Though midway between gen X and millennials, Tim identifies more with the micro-generation “the Oregon Trail generation.” A salient moment for this classification is the final generation with an analog childhood with an adolescence marked by a seismic shift to a digital world. Being pre-cell-phone, this meant not being able to be reached at any moment. It meant not being worried that anything we do could be posted on the internet. This meant remembering visits to record stores for CDs, but also when Napster put record stores out of business. Oregon Trail was a computer game played on floppy disk.

Tim compares the slowness of the Oregon Trail game with the pressures of covid. In Ephesians this week, chapter 5:15-20, Paul talks alot about walking. Translated either live or walk in verse 15, we are to be active in the world. Paul asks the believers in Ephasus to walk wisely and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The status quo is more comfortable, especially for those of us with privilege. Yet we are called, in the language of Oregon Trail, to ford the river. We are called by God to journey. And any journey of change and transformation is difficult. But to avaid this journey is to choose not to see the things around us needing justice and peace. Paul knows this — he knows hardship and he is writing from prison. Paul calls us to thanksgiving, but not in lieu of lament and a clear-eyed view of what is going on around us. We’re called to see God and God’s character behind what is happening in the world. We walk in confidence of the character of God, who has proven faithful. We need a balance. And we need community to help us find that balance. This is a struggle fueled by hope.

Hear more about this journey in the Holy Spirit below: