27 November 2019
Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
In the United States, there is a familiar aphorism— “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”— which describes the propensity of family-owned enterprises to fail by the time the founder’s grandchildren have taken charge. Variations on that phrase appear in other languages, too. The usual pattern is that the first generation works and sacrifices. The second generation works hard and enjoys the advantages provided to them by previous generations. The third generation loses that drive and becomes soft. There are many reasons that very few family businesses are able to last for a second generation, let alone a third. One of main reasons is that families often poorly prepare their next generation for responsibility, descend into family conflict and/or lose their ability to innovate and develop their businesses.
The story of the Book Daniel that we heard today is the story of the second-generation decline. In the previous days, we heard Daniel’s interaction with King Nebuchadnezzar. The story now continues with his son, King Belshazzar. After his encounter with Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the sovereignty of the God. But his son does not give any respect to the God of Daniel and instead pays homage to the pagan idols. When King Belshazzar summons Daniel to interpret the writing on the wall, Daniel begins to speak at length about his father who rightly humbled himself and experienced a conversion as the result of his acknowledgment of the God of Israel. Daniel then told Belshazzar that the writing on the wall was from the living God who is the sovereign Creator over the universe.
Have you ever dealt with generational conflict? Do you find yourselves being compared with the previous generation? Or, perhaps, you are looking at the younger generation with disappointment. Do you find comfort in relating with different generations, either older or younger? Whatever feeling that you have right now, bring it to Jesus in prayer and listen to what Jesus might want to say to you as you listen.