Article April 12, 1993 Issue

More than the child of an era!

The twenties. The sixties. The nineties. Is your identity really shaped by a period of history?

Tony Lobl

"I'M a real child of the sixties!" said a workmate, with obvious relish. But apparently this man's view of being a "child of the sixties" focused not on some of the worthy ideals of that era but on an assumed right to indulge openly in various forms of morally questionable behavior.

In a later conversation, however, I found out that he had been brought up by parents who took him to Sunday School. He gratefully acknowledged that although he hadn't maintained contact with any church, he had never forgotten one of the spiritual lessons taught in church. He learned, he said, to watch his own thoughts, to take responsibility for the quality of his experience by maintaining loving thoughts about others. He said that he frequently applied this lesson, especially in his work experience. He also noted that his grandmother's example of living up to the standard of unselfed love taught in the Bible had left a deep and lasting impression on him.

As he spoke, it became evident to me that this man was more than the self-confessed child of an era! I suddenly saw in him a gleam of man's real, unfettered identity as a child of God, formed spiritually and distinctly by his Maker to glorify Him.

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