Time, place, people, things, and love

Just a couple of generations ago, a man here in the States romanced and later married the girl next door, and he stayed married. He got a job in the same field most of the other men in his family were in, and he raised his children in his home-town, where they grew up surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. He went to church, paid his tithes, went out once a week with the guys. He worked hard, provided for his children, avoided excess, and saved for retirement. And his life was set up such that he felt it was necessary to be a better man than his father was, and provide a better life for his children than he had.

Today, most men can't remember the name of the girl next door, probably because there were so many of them...ours is such a mobile society. Instead of romance and courtships, he substitutes a quickie with a woman he met in a bar, or on a plane, or at one of his kids' Little League games. Children grow up isolated from their extended family. Radio, television, and political personalities are the high priests of our society, and Truth is the sacrifical lamb they offer upon the altar of Reality TV. The suffering of others has become our entertainment, covetousness and excess are customary, and financial planning typically involves buying a lotto ticket. And today, men wish they were half the men their fathers were, feeling diminished because they and their wives have to work like dogs in order to provide that mythical 'better life' for their children.


And where once we loved people and used things,
Today, we love things and use people.