The first thing to admit is the title for this inspirational piece is not original with me. In fact, it is the title of a new book about which I read a review and now want to read for myself. The book is authored by Melinda Lundquist and Richard Flory, both university professors, but not at the same institution. The review of the book by Rebecca Collins Jordan is very well done. It gives me a good sense of the focus of the book, plus some insights and teasers, if you will, of what we will find if we read the book. I do not know any of these three folks, so there is nothing personal going on here.
The subtitle of the book gives you the focus: Religion and Spirituality in the Lives of Emerging Adults. Describing emerging results is a conscious choice instead of millennials. It reflects a particular stage of life---usually young adults in their college years up to maybe 30 years old or so. This is the group I see nearly every day in the classroom. I would like to share a few of Jordan’s offerings in her review of the book.
We are told up front the authors reject the term, millennial. During this emerging adult phase, we read that these are “lives are categorized by a phase of curiosity, uncertainty, increasing independence, a marginal sense of adulthood and possibility.” This description is very helpful for someone like me. Of course, it does not mean that every person we meet between 18-30 is going to fit exactly this description. But it is a good generalization.
I am a little less confident this age group is curious, but leave it at that. They do tend to be uncertain and these current times have made that even more so. Clearly, most of them are discovering a new independence. Many move out of their homes for the first time. Even if they don’t head off to college, they feel more free to do what they want to do. I know statistically more folks are still living at home than has been the case for decades, but I do think they still feel independent in many ways.
I am intrigued by the description that they feel a marginal sense of adulthood and possibility. Part of me thinks this is precisely the case. And yet, I get the sense they sometimes pull back from what being an adult in this world actually demands of us. Having mommy and daddy and home still matters to most and that is a pretty good deal! As Jordan notes in the review, so many at this stage have delayed marriage, buying a house and the things adults typically do. In this sense an emerging adult can sound a bit like delaying adulthood. But I don’t blame them! If I were their age, I would do exactly the same thing.
Jordan then tells us the authors talk about “cultural spirituality” of this group. Not surprisingly, this is going to be a section I look forward to reading more fully. Jordan gives us a hint of what we are going to find when she shares the authors’ sense that cultural spirituality of this age group is “defined by individualism, a mostly-universal heaven, a moral sense that is found mostly through instinct and a "live and let live" mentality.” Once again, I am very intrigued, but not surprised by any of this.
For sure, this age group has a sense of individualism. I am convinced things like cell phones and all the technology has hastened this development. When I watch students come into the classroom, they all are checking their phones. It is rare they engage each other. The full engagement is on the device held in their hand. They feel like they are being very social, but there is almost no interaction. Of course, they frequently are texting, but I would argue, this is not like talking to the person sitting next to them.
Whether this group does believe in a mostly-universal heaven is a part I want to see how the authors document and develop. Simply said, this means most of them don’t really believe in hell. In my own theology I figure the belief in hell (or not) depends on how we conceive of God and how God works in the world. This is linked to their emerging adults view of morality as more instinctual and this cashes out in a live-and-let-live attitude. Again, I do think that is true to my experience of this age group. And all of this fits with their individualism.
The last thing I want to cite is how they think about God. We are told that three out of four “believe in God as a being that is personal but distant from the respondents' everyday lives.” I do believe this is accurate. And it clearly is an indicator of why the authors give the book the title, Back-Pocket God. In effect, they believe in God, but God is not really involved in their lives. They don’t expect much from God and, apparently, God does not offer much to them.
All of this piques my interest. I am eager to read more. I am grateful to Jordan for a good review. There is so much more in her review that I may come back to for one more look. It gives me pause to smile. With this image of God in their back pockets, I now realize occasionally I have helped a student take God out of their pocket and begin a new kind of life!
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
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