Institution #1: Ramon Noodles or a can of worms

Is the Institution good, and is it necessary?

To my great sorrow, we have taught ourselves to look for the agenda behind every honest question. Do simple honest questions even exist? It could be easily pointed out that there are many questions being held in the closet, and one may wonder why I have chosen to open a can of worms when I could open a can of Ramon Noodles instead. If questioning the institution is really similar to opening a can of worms, why do it?

Nobody can deny that the institution is a personal matter for every one of us; the Church can become institutionalized…..education can become institutionalized….business can become institutionalized….even friendships/relationships can become institutionalized. These are things that each one of us have invested our lives in and care about deeply, so we are playing with the personal elements of our own lives. When I question the institution, I question myself. If you don’t want to hurt yourself, don’t ask yourself such questions and stick to opening Ramon NoodlesJ!

It is no secret that my generation, the postmodern generation, has made a habit of questioning the institution in its entirety (church, education, business, relationships, etc…). It is also no secret that the postmodern generation has had to work overtime to support this addiction.

Though Postmodernity is not new to general society, it is a new animal in our Mennonite communities. Our communities may very well be dealing with a postmodern youth group for the first time. I have noticed a fairly consistent lag time between general society and Mennonite communities. Just watch the fashions; they catch hold at least in some watered down shape or form several years after they have made their debut in the cutting fringes of fashionable society.

First of all, the Postmodern generation inherently questions the institution, and secondly, I am of the postmodern generation. Therefore, questioning the institution is not merely just that. I hang in the balance. Do I join my generation, or…..do I launch out as an island and forsake my generation. My community is basically modern today, but the same community will be postmodern tomorrow. The question for me is, “Will it be Ramon Noodles or the can of worms?”