. I started using Zoom as my host site because I have a paid subscription, but the training I was receiving was using Streamyard. After much frustration in trying to figure out Zoom, I decided to look into Streamyard. It was much more user-friendly, and I already had signed up for the free version. I was able to use it, but not without HOURS of practice, trial and error and wanting to quit.

It’s good to do the things that intimidate us. I’m glad I pushed through. No pain, no gain, right? But of course my performance wasn’t up to my standards. I didn’t plan on talking to those who might not have a personal relationship with Jesus. It just kind of came up. So, since I wasn’t ready, I said, “If you don’t know Him, ask someone.” And then I went on with my message.

The next morning I was apologizing to Jesus for not giving the gospel invitation. It just so happened that I read Matthew 11:25 in my One Year Bible reading plan. I read that Jesus “hid things from the wise and learned.” And suddenly I remembered His reason for telling parables. He wants people to put some effort into chasing Him. I’ve said it often since I realized it, “He wants us to want Him.”

“Let them ask,” I thought. It’s good to seek Him since He promises that He will be found! (Jeremiah 29:13)

And I was instantly relieved from my guilt.

It occurred to me then, that when we spoon-feed people we do them no favor. What we think is generosity might actually be coddling. And coddling prevents effort and lack of effort produces lazy people. And lazy people simply . . . don’t care.

I don’t have to convince anyone of this. We’ve had two years of majorly reorienting ourselves to “a new world”. What we formerly took for granted has been shaken. And the pieces aren’t going to just fall back into place. We’ve got to do some reordering of priorities. We need to see where the cracks in the foundations are and seek to firm it up. If we don’t take a good look at the character development that needs to happen in our own lives, and if we don’t rethink our parenting strategies (for those who have a difficult time letting their kids experience pain in life) our quality of life will continue to decline.

One more thing I think might benefit our society is getting neighborly. We’ve spent so long being busy doing our thing (I am as guilty of this as anyone) that we don’t get to share what we know of life with one another. It’s robbing us of, well, . . . many things . . . of friendship, of wisdom from other’s experiences, and of leaning on one another. Perhaps the act of knocking on doors to meet the neighbors (which I intend to do after watching Godspeed) might dissipate some of the tension our changed world has created.

Perhaps we should slow our use of technology and start walking our neighborhoods and knocking on doors. For more on this topic, I recommend Andrew Peterson’s The God of the Garden. (He tipped me off to Godspeed and he has much to say about slowing and walking and seeing trees. It’s beautiful. You’re welcome!)