Well, gas has officially gone over $4 in California making it virtually impossible for our generation to be the one that changes how Americans consume.

Let me explain: I truly believe that for a while, both the mosaic and buster generations were headed towards a mindset that it is better to pay the extra dollar to support the creative, the weird, the pure, and the honest. However, with the economy currently in shambles without much sign of hope, college students and young adults are crunching numbers and pinching pennies more than ever before simply to survive.

This means that the corporate giants remain on top of the world. Rather than going to the corner coffee shop where the local indy-genius is offering his craft and selling his carefully self-produced album, people are passing through the Starbucks drive-thru and downloading digital singles at a rapidly increasing pace. People are spending far less time creating and connecting with culture and are rather embracing a mentality of self-preservation and individualism.

Ok. And there’s your uplifting thought of the day. Thanks for reading!

Just kidding. I’m not trying to sound depressing here friends. In no way do I want to sound like another complaining mosaic, but as a writer and thinker I feel a responsibility to challenge our generation with what’s at stake. As we grow up and become the decision makers, money spenders, and influencers we MUST understand the importance of community. We MUST be intentional about the causes we care about, raising our voice far less than we raise our bodies, minds, and wallets to our creator who has promised to sustain us. It seems to me that the pursuit for all things good (whether it’s a cup of coffee or a characteristic of God) is a choice.

Beauty is a choice.

Truth is a choice.

Love is a choice.

Peace is a choice.

As the real-world comes crashing through my bedroom window these days, I am slowly realizing that these things do not simply embody a man after he wakes up one morning, but rather, to pursue these virtues is a constant, sometimes reckless, counter-cultural decision one makes in a storm front of assembly lines spiraling around him. I seek to live a conversant life full of passion and relationships, plugging in and out of the media that surrounds me and shapes me, but never allowing it to monopolize the conversation.

I believe that as we approach the end of the first millennial decade a new set of challenges approach the next generation of believers. I am interested in what you guys think. What are some challenges that uniquely face us and what ideas do you have about how to meet these challenges head on?

This is, after all, a conversation.