Core Values Part One
Not long ago I asked the members of a writing group to which I belong if they would share their thoughts concerning basic values. I asked them what value they would want to pass on to the next generation. Here are some of the responses I received.
The responses I collected are listed in the order I received them. Some folks further defined the value they submitted, but for now, I am just listing the value itself.
Perseverance, Love, Humility, Empathy, Vulnerability, Taking responsibility for one’s actions, Honesty, and Wisdom.
Beginning in the late 1940’s, as a kid growing up, values such as those above were taught at home around the dinner table, at the church I attended on Sundays, Boy Scouts, and by the coaches who taught me sportsmanlike conduct, being gracious in winning and undiscouraged in defeat. You might have thought I would have included my teachers on this list of folks. For better or worse, I had very few teachers who took the time to discuss values with my classmates and me.
Today, it is rare that families gather at the daily dinner table for conversation. We may, on rare occasions, eat together but our smartphones are sitting right next to us or we are in a rush to get on with the next scheduled activity, forgoing what we have decided is an idle and extraneous conversation.
Fewer and fewer families are going to church together to worship and to become better acquainted with the basic principles of our Judeo-Christian heritage. This is the same heritage and the same set of basic principles upon which this country was founded. These principles guided the founding fathers as they pondered what values they hoped all citizens would internalize as a guide for the conduct of their lives and relationships.
Boy Scouts and many other organizations have been victimized by reprehensible people who, posing as leaders of good character, manipulate young men and women, eroding trust and confidence in such organizations. So the Scout Law and the Scout Oath I learned as a viable moral standard have been damaged by the very people who should have been our most trustworthy role models.
Even though I was just an average athlete, the coaches who guided the teams I joined were men and women of strong ideals. They were not perfect. Most of my coaches were passionate about winning, about expending maximum effort, sportsmanlike conduct, and a proper blend of attention to detail concerning mind, body, and spirit as it related to athletic endeavors. Their eccentricities were just that – never using verbal or physical abuse when things were not going well. I never doubted my coaches’ foundational value for gracious winning or in responding to the challenges of reversing a lost contest.
In the 1960’s all that began to change. The misdeeds and moral and ethical weakness of our leaders became more public. The growing hypocrisy of our leaders, in all walks of life, was laid bare for all to see and consider. We began to doubt what we heard and what we saw coming from our leaders. The family suffered, churches seemed out of touch, various organizations lacked renewed vision, and even coaches fell victim to behaviors beyond our understanding. Nothing seemed sacred or pure or noble.
The 1960’s were the first time I felt frightened by circumstances beyond my control. I did not believe the world was getting better and that we individually and collectively were being challenged to be our best. I think that’s why so many people responded so enthusiastically to our country’s efforts for space exploration. It was something grand and pure in its stated goals and objectives.
Like so many others, I was encouraged by the renewal and repairs that John Kennedy offered the nation. As quickly as that vision was offered it was snatched away by his assassination. Then Martin Luther King went the same way, then Bobby Kennedy. The short-lived hope of a generation eager to return to living noble purposes for a greater good was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
I look at the responses I received when I asked the question – what one value would you like to pass on to future generations and I wonder who can be, who will be, that good example for our youth that seems to be lacking. Who can live and serve the next generation in such a manner as to provide living proof that values such as love, humility, empathy, and honestly have any chance of surviving in the present cultural and societal times?
Who will live these values and provide examples of value-rich living for our youth? We have left the next generation with overwhelming national debt, disharmony among the races and classes, shattered dreams of stable job opportunities, any illusion of a stable world in which we can put our hope. Except for a few amazing individuals and exceptional non-profit groups, we are not attending to those unable to help themselves – the homeless, the poor, those who are treated unjustly because of race, religion, sexual orientation, country of origin,and those others who we have discarded to be victims of violence, greed, and growing numbers of scams and manipulations.
Once again, I remind myself that this blog is about hope. Quite frankly when I started this blog, my idea of hope was hope in the future as opposed to the hope that gets us through contemporary crises. I am rethinking my timeframe for the effects of hope making all things right. The hope of eternal life is a nice concept and I am an advocate for that future hope but I am convinced that near term, specific examples of the promise and power of hope are needed at this time.
In Part Two of this post, I will offer some suggestions concerning how you and I can actively engage in the work of bringing hope and purpose to the generation that will inherit what we leave them.
As you wait for Part Two, I ask you to consider what part you will play in helping a new generation to find hope and encouragement. The job has fallen to us to provide reasons for the next generation to believe and trust that we have anything to offer them that might help them survive the mess in which we all find ourselves. In your life and your work and your sphere of influence, what might you be able to offer as meaningful, believable evidence of your life based on values you hope will be transferred to the next generation and beyond?
End of Part One. Part Two will appear later next week.
