Question: What advice do you have for today’s youth?
Peter Gomes: Well one of the things that I find that I have to say to young people – which is a strange sort of conundrum – is I have to tell them that they are of value. They suffer not from high self-esteem. They suffer, by and large, from low self-esteem. They tend to believe they are the result of this materialistic, mendacious culture. When I am sitting down with young couples who are getting married, I always ask them, “Would you like your marriage to resemble that of your parents?” Invariably they say, “No. Thank you very much. I love my parents. Presumably they love each other, but we hope for something better than this.” So there is a sense that they recognize the limitations of the world in which they are. They tend to over-emphasize their own limitations. And part of my job is to say, “You can aspire to be more than the sum total of your parts. There’s more to you than just a brain, or just a body, or a set of marketable skills.” And I find, rather than trying to deflate their ego, part of my job is to try to raise it up so that they can understand that they are, in the biblical phrase, “created a little lower than the angels”, having been given great power to represent God and … the world. That we are images made in God’s image. That there are great things that we can be, and do, and aspire to – that they should do that, especially those who are going to raise families. If you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for your children for heaven’s sakes! Let them blossom and flourish.
Recorded on: 6/12/07
Discuss
Caleb Rosado on January 11, 2008, 12:05 AM
Peter, I think that you have made some very important and correct points. In addition to your ideas, I believe that in many ways because of the high dose of ADD that our global society and young people are experiencing, they do not know how to experience a sense of "restfulness" in the life. Which raises a crucial question: "Does the information highway have a Rest Area?"
I believe that Blaise Pascal was correct when he declared. %u201CI have often said that the sole cause of man%u2019s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.%u201D In other words, the ability to sit contently quiet by oneself is the mark of a life at peace.
That, I believe, the need for quiet zones, rest areas in information highway, away from all the technoise of the Information Age, is one of the biggest needs, not just of the young, but of all of us humans being, engaged in a mad dash to nowhere.
Caleb Rosado on January 11, 2008, 5:05 AM
Peter, I think that you have made some very important and correct points. In addition to your ideas, I believe that in many ways because of the high dose of ADD that our global society and young people are experiencing, they do not know how to experience a sense of “restfulness” in the life. Which raises a crucial question: “Does the information highway have a Rest Area?”
I believe that Blaise Pascal was correct when he declared. %u201CI have often said that the sole cause of man%u2019s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.%u201D In other words, the ability to sit contently quiet by oneself is the mark of a life at peace.
That, I believe, the need for quiet zones, rest areas in information highway, away from all the technoise of the Information Age, is one of the biggest needs, not just of the young, but of all of us humans being, engaged in a mad dash to nowhere.
Anthony Whistler on March 1, 2008, 9:40 PM
the 1st blank (in paragraph transcript of 1st question's answer) is "Incarnate" not 'and_____'
just wanted to clarify
Anthony Whistler on March 2, 2008, 2:40 AM
the 1st blank (in paragraph transcript of 1st question’s answer) is “Incarnate” not ‘and_____’
just wanted to clarify
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