Experience VS Inexperience
Hi there! Read the papers yesterday. Saw that ministers are getting younger. No-one above 50. Which is a welcome change from the emphasis we usually place on experience. During the years I worked at a regular job I was continually confronted by this issue of "experience". And as I was young at that time I often found it frustrating when this flag of experience was waved before me. Useless to argue that unless you are given a chance to acquire that experience how are you supposed to acquire it. Useless to try and change things.
"This is the way things are done here." I was told umpteen times.
And gradually I began to see That it was not as simple as experience Vs Inexperience. It went much deeper. It was youth Vs old age. It was tradition Vs change. A whole lot of issues tied together.
True change is not always for better. True we should not be so quick to discard customs and traditions without really knowing what we may lose in the process. The new is often superficial, brash and quite soulless. But the young also bring fresh insights; children have new ways of perceiving things; the inexperienced may produce wonders because they are unshackled to the past. Very often children can be the best teachers. They are not flawless I know because they have yet to take the knocks that life delivers, but they are novel vibrant and enthusiastic. Very often experience makes us so aware of pitfalls that we hesitate to take a step forward in any direction masking our fear and inadequacies behind a mask of self sufficiency venting scorn on these"inexperienced youth". Frankly I think we trot out the "I have experience" line more often than not because we feel threatened. We suffer through inexperience waiting our turn till the day finally arrives when we trot out the same line that has been handed to us so often, in glee. This time we find ourselves on the other side of the fence. Instead of being on receiving end of that scorn we are now finally in the position to mete it out to others. That's how the wheel spins. From one generation to the next. From parent to child. From old to young.
It's time to change that. It's time to admit we can learn from the young as much as they can learn from us. That learning is always a two-way process. Age demands reverence. Youth demands admiration. Show that understanding. A small step like this can reduce the GAP so often emblazoned on the tees of the youth across the world. Hand in hand we can can move forward to a new future. Experience and novelty together. Old and young together. Experienced and inexperienced together. Patient and impatient together. Parents and children together. What are you waiting for? Drop that shield you've been hiding behind and move forward. Listen. See. Understand. Hold out your hand. You might just be surprised by what you learn.
"This is the way things are done here." I was told umpteen times.
And gradually I began to see That it was not as simple as experience Vs Inexperience. It went much deeper. It was youth Vs old age. It was tradition Vs change. A whole lot of issues tied together.
True change is not always for better. True we should not be so quick to discard customs and traditions without really knowing what we may lose in the process. The new is often superficial, brash and quite soulless. But the young also bring fresh insights; children have new ways of perceiving things; the inexperienced may produce wonders because they are unshackled to the past. Very often children can be the best teachers. They are not flawless I know because they have yet to take the knocks that life delivers, but they are novel vibrant and enthusiastic. Very often experience makes us so aware of pitfalls that we hesitate to take a step forward in any direction masking our fear and inadequacies behind a mask of self sufficiency venting scorn on these"inexperienced youth". Frankly I think we trot out the "I have experience" line more often than not because we feel threatened. We suffer through inexperience waiting our turn till the day finally arrives when we trot out the same line that has been handed to us so often, in glee. This time we find ourselves on the other side of the fence. Instead of being on receiving end of that scorn we are now finally in the position to mete it out to others. That's how the wheel spins. From one generation to the next. From parent to child. From old to young.
It's time to change that. It's time to admit we can learn from the young as much as they can learn from us. That learning is always a two-way process. Age demands reverence. Youth demands admiration. Show that understanding. A small step like this can reduce the GAP so often emblazoned on the tees of the youth across the world. Hand in hand we can can move forward to a new future. Experience and novelty together. Old and young together. Experienced and inexperienced together. Patient and impatient together. Parents and children together. What are you waiting for? Drop that shield you've been hiding behind and move forward. Listen. See. Understand. Hold out your hand. You might just be surprised by what you learn.
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