A letter: Limits

My child,

I write to you in forums both public and private from time to time. These are what your dad thinks about. I want you to have little pieces of me and of my thoughts that you can keep them with you. I wonder about what kind of world you will be born into. This day, our nation paid a large installment of the penance for our individual and collective sins of gluttony. Since the time I was born into the world, we, individually and corporately, have lived beyond our means. We have lived an unsustainable life, and in order to support it have put garbage on our televisions, garbage in our air, garbage in our water supply, and garbage in our processed foods. We have substituted the quick, easy feelings of momentary satisfaction for real, lasting goodness. I offer an example:

I was in an electronics store with your Opa the day we went to tell Oma and Opa, your maternal grandparents the good news. There they had a side-by-side comparison of Blu-Ray and HDTV entertainment systems. The two showed two halves of the same image, one Blu-Ray and one HDTV of Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone National Park. It was an ad for Blu-Ray, the point being that Blu-Ray's image of Old Faithful geyser was so much clearer. Yet do not forget the opportunity cost - for the clearest view of Old Faithful, you should save the money and go to Wyoming yourself and see it. I am not telling you WHAT to choose, but I hope to tell you HOW to choose. You must determine the limits of your life. You must conclude that the quantity of "things" in your life cannot expand forever.

While we pay our penances for greed and the demand for immediate gratification, my generation is the first in America's history to not believe it will enjoy a higher standard of living than their parents' generation. I fear what this portends for you and your generation. My wish for you is that you grow up wise and make good choices. It's up to me to give you the values to stand on to see your way more clearly. I pray for you, and for our society.

I love you,
Daddy