After the plague the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest: Take a census of the whole Israelite community by families. Another census. The first generation that was counted at Sinai is almost gone. A new generation is emerging. This is the generation that will actually enter the Promised Land. Counting them is a way of honoring them, a way of saying: you matter. You're known. You're part of this story. I think about how institutions and churches struggle to welcome new generations. The founders and the longtime members sometimes see the younger generation as lacking something. But the new generation isn't less than. They're the ones who will actually inhabit the promises that were made. Sometimes the older generation points the way but doesn't cross over. The younger generation does. And they matter equally. They're counted. They're blessed. They're commissioned for their own era.
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