Each generation is, in poet John Berryman's words, "unwell in a new way." The way the present generation is unwell - that is, the forms under which it experiences sin - is through episodes of adolescence. There was a time when ideas and living styles were initiated in the adult world and filtered down to youth. now the movement goes the other way: lifestyles are generated at the youth level and pushed upward. Dress fashions, hair styles, music, and morals that are adopted by youth are evangelically pushed on an adult world, which in turn seems eager to be converted. Youth culture began as a kind of fad and then grew into a movement. Today it is nearly fascist in its influence, forcing its perceptions and styles on everyone whether he likes it or not.
...instead of being over and done with when the twenty-first birthday is reached, it infects the upper generations as well. It is common to see adults in their thirties, forties and fifties who have not only adopted the external trappings of the youth culture but are actually experiencing the emotions, traumas, and difficulties typical of youth.
The Contemplative Pastor, p121-122
See also
Growing Pain
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