GENERATIONAL CHANGE IN THE US CONGRESS
On Tuesday, November 3, voters in all fifty states will cast ballots in federal elections. One story from this cycle is the age of the candidates, from both parties. In most open Senate races, both candidates are younger than the senator they would replace. A record 36% of people who filed to run for Congress are millennials or Gen Z, up from 23% in 2024. In what is shaping up to be another “change election,” whether the next Congress is younger and less experienced depends on who wins. Notably, Gen Z candidates were the most likely to run outside the two major parties, with about one in six filing as third-party or unaffiliated.
GENERATIONAL CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP OF ANCIENT ISRAEL
God calls out audibly to the boy Samuel, who is staying in the sanctuary with the priest named Eli. The older priest eventually realizes that God must be the one speaking. He instructs Samuel to offer a listening ear to whatever the Lord shall say. And God shares a message of inescapable judgment: Soon will come disaster upon the house of Eli, Samuel’s mentor. When the two rise for the day, Eli remembers what had happened and wants to know everything; he compels Samuel to share. And at the hard news, Eli seems to accept God’s will. Soon all the tribes begin to learn that there is a new prophet in Israel, for God speaks through Samuel.
Questions
- What are some potential qualifications of a younger leader?
- What are some potential qualifications of an older leader?
- Why do you think that God delivered a harsh message of judgement upon Eli’s house by speaking through Samuel?