Generational Archetypes: the Nomad

There are personal reasons, as well as current-event distractions, which have delayed my writing of this post. But here it is, finally.

Generational theory, as it complements Biblical prophecy, led me to believe that the "4th turning" or crisis (winter) phase of the generational cycle was upon us in 2020, not in 2008 (as Strauss and Howe proposed). First the Wuhan coronavirus, and now the communist/terrorist revolution taking shape on our streets, has convinced me that this is so. It is tempting to simply jump ahead in this series and get to that...but I'm going to try laying out the whole picture methodically as planned.

With the other archetypes profiled here and at the old Wordpress site, I have rejected Strauss and Howe's labels, and replaced them with my own (civic/hero=Barn Raiser; adaptive/artist=Custodian; idealist/prophet=Prodigal). For this archetype, however, I will retain their label. Strauss and Howe initially designated this archetype as "reactive," but later called it "the nomad." In my next post, I might explain why I'm using their term.

In the generational "family" of four types, the Nomad is the middle child, or stepchild. They are born during an "awakening" period to Custodian or Prodigal parents. They are the least valued and least protected children of the cycle. They come of age during an "unraveling" period. Their reputation from childhood to adulthood is as the bad seed, and a lot of them live up to that reputation. They tend to be pragmatist, if not survivalist, and are the most fiercely individualistic of all generations. They grow old impoverished, alone, and as neglected as they were in childhood.

Nomad generations are born during a spiritual awakening, a time of social ideals and spiritual agendas when youth-fired attacks break out against the established institutional order. Nomads grow up as underprotected children during this awakening, come of age as alienated young adults in a post-awakening world, mellow into pragmatic midlife leaders during a historical crisis, and age into tough post-crisis elders. By virtue of this location in history, such generations tend to be remembered for their rising-adult years of hell-raising and for their midlife years of hands-on, get-it-done leadership. Their principle endowments are often in the domain of liberty, survival, and honor. Their best-known historical leaders include Nathaniel Bacon, William Stoughton, George Washington, John Adams, Ulysses Grant, Grover Cleveland, Harry Truman, and Dwight Eisenhower. These have been cunning, hard-to-fool realists—taciturn warriors who prefer to meet problems and adversaries one-on-one. - Lifecourse Associates

When I think of Biblical figures who exemplify this archetype, I usually settle on King Saul. We don't know much about his upbringing, but Saul seems plagued by insecurities and self-doubt, despite being a head taller than all the other men in Israel. He also tried to avoid the limelight--at least at first. Upon Saul's first act of disobedience, God rejected him. (Contrast that with the patriarchs, Aaron, David, Jonah, and many others.) After that ultimate rejection, Saul's mind grew increasingly depraved--yet he didn't succumb to the common sin that all the other evil kings of Israel and Judah indulged in: idolatry. And though he didn't seek self-glorification either, his pride was so wounded by the praise heaped on David that he turned into a homicidal maniac. He finally suffered a humiliating, ignominious death.

I think of most of Israel's tribal ancestors as Prodigals except Benjamin (Barn-Raiser), and Joseph (Nomad). The affection of his father for Joseph doesn't fit, but how he was kicked around for much of his life does. His older brothers despised him; conspired against him; and literally sold him into slavery. Joseph worked hard in the house of Potiphar, but was thrown in prison for demonstrating integrity. While in prison he helped others, but was promptly forgotten when a prisoner he had helped gained his freedom, who could have put in a good word for Joseph. Joseph's tireless hard work finally paid off, and he was in a position to exact revenge against the Prodigals who stole the best years of his life from him, but he let them off the hook.

The doughboys drafted to fight in WWI, subjected to horrific carnage and poison gas, who came home to make the 1920s roar, were part of "the Lost Generation." Those Nomads (unappreciated as children, then fed to the meat grinder of a pointless European war) scratched and clawed for prosperity during the Stock Market boom while throwing caution to the wind in their personal lives. They bore the brunt of the Great Depression; and also took the blame for it. In fact, the Lost took the blame for pretty much every bad development in society during their adult lives. Whereas the GI Generation were venerated and lavishly cared for (at public expense) right to the grave, the Lost got the short end of the stick at every phase of life.

Strauss and Howe made an interesting point about the 2nd World War, which highlights the contrast in how the Lost and GIs were valued. To resolve the second phase of the "secular crisis" (winter) of that cycle, America shipped all their optimistic, team-oriented, cherished GIs overseas to fight the Axis. But leading them into battle at the strategic level would be the cold, hard, pragmatic Lost generals and admirals. The most famous of those Lost commanders was George S. "Blood and Guts" Patton. The opening scene of Patton's eponymous film tribute is a compilation of many Patton quotes as he addresses his army of (unseen) GI troops. Stab the enemy with your bayonet, the brutal general tells his young, untested soldiers, then rip his guts out and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. Patton was regarded by the establishment like a dangerous beast, only to be released from his cage when the crisis was so acute as to require exceptional savagery. And despite his cowboy approach to warfare (which certainly ruffled feathers in the military establishment), what got him in the most trouble on the Home Front was when the old brute slapped a precious young GI in the face for alleged cowardice.

Fast forward to the 1960s and the first waves of the next Nomad Generation.

Silent and Boomer adults used the brand new birth control pill to avoid having children. A decade later, they legalized infanticide inside the womb, in case they were too lazy or careless to use that contraceptive, and conceived anyway. Children, cherished and appreciated before, during, and after the secular crisis, were now effectively disposable. The 13th Generation was little more than a burden and nuisance during the hedonistic orgy of the awakening. The changing attitude toward children was exemplified by the stream of popular "evil child" movies during the period, like Village of the Damned; Rosemary's Baby; the Omen; the Exorcist; It's Alive; etc. (plus Evil Child themes in TV shows like the Twilight Zone, Star Trek, etc.).Children with evil supernatural powers arrived to screw up the Hippie Utopia simply by being born.

As the survivors of the Pill and abortion epidemics grew into teens, adults assigned them a reputation as mindless, amoral savages, or "party animals" at best. In the teen exploitation movies (produced and directed by Boomers) of X's youth, the teenage protagonists were usually portrayed as sex-crazed slackers who practiced apathy as if it were a virtue. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many youngsters tried to emulate this model the Boomers built for them.

This demographic was originally called the 13th Generation (interesting for its sinister and "bad luck" connotations) or the Busters (for the "baby bust" that ended the postwar Baby Boom), but later dubbed "Generation X." The implication was that these people had no "identity," no "consciousness," and no purpose. They weren't "cool" or "groovy" like the socially conscious Boomers; but apathetic and nigh-anonymous. They were so devoid of worth and nondescript that they didn't even deserve a name--just an "X."

Even the oldest of the 13th/Xers were never conscious of a world not wracked by the uncertainty and self-doubt (often self-hatred) that permeated America after the Kennedy assassination.

Society was focused on adults when the Xers were children. Every institution catered to adults and strove to satisfy their immediate gratification. Xers who survived abortion were an inconvenient obstacle to their parents' self-discovery via sex, drugs, Eastern mysticism, careerism, and every other fad in their non-stop hedonist life cruise. Born during (and sometimes because of) "the Sexual Revolution," it was inevitable that few of the 13th would be nurtured in the stable nuclear families that previous generations enjoyed. Motherhood was viewed as a form of stifling oppression, so if Xers' parents actually remained together, the "woman of the house" liberated herself by pursuing her own career. Divorce went from rare to commonplace during the 13th's childhood. Either way, most of them came home from school and fended for themselves until a parent or step-parent arrived that afternoon or evening. Nights and weekends were often spent alone for children of divorce, whose swinging mothers went out to date and party. The 13th was largely the "latch-key" generation. They became extremely independent, if not alienated. Families had shrunk by this time, but some Xers had siblings who either relieved or compounded the alienation.

As the 13th entered adulthood, the robust industrial postwar economy enjoyed by the Boomers was nearly strangled, and the quality of life for young adults plummeted. Even during the economic recovery of the 1980s, the bulk of the largesse benefited the older generations while X faced dwindling opportunities and bleak prospects as hourly-wage flunkies in the new "service-oriented" economy. Meanwhile, college tuition skyrocketed. X also inherited a new sexually transmitted disease developed by the Boomers during their "free love" adventure, which attacked the body's immune system.



In the ugly, bleak new reality in America, many of the Xers harnessed their individualism and survivalism to become entrepreneurs, often in fields built around emerging technology. Others, who didn't have the technical foundation or social acumen to succeed in business, transitioned to lives of crime and drug addiction.

X was a highly competitive (and violent) generation from childhood to young adulthood. I never appreciated how uniquely so this was, until observing the Millennials interact socially, play sports, etc. The contrast is stark and stunning.



Alienated as children, X became cynical as adults. This is reflected in most of the pop culture crafted by the 13th. Movies made by X are raunchy, intentionally offensive, sardonic or nihilist. Music is dark, cold, hard, or mocking. Dancing was a communal exercise for the GIs and Silent; sexualized for the Boomers; but anti-social for Generation X. When the 13th went out to party (or "rave"), it wasn't unusual to see many of them, like Billy Idol, dancing with themselves. It also became common at concerts or raves for a "mosh pit" to form. In a mosh pit, young men turned dancing into a bloody full-contact sport. X ushered in the age of electronic music, wherein a band of other individuals with various instruments isn't even necessary--one person with a keyboard or computer can do everything.

As the 13th became adults, society's focus turned back to children. (No matter what stage of life they reached, it was never Xers' turn.) Society became protective of the young once again. The Evil Child movies lost popularity and were replaced by Good Child films. The market exploded with car seats, strollers, and papooses. 24-hour cable channels like Cartoon Network, Nickelodian, and Disney catered to children. Politicians poured tax dollars into public schools and arranged free lunches for the Millennials. Now students get free breakfast, too, all at taxpayer (mostly Xers) expense. Anti-bullying campaigns proliferate society, so Millenials and Homelanders won't have to go through the same crucible X did. Divorce is still commonplace, but parents now make an effort to nurture and validate their children. A lot of those parents, by-the-way, are 13th.

Violent and apathetic as kids, the 13th proved to be the hardest-working generation of all, despite their "slacker" reputation. They had/have to work much harder, for longer hours, to earn the same buying power as previous generations. And they've done so. If born female and/or of color, they are entitled to a helping hand from the system, and immunity from criticism by the macroculture. Otherwise, 13ers are out of luck. They have to look out for Number One, because nobody else will stick up for them. Nobody ever has. Life has been dog-eat-dog and every-man-for-himself. Survival is it's own reward. Acclaim and congratulations are always reserved for someone else (again: it's never X's turn. X doesn't get a turn). Who needs acclaim, anyway? Like the 13th cares, if others approve of who they are or what they've done.

X typically doesn't seek attention or recognition. Many Xers gave up looking for sympathy long ago, and wouldn't know what to do with it if they finally did get some. It would likely make them uncomfortable. Some of them don't feel sympathy for others easily, and come off as cold or heartless as a result. If you want to be dismissed and discredited, try lecturing the average white heterosexual male from Generation X about how "privileged" he is.

The cynicism, independence, and extreme individualism of X cause them to scoff at Christianity. It's very difficult for them to accept the notion of a perfect, loving, longsuffering Heavenly Father--often because of what their earthly fathers modeled to them. A nihilistic cynic hears about a selfless Jesus who willingly gave up His life to pay for our sins, and can't help assuming there's some sort of ulterior motive involved. It's too good to be true. It must be a scam designed to cheat people out of their money, or make their life suck even worse, somehow. Christianity is just another organized religion, after all. Their Boomer elders dabbled in various religions enough for Xers to know it's all just a silly waste of time, anyway. Besides, there's no such thing as "sin." The Boomers taught them: "If it feels good, do it;" and that philosophy took root. Xers typically bristle at any sort of judgement. To them, Christianity is just codified judgementalism. Why would they opt in? Making money and feeling good are what's most important in life--not trying to please some invisible Sky Pilot who watches in detachment an unfair world that utterly sucks. Life has been rigged against X from the very beginning. Where was this loving, all-powerful God when they were getting kicked around by parents, society, and the system?

There's a lot more to be said about the Nomads in general and Generation X in particular. I plan to say some of it in my next post; but after that, it's time to move on to the seasons/turnings.

UPDATE: Upon further reading, Strauss and Howe identified 2008 as an important shift in societal mood and the beginning of the Crisis, but predicted the climax of the Crisis would hit in...wait for it...2020.

Generational Archetypes: the Prodigal

The two previous archetypes were profiled on the old blog. I'm finally continuing the series.

One of Jesus' famous parables was of the Prodigal Son. In it, a wealthy father has two sons. The one son, despite his cushy life, decides he knows better than his generous father what life is all about and how to live it. He demands his inheritance, abandons his loving father and the life and home that was provided to him, journeys to a far country and parties hard until his entire inheritance is squandered and he is reduced to eating pig food.

(Just in case you haven't heard this parable: the son then returns home and is welcomed with open arms by his father, the way sinners who repent are welcomed by God into salvation and the Kingdom. The older brother has done what he was expected to do the entire time the Prodigal was off on a self-indulgent spree, and rankles at how the irresponsible narcissist is the one who gets rewarded and celebrated. The brother is much like the Custodian archetype)

I think the generation who followed Joshua into the Holy Land was like the Barn-Raisers, and the first judges were like the Custodians. The children who grew up in the fulfillment of the Promise, then turned their back on God to worship idols was Prodigal. Before the Holy Land campaign it's very difficult to correlate Biblical figures to the American generational archetypes. For one: they weren't Americans. For two: their life spans were much longer than what Strauss and Howe's generational theory is built around. However, I look at most of the tribal patriarchs as mostly Prodigals (one exception being Joseph, who strikes me as a Nomad type). Abraham, who did everything he could to set up Isaac for success (including finding him a wife), strikes me as a Barn-Raiser. Isaac, who was born within a year of a significant crisis (the judgment on the cities of the plain) and went through a personal crisis of his own (almost sacrificed), nevertheless entered adulthood with a life of peace and wealth, but raised his own children without the same level of wisdom or provision...and therefore seems like a Custodian. Jacob got the short end of the stick, but was "streetwise" and clawed his way into the inheritance and the blessing via crafty deceit. Even so, he was left on his own to find a home and a wife, and floundered with a lack of paternal guidance. He resembles a Nomad, or perhaps a Prodigal.

Strauss and Howe named this American generational archetype the "Idealist" or "Prophet." The most recent such generation certainly see themselves that way, but I prefer to call this archetype the "Prodigal" for a reason that should be obvious soon.

The Prodigal generation from the 1800s is labeled the "Missionaries." As I've warned previously, generalizations are necessary when referencing generations and their peer personalities. Neither Strauss, Howe, nor I believe every member of a generation conforms exactly to the profile. There are many differences and varieties within generations; the members don't agree on everything, and certainly are not carbon copies of each other. Likewise, names for generations aren't to be applied literally. The "Republican" Generation (born 1742-1766) played out most of their lives before the political party of the same name ever came into being. They are labeled "Republican" because they built the republic in North America after prevailing through their existential crisis. Certainly there were many missionaries among the Missionary Generation, but not all of their peers shared the same faith or ideology. Probably the best known Missionary in history was FDR, for instance.

Prodigals grow up after the resolution of an existential crisis, in times of stability and prosperity. They come of age during a "spiritual awakening" in which they question the institutions their Barn-Raiser fathers built (or their Custodian fathers maintained). In adulthood, they take over and transform those institutions, and in elderhood, they appoint themselves as a sort of "moral police" who are compelled to tell everyone else how to think, believe, speak, and behave.

The latest Prodigal generation is, of course, the Baby Boomers (so-named because of the explosion in childbirths experienced during and after WWII). They inherited the most peaceful, prosperous society in recorded history. Their indulgent parents pampered them beyond any known precedence. The Bible warns parents what happens when a father spares the rod--and that happened generation-wide. These entitled children grew up with a contempt for their inheritance, for their fathers' values, institutions, and the fathers themselves. (The "generation gap" is most prominent between GI fathers and their Boomer children.) Through their cultural influence, their political tenure, and/or their vote, they have squandered all that peace and prosperity--and not just for themselves. It was the next generation these Prodigals reduced to eating pig slop, while they pursued immediate gratification for themselves and lectured their juniors about "social justice."

X and the Millennials are not nearly as enamored with the Boomers as the Boomers are with themselves. In fact, our elders are finally facing somewhat of a backlash. Ignorant people on social media and blog comment threads routinely accuse each other of being Boomers (having no idea how old the other person actually is) for making comments they disagree with. "Boomer" is fast becoming a generic insult. On the one hand, it's as silly as judging an individual based on assumptions about their race or sex. OTOH, it's difficult to feel any sympathy for the Boom, collectively.

Thanks to the Boomers (and the spineless Silent Generation "leaders" who wound up emulating them), the most powerful, prosperous country on Earth, with liberty and justice for all, has been reduced to a hopelessly corrupt debtor nation teetering on the precipice of economic collapse, tyranny, and civil war. After bankrupting the country through crooked and frivolous spending, exporting all our manufacturing base (and jobs) overseas to our enemies, they now have crushed the service-oriented economy that remained through this Orwellian quarantine, keeping "essential" businesses like abortion clinics and liquor stores open, but strong-arming their arbitrary list of "non-essential" businesses (and churches, of course). Meanwhile, secure with their guaranteed incomes, they demonize people who have the audacity to protest because they need to feed their families.

But family wasn't an important consideration for Boomers, at least during their non-stop party prime years. They grew up with strong, functional families, so they didn't appreciate them. It was the Boomers who gave us "free love" and the Sexual Revolution. They took birth control to avoid having children, and aborted them when that didn't work. Those who did bother getting married and having children divorced in record numbers, pulling their wishy-washy Silent elders down with them, leaving the next generation (of unwanted children) to fend for themselves. They didn't just introduce widespread fornication and adultery, but a whole panoply of sexual immorality God warned us about. But it wasn't enough to inject it into our society--they had to glorify it in pop culture, too. It's hard to find even one movie or TV show without sodomy-acceptance messaging, and now, if you're paying attention, you can see them pushing pedophilia as the next perversion to be normalized.

The idyllic childhood of the typical Boomer was tainted by the JFK assassination. Simply by examining bygone pop culture (music, movies, art, etc.) you can easily detect whether something was produced before or after that national-attitude-changing event. The atmosphere in America was markedly different in 1964 and after, than in 1963 and before. That event set off a cultural chain reaction. The Boomers soon turned to lifestyles of drug abuse, paganism, sexual debauchery, and radical ideology. They hated their fathers, and that hate spilled over to what their fathers symbolized to them: the nuclear family; children; monogamy; traditional gender roles (masculinity in men, femininity in women); art that was beautiful and made sense; civic responsibilities; patriotism; Christianity; the draft; the military-industrial complex.

Much of this is ironic, because their GI/Greatest Generation parents were leftists, too. An overwhelming majority of the GIs were New Dealers, and reliably voted Democrat in most elections throughout their lives. But that wasn't left-wing enough for most of their kids, though. We can argue about whether the GIs were truly Christian or patriotic (they were neither, if you look beyond the superficial), but that's how the Boomers perceived them. So the Boomers rebelled against what they thought their fathers represented.

Of course, there were some Boomers who became "Jesus Freaks" instead of New Agers and dope fiends trying to "achieve a higher consciousness" via "mind expanding" substance. Also, there is a small minority of Boomers (in the later/younger cohorts) who fought in Vietnam rather than dodging the draft. Some Boomers today lean to the right, and many are saved. Again, when I talk of the generation and their peer personality, there are plenty of exceptions.


The Boomers were the first generation to receive, and accept, an official name. It was only afterwards that historians named older generations, retroactively. Certainly some people had referred to the WWI/Roaring '20s youth as "a lost generation;" but that didn't become their official name until later. The Boomers celebrated their own distinct identity, before other age groups began to think of themselves that way. (After control of the country transferred to the Boomers, the term "senior citizens" was coined to identify the aged GI/Greatest.) "Never trust anyone over 30!" Boomers declared...until, of course, they grew older than 30.

The Boom got their war memorial before the GIs or the Silent, which is very significant, considering the hubris of the GIs "who saved us from Hitler!" Everything has always worked out in the favor of the Boomers. When they were kids, the world catered to kids. When they were adults, the world catered to adults. Predictably, it looks like they will be the last generation to collect Social Security benefits. The 13ers/Xers, who have been paying into the government-sanctioned Ponzi scheme all their working lives to support their affluent elders, will be left holding the bag. Boomers had high-paying jobs, cheap college, cheap mortgages, cheap taxes, and lavish government handouts...and have ensured that the following generation, after paying for most of it (and GI/Silent/Boomer criminal government spending) by their unfair bulk of the tax burden, get none of it.

None of this strikes the Boomers as unjust, though. Why would it? Everything should work to the benefit of a self-righteous narcissist, at the expense of the un-cool youngsters who just aren't as "conscious," "aware," or "groovy." And it never stops. The COVID-1984 lockdown highlights Boomer entitlement, too: Wal-Marts around the country set aside a specific time in the morning hours when only Boomers could shop. The almighty Boomers need first dibs on essential food and supplies. If the majority of passengers on the Titanic had been Boomers, you can bet children would not have gotten priority for the lifeboats.

I first learned of Facebook through a Millennial. (I got on it to see what all the hubbub was about, but quit cold-turkey after a couple years.) Now the younger Millennial cohorts inform me that Facebook is wall-to-wall Boomers. Maybe it was that way before (I didn't think in terms of generations, then, and so didn't really pay attention). With all the selfies, pictures of what people ate for lunch, and ignorant self-centered remarks about current events (and their oh-so-important feelings about them), it's the perfect hangout for aging Boomers.

Hollywood is controlled by the Boom, and has been for 40 years. It's a Boomer bully pulpit to promote their cultural Marxism and marginalize anybody/everybody who disagrees with it. But pop culture from a generational perspective deserves at least one post of its own, so I'll table that for now.

If you had to pick a "defining moment" for the GI Generation, you have several options. But if you wanted to have as many of them together in one place as possible, you'd probably choose D-Day (for combatants) or VJ Day in New York City (for military and civilians).

That moment for the Boom (at least the counterculture Boomers) is Woodstock.

If you ask a Boomer to explain how Woodstock defines their g-g-g-generation, they'll probably say something about a "collective conscience" experienced at the event. I would add to that definition some more tangible details.

Hundreds of thousands of Boomers trampled down the fencing and crashed the festival without paying to get in. After the concert started, it was officially announced that all the freeloaders were off the hook. So the epic three-day party was paid for them by the event organizers. The dairy farmer who let them destroy his land for the festival was somebody they said could never be trusted (he was GI generation and well over 30). Free food was provided the entire time. When it ran out, the local middle-class townspeople (the kind they called "fascist pigs" or "capitalist warmongers" with no conscience) donated food right out of their own fascist warmonger kitchens so the attendees wouldn't go hungry. The Red Cross also distributed donuts. The US Army (who they called "baby-killers") and others provided free medical care for those who overdosed and experienced "bad trips" on LSD.

Everything was handed to them on a silver platter, and the very same people the Boomers considered inferior are the ones who bent over backwards protecting Boomers from the consequences of their own stupidity. The hippie festival is basically a microcosm of the Boom's entire privileged life.

The 600 acres where the festival took place was a beautiful area before the armada of spoiled pothead and junkie brats descended on it like a locust storm. The muddy, stinking, garbage pit they left behind resembled a war zone--missing only shell craters. Kind of like what they've done to America.

Toward the end of the three-day orgy of drugs, fornication, and subversive music, the dairy farmer addressed the wasted multitude from the stage. By no stretch of the imagination can anyone make the case that the attendees exercised any modicum of self-control; nevertheless, Max Yasgur congratulated them for not killing each other. He said they "showed the world" what love and peace look like.

At every stage of their lives, the Boom has enjoyed privilege and entitlement. They assume it's deserved--and why wouldn't they? The presumption has been reinforced at every turn--by the parents and grandparents they maligned, and even sometimes by the children who survived Boomer's state-sanctioned abortion epidemic only to be neglected, insulted, and abandoned by their free-wheeling parents.

Just like the Missionaries before them imposed their values on everyone else in elderhood (the Missionaries were the driving force behind Prohibition); the Boomers now try to preach to the rest of us what morality and justice is.

The party never ends for the Prodigals. But it's always at the expense of others.

Picking Up Where I Left Off

On countless Sundays during church service, the Holy Spirit convicted me that I needed to get blogging again. Usually, by Monday morning, the cares of this world would clutter my mind and I would forget about that conviction.

What finally gave me the shove back into motion was when I discovered the work of William Strauss and Neil Howe on generational theory. Even though it's secular research, from people I disagree with on important issues, I recognized truth within the theory. Immediately, I began pondering how generational theory lined up with what I know from the Bible.

I came back, blew the dust off Seven Thunders and started a series of articles exploring generational theory. I started with the generational archetypes that Strauss and Howe identified. My plan was to finish those, then begin exploring the generational seasons ("turnings," eras, epochs, etc.) and how they might fit into Biblical patterns and prophecy. I wrote one post about what I call the Barn-Raiser archetype (Strauss & Howe call it the Civic or Hero) and another post about the Custodian (called the Adaptive or Artist) archetype.

But using WordPress, and making it do what I wanted, was a pain. I want to spend my blogging time expressing ideas, not wracking my brain tweaking themes, layouts, format, etc. Plus, nearly all my old followers were gone after I'd gone dark since 2015. I'm starting over almost from scratch, so I might as well move to Blogger, which is much easier to use.

I started the series on generational theory on the old blog, but am continuing it here. I expect there will be at least another seven posts in the series. But maybe more--I'm constantly learning new things from the Bible, and I've only just started Strauss/Howe's first book on generational theory. I don't know where or how far this "rabbi trail" will take me.

When I look back on some of my old posts, it becomes obvious that I've changed my mind about some subjects. Either I was wrong then, or I'm wrong now. Point being: I am far from infallible and have no doubt I will be wrong about something again. I see this blog as a diary of my journey toward deeper truth. I apologize in advance for any wrong turns along the way.