As the year, and this century draw to a close, we all should reflect on what has been and what will be. Below is a wonderful article written by our TNGenWeb Stewart County Coordinator, Jan Philpot. It is very thought provoking, and I send it on to you all. If you like, please pass it on, but PLEASE credit Jan with the authorship. She is a true gift to us all! Cathy Hall Grand Island, NY ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Thursday, December 16, 1999 11:39 PM Subject: [TN-all] To the Children of Tomorrow > From: "j" <unicorn@sun-spot.com> > > While I have no idea when or if this will ever be read, on the off-chance it > is, here are my words for the children of tomorrow. While I realize this is > not "technically" the real year of this great change upon us, it is widely > accepted as such...and so the message comes now. > It will be given to my children on New Year's Eve. > > To the children of tomorrow, > > On this December thirty first of the year one thousand nine hundred and > ninety nine, we stand on the edge of a new century and a new millennium. The > first is an extraordinary event in and of itself, but every two or three > generations of a family will stand watch over the slow ticking away of a > century. The second is far more extraordinary, and is so buried beneath the > layers of sighs and changes, the rise and fall of cultures, that it is > beyond our comprehension to totally grasp the lives of the ancestors who > lived a thousand years ago and are responsible for the very breath we draw > this night. > > To speak of the changes that have occurred since those long ago ancestors > walked the very face of the earth we now walk would be presumptuous beyond > measure, for the changes have extended beyond the comprehension of mortal > man and encompass every arena of human development that one can enumerate or > imagine. They have been slow changes, but multitudinous. Our computers of > today can chronicle the timeline, the facts, the dates, but nothing ...not > our computers and not our own minds and hearts can chronicle the changes > within thought patterns, cultures, ideas, heart feelings. And yet...perhaps > the most earth changing forces of all have developed within the century in > which our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents drew breath, watched > with amazed expressions as the small communities they called home began to > swing wide doors to a greater beyond that touched with exactitude and > clarity every corner of the world, yes and beyond the stars, at the speed of > a blinking eye. > > We spring from generations that used a horse and wagon for daily > transportation, that cooked using the same wood fuel used from the dawn of > time, that washed and spun and planted and gathered.... not so different > from those of a thousand years ago in many respects. And we are so close to > those generations that more than a few of us well remember the sound of a > voice, the touch of a hand, the warmth of a smile from those of our own who > spanned that time and this. We are the last generation that can make such a > claim. > > This generation can quite aptly be called a Bridge, the link between a very > long past slow in its changes, slow in its growth, carefully plodding toward > something only dreamed of and often not truly believed in...and a very > exciting and very uncertain future, yet one already promising swiftness in > delivery of any imaginable possibility technology can bring. With such a > future, unlike anything the past has known, the Generation of the Bridge > sees a startling responsibility. > > We applauded the developments, the communication, the ability to travel, the > possibilities, the absolute SPEED at which our society can deliver...we > decry the price of such. We fear for the loss of understanding, morality, > ethics and values, the very basic elements which defines more completely > than technology ever can...what exactly civilization IS. Those things don't > come in a fast food line, and can't be purchased with a credit card. They > require two very important components...One is an accepting of the > definition of "civilization", what separates us from all other life that > shares our universe...and the other is quite simply, time. > > When a house is allowed to be built slowly by master carpenters who know > their trade, and for which the tools of the trade are unchanging; when they > have served their apprenticeship and grown into their knowledge, when they > are allowed time to build with exactitude and precision, with loving > attention to detail, polishing with callused hands each board, checking the > swing of a door or the soundness of a latch, the house is sound. It will > stand the winds that blow and the storms that come. Such was the society the > past we see behind us was. Such was the world of the grandfathers and great > grandmothers who held us, who told us their stories, who hoped for our > future, imparted their values and what they had learned through their slower > pace allowing time for real wisdom to grow. They little understood that we > were to be called upon to be the Bridge. In their world, and the worlds of > all their ancestors preceding, there was time. Time to adapt, to build on > mistakes, to learn from them, time to listen, time to mend, time to heal, > time to teach. > > Today not one house is built, but thousands, yes and more. Each of those > houses is being remodeled and additions made, landscaping done and re-done, > at the same time it is being built. Changes are applied before the first > nail is driven or the last shingle is in place...by carpenters who have no > time to be masters because what does it mean to master one's trade when > tomorrow both the rules and tools have changed? There is no security in > knowledge or respect for those who have attained it, for knowledge > multiplies a thousand times over in a twenty-four hour period. There is no > respect for the elders, the shaman, the wisdom of age and experience...for > those who are caught up in this new wave of changes bombarding us every > second of every day can see no Bridge. No realistic way that the elders > looked to for guidance in the past can possibly connect to the future that > is now. > > Perhaps it is ONLY the Bridge that CAN possibly see the connection...and > therein, perhaps, lies our true responsibility. What defines civilization > has never changed, nor will it change in all of the millenniums to come in > which man survives. More than ever our wise men, our shaman, our elders are > needed...with their words of strength, their comfort, but most of all their > words of just how master carpentry can tackle building in a world of today > with the values of a yesterday. Unless we can impart with dignity to those > willing to hear, many of us fear the children of tomorrow will find their > houses crumbling in mighty heaves to a ground that quivers with no > foundation. Unless we can discover a way to be heard above the glitz of a > clamoring media, a clamoring age, a restless driven spirit, we fear the > children of tomorrow will look one day for a shaman only to find there has > been no environment for wise men to grow, or climate for sound characters to > flourish. > > No planet is so beckoning that we must thrill to reach it at the price of > our own. No communication is so needed that we must blindly rush toward it > at the price of understanding what communication really is, and how it can > better mankind and not harm it. No power is so wonderful as the power of > knowing oneself, and no media is so exciting as the serenity that grows from > brotherhood with one's world and our place in it. We would not, as parents, > have given our toddler the keys to an automobile capable of traveling a > hundred miles an hour....and yet in our rush, our thrill, with quickly > obtained technology...that is exactly what has happened. Our society is > filled with toddlers in whose hands are the "toys" that can destroy them in > the blink of an eye...and at the same time, our toddlers have not had time > to grow into the patience and wisdom to know how those "toys" might best be > put to use. It is a frightening future the Bridge sees, an exciting one, but > a gamble....and the stakes weigh heavy. > > Our children of tomorrow, understand what civilization is....what character > is, give your shaman a chance to be born and to grow into a cloak that can > shelter your building from the storms. Choose Master Carpenters.and look to > the past for your lessons. The passage of a millennium to follow this one > may well depend upon it. Generation of the Bridge...those of us who span two > worlds, the agrarian age and the technological one... it is our > responsibility to be just that...a Bridge. > > In New Mexico there is a bridge. When it was built it was called "The > Bridge to Nowhere".because there truly was no road on the other side that > led to anyplace at all. > Whether by the hand of fate or the hand of God, we are a Bridge. The rest of > the title has yet to be determined. > > just a thought, > jan > >*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* EMAIL ADDRESS: cat5hall@email.msn.com Cathy's Genealolgy http://homepages.msn.com/PicnicPL/cat5hall Bradley County TNGenWeb Page http://www.tngenweb.org/bradley TNBRADLE-Mail List TNBRADLE-L-request@rootsweb.com Polk County TNGenWeb Page http://www.tngenweb.org/polk TNPOLK Mail List TNPOLK-L-request@rootsweb.com