The youth of today..

I am supposed to be packing but everything seems so much more exciting and urgent when you have packing to do...so I am avoiding packing just now to write something on my blog.... 
     I have been at home the last few days packing (or avoiding packing) and have been listening to the radio whilst packing and I was stuck by the events that took place at the concerts in the phoenix park last weekend. For those of you who don't live in Ireland and don't know what I am talking about there were concerts here in Dublin last weekend in a big public park. There was alot of anti-social behavior on the sat night when the Swedish House Mafia were playing; there was open drug taking, fights, drunkeness, fornication, 7 people were stabbed some of these people are in a critical condition and one guy has died.          There has been lots of discussion about 'the youth of today' how they do not respect authority, they do not respect themselves, they are hedonistic, they do what they want and do not care about the consequences. There have been many discussions about how parents are not setting boundaries at home, they are not instilling respect for those in authority and they are letting their children get their own way all the time which is leading to this anti-social behavior. There has been outrage and disbelief about the behavior of the young people.Some have said the young people are seeing this behavior all around them and so why would they act any differently; they see it from the politicians of this country (lies, cheating taxes, drinking etc), from their parents (drinking, no respect for police, cheating at taxes etc) from their peers and from the television.
      I have been thinking about these things as they have been discussed and I have been stuck at the great need there is to work with the children and young people here in Ireland. They are crying out for meaning and love.They are trying to fill the emptiness inside with drink, drugs and sex. They are LOST. They are searching for meaning in all the wrong places, at the bottom of a glass, with the opposite sex and at the high of a hit. They need boundaries (which God gives us in the Bible) , forgiveness, and meaning which comes from knowing they have been created by God and are here on earth to serve Him and one another. 
There is alot of work to do and it scares me to think of how best to interact and reach these children and young people who NEED to know God loves them and who NEED to know His forgiveness. Pray for those working with young people here in Ireland as it is tough work and Pray God will be at work in the young people of Ireland.