The Mind-set
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV Cycle C
Justin and Juliana, twins, are college seniors at Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin. They're about ten days into the fall semester and have barely cracked the books after a summer of internships, work, and vacation. They can't wait until graduation next May. He's getting a degree in chemical engineering, and she's getting her degree in business administration.
Beloit College knows all about them. Before they entered as freshmen in the Fall of 2000, the college did some research on the incoming class in order to understand their mind-set better.
They found out that Justin and Juliana were born in 1983, the same year as the PC and the Mac, and when Madonna was still Mary with the baby Jesus. They have never experienced a real recession; Ricky Nelson, Marvin Gaye, and Laura Ashley have always been dead; The New Kids on the Block are over the hill; IBM Selectrics are antiques; thongs no longer come in pairs and slide between the toes; a browser is not someone relaxing in a bookstore; a virus does not make people sick; a mouse is not a rodent and there is no proper plural for it; the Royal Family has always behaved badly; there has always been Diet Coke; Social Security has always been on the brink; one earring on a man means that he is probably pretty conservative; Boeing has not built a 727 since they were born; and Sarajevo is a war zone, not a former Olympic site.
They can't remember the days when there was no e-mail, or when the Colts weren't in Indianapolis, or when there wasn't a gaping hole in the ozone layer. They have always known where the Titantic was located, major newspapers have always been printed in color, and Oprah has always been on television at 4 in the afternoon. Volkswagen Beetles have always had the engine in the front.
They can expect to live until 2060, or about 77 years.
Those are some of the cultural factors, quirks, and realities that describe the class of 2005.
Jesus, too, was looking at a graduating class -- a class of twelve. An eclectic assortment of personalities if there ever was one. Jesus has both hopes and fears for this class, because he knows that shortly they will be getting out of school. The Master will be quitting the classroom, and they will be out in the world that will very likely hate their guts, and alone, they will have to survive. But they will do so, if they come together as one, if they stay "in" the Father and the Son, if the love of God is in them.
What is our mind-set? Are we one with one another? Are we in him and he in us? Are we full of the love of God?
If Jesus, who knows us so well, were to pray just for us, what would he say?
Beloit College knows all about them. Before they entered as freshmen in the Fall of 2000, the college did some research on the incoming class in order to understand their mind-set better.
They found out that Justin and Juliana were born in 1983, the same year as the PC and the Mac, and when Madonna was still Mary with the baby Jesus. They have never experienced a real recession; Ricky Nelson, Marvin Gaye, and Laura Ashley have always been dead; The New Kids on the Block are over the hill; IBM Selectrics are antiques; thongs no longer come in pairs and slide between the toes; a browser is not someone relaxing in a bookstore; a virus does not make people sick; a mouse is not a rodent and there is no proper plural for it; the Royal Family has always behaved badly; there has always been Diet Coke; Social Security has always been on the brink; one earring on a man means that he is probably pretty conservative; Boeing has not built a 727 since they were born; and Sarajevo is a war zone, not a former Olympic site.
They can't remember the days when there was no e-mail, or when the Colts weren't in Indianapolis, or when there wasn't a gaping hole in the ozone layer. They have always known where the Titantic was located, major newspapers have always been printed in color, and Oprah has always been on television at 4 in the afternoon. Volkswagen Beetles have always had the engine in the front.
They can expect to live until 2060, or about 77 years.
Those are some of the cultural factors, quirks, and realities that describe the class of 2005.
Jesus, too, was looking at a graduating class -- a class of twelve. An eclectic assortment of personalities if there ever was one. Jesus has both hopes and fears for this class, because he knows that shortly they will be getting out of school. The Master will be quitting the classroom, and they will be out in the world that will very likely hate their guts, and alone, they will have to survive. But they will do so, if they come together as one, if they stay "in" the Father and the Son, if the love of God is in them.
What is our mind-set? Are we one with one another? Are we in him and he in us? Are we full of the love of God?
If Jesus, who knows us so well, were to pray just for us, what would he say?
