WAKE UP, O SLEEPER!

“’Awake, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Be careful then, how you live—not as unwise, but wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.” Eph. 5:14-16

It was Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, not George Orwell’s 1984 that got it right according to Neil Postman’s 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves To Death. Twenty five years later, Postman is still relevant to our time. Postman observed that while Orwell warned of the external oppression of Big Brother, Huxley warned of people coming to “adore their technologies that undo their capacities to think.”¹ Sound familiar?

According to Postman “Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance…In short, Orwell feared that what we hate would ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love would ruin us.”

We live in a time when our appetite for amusements and distractions is seemingly endless. The elders of today, most of whom are grandparents, are in a strategic position to help this generation navigate these dangerous, deceptive waters. The question is are we positioned and prepared to do so, or will we fall victim to the same deceptions ourselves?

The Scriptures warn us to wake up from our sleep and live wisely by making the most of the opportunities laid before us. This is not the time to be lulled to sleep by the warm, addictive feelings that arise from the personal kudos we get from our grandchildren. May God give you His wisdom to live intentionally for the sake of your grandchildren and let Christ shine on and through you for such a time as this.

GRANDPAUSE: God does not do anything with us, only through us. -Oswald Chambers

(1) Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves To Death”, 1985, Penguin Books, excerpts from Foreward