I saw an 18 year old girl yesterday put air quotes on the word “love.” She was asked by her friend if she loved her boyfriend. And she shrugged, saying, “I guess I ‘love’ him whatever that means” with the air quotes.
You see, she wasn’t questioning her feelings for him. She was questioning the existence of love itself. And I wondered what went wrong with this girl’s life. She’s sitting in the bleachers of her sister’s softball game on a beautiful day with car keys dangling from her fingers and an IPhone in her palm. And she seems hopeless.
And I don’t think she’s alone. I think cynicism, ironic detachment, and hopelessness are prevalent in children today. It’s odd that a generation to whom has been given marvels of technological advancements, such widespread bitter unhappiness has resulted.
Plato said, “Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.” I think it’s safe to say, we’ve done the opposite of that.
