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Exodus 20:12 "Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Have you heard of the IPOD generation? I heard about it on the radio yesterday. The IPOD generation (do you think they made up the name and then thought up the definitions?) are twenty-to-thirty-somethings who are Insecure, Pressured, Overtaxed, Debt ridden, and a Think Tank are claiming that they are contributing to the Welfare State without getting any of it's benefits and being hit with student debt, soaring housing costs and job insecurity. Apparently it's stifling the lifeblood of a generation that is responsible for building the nation's future as they are paying more than their fair share....

It got me thinking about the Fifth Commandment: "Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." A lot of the time we look on this as just a personal injunction, that we have to obey, then respect and finally care for our parents. But it has a corporate dimension as well. If we as a nation do not honour the older people in our communities, working for and looking after them, incidentally part of the bargain of the welfare state, then we will create a society which is stuffed full of insecurity and fear. The old and unproductive will be neglected and left to wither and die. Those of working age will look out only for their own and as they see the older folk struggling, they too will fear for their future. Living long will not be a blessing, but a curse.

Maybe it is hard work being a young person today, but maybe it always has been. Maybe in the past people accepted this because they better understood the corporate nature of the responsibilities between generations. When I was a kid both my parents worked, and my grandparents looked after us frequently. Now that we have children my parents often watch mine... We look on this as a blessing for our family and we benefit from the interaction of the generations. Maybe my generation just has to overcome their worship of personal fulfilment and stop asking about what they get out of society now, and think about what they may need when they get older.... Maybe then we'll get to live long in the land that God has given us.