Kerouac and the Boomers

Occasionally, I find what David Brooks has to say to be really fascinating. He's a good social critic in my book. (I just wish his political criticism was as good. When he defends some of the conservative stances of politicians, he comes across as disingenuous.) In his column today in the NY Times he makes some hilarious observations about how Baby Boomers are reacting today to Jack Kerouac's On the Road today as compared to forty to fifty years ago.

Brooks begins his column with the words, "A few decades ago, before TV commercials became obsessively concerned with prostate problems..." Was there such a time? I can hardly remember it now. Oh yeah, it was before the largest population surge in American history in all its self-obsession began having such medical problems.

Brooks points out that in its day, On the Road was greeted as a celebration of life and youthful recklessness that would savor every event down to its marrow. Now as 50th anniversary editions of the book are beginning to come out, the introductions and critiques are all about how Kerouac was lost, lonely and obsessed with death. The book is about failed dreams and loss.

Brooks points out that in the critiques of aging Boomers "...you feel the gravitational pull of the great Boomer Narcissus. All cultural artifacts have to be interpreted through whatever experiences the Baby Boomer generation is going through at that moment."

Granted, the Boomers are an easy target in this regard, but as a member of the generation that grew up in their shadow having to endure whatever that great consuming generation ahead of me found fashionable, I will never feel too sorry about shots like the ones Brooks makes.

What does the ever-changing reading of Kerouac by Baby Boomers have to do with anything a Christian minister might want to say on his blog? I'm glad you asked. I point it out, not just because I'm a cynical member of Generation X, but also because it is a perfect, if obvious, illustration of the way we humans tend to interpret scripture, tradition and our experiences of God. Like Boomers re-reading Kerouac in light of their own mortality, we humans read ourselves into our interpretation of scripture especially but also all of our interactions with the spirit. It may be unavoidable, but we can be aware of it.

I've had a number of conversations with folks lately about the different ways we read scripture depending on our social class, culture, nationality and time period. Too often, we do not realize how our own context determines what we will take out of scripture. Just as owners of slaves in the 19th century found justification for their actions, so did abolitionists. Just as feminists find inspiration in scripture for the liberation of women, so do the men and women who support sexism and patriarchy in all levels of society. It may be unavoidable, but we can at least do our best to double-check ourselves and seek out opinions different from our own by people different from ourselves . Of course, that takes humility and security in one's own identity--two factors in short supply in American Christianity.

Grace and Peace,

Chase