Seeing past generational labels

Have you ever identified with a generational label? 

There’s “The Greatest Generation,” those who lived through the Great Depression and World War II. Then “The Baby Boomer Generation,” the children of “The Greatest Generation” who lived through the cultural changes of the ’60s and ’70s. And “Generation X and Y,” people in their 20s and 30s who have been described as both ambivalent and ambitious—the “Ys” especially having a penchant for technology. 

To identify with a common group can feel comforting, especially to find that others have lived through the same events and have a shared experience. We might find ourselves saying, “Yes, that’s exactly who I am” or expressing less enthusiasm with, “That’s not me at all!”

Actually, I don’t fall neatly into any of those groups described above. Technically, I belong to a little-known group called, “Generation Jones.” The term refers to “keeping up with the Joneses” competitiveness. I recently became curious as to what exactly “keeping up with the Joneses” really meant—where did this phrase come from? Well, Internet research suggested a few possible sources, but one intrigued me. Some say this phrase came from a comic strip from the early 1900s. The main characters were a family that was always struggling to keep up with their unseen neighbors, “the Joneses.” And “Generation Jones,” my age group, had high hopes and huge expectations as children, but often grew less optimistic when they became adults. I found myself readily agreeing with many of the described characteristics and initially claimed, “Yes, that’s me!” But when I read “unsatisfied, skeptical, and having cynical behavior,” ouch! Now that hurt. I felt like a student receiving a bad report card. 

After taking a good hard look at that description, I began to refute those characteristics in prayer. I didn’t want to be identified with a craving for materialism. I didn’t want to be considered competitive, unsatisfied, or, especially, cynical. These were not qualities I found worthy in others. So why should I accept them in myself? Or in my peer group? 

I saw that we can challenge the premise that a collective time experience creates and instills individual traits, behaviors, and attitudes. In Christian Science we learn there is a spiritual counter fact to every lie about our spiritual identity. The counter fact to all of this, I came to realize, was that God’s man is inherently free from the artificial constraints and limitations associated with time, which Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures describes, in part, as “mortal measurements” (p. 595 ).

We are defined only by God’s unlimited and loving qualities.

Sometimes hard questioning and examining our thoughts provides us the opportunity to get “back to the basics” of what we know to be true—to the laws of man’s innate spiritual character and identity. Our spiritual identity is complete, satisfied, an ageless reflection of God, who is man’s only Life. The bottom line of my argument went something like this: “Why should I base my identity on a demographic that is named after a cartoon character family? That’s absurd!” 

We are not part of a designated chronology or living a “script” that has already been written for us. The Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2 ). God’s man is not defined by past events or socioeconomic trends. We are defined only by God’s unlimited and loving qualities. And Science and Health points out, “God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis” (p. 258 ).

Another thought that came to me through prayer were these words from Hymn 382 in the Christian Science Hymnal:

I considered how these meaningful ideas contrasted with my being folded into the “Generation Jones” label. I saw that I didn’t have to accept the false characteristics and traits of my designated generational group. I could see that my identity was inherently Godlike and blessed and satisfied.

This doesn’t mean we should never ask a senior neighbor to share stories from “the good old days,” or reminisce about our favorite vintage songs. Sharing those things can be fun. But we can strive to identify as God’s beloved and ageless man, unlimited in scope and ability. Our promise as God’s man is infinite!