Bethlen Almanac 2000 (Ligonier)
Az amerikai egyháztestekben - In other denominations
too much time, as in that unforgettable moment in the movie Wall Street when business tycoon Gordon Gekko responds to a colleague’s suggestion that they have lunch by saying irately:- Lunch - Lunch! Lunch is for wimps! If this truly is our reality, then fraternal associations like the Federation are profoundly quaint and countercultural. But should this be reason for despair about the Federation’s future? My answer is an emphatic “NO”. Let me offer two reasons why I am confident about the Federation’s ambitious dreams and their survival into the 21st century. The first reason is a direct response to the Gordon Gekkos of the world. I recently heard a delightful report about a new - Slow Food - movement that is gathering speed, so to speak, in Italy. In response to fast food culture, some Italian cities are declaring themselves - slow cities. Instead of trying to mimic the fast food industry, they are affirming the value and pleasures of good food, fellowship, and distinctive regional flavors. And they appear to be succeeding admirably. But you don’t have to go to Europe to see this phenomenon. Even as agribusiness has grown, the organic farm movement has also developed and flourished. As pop music has become a huge industry, with record label gobbling up record label, so a new chamber music movement has sprung up and thrived, with tens of thousands of members nationwide. Just as thousands of people desire graciousness in food and music, so I am convinced that there is a gathering tide of longing in America today for basic institutions, such as medicine and insurance with a human face. There is also, I believe, a longing among Hungarian Americans whether they are 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation for connection to their heritage. I vividly witnessed this several weeks ago when a young woman walked into my office asking for advice on scholarship opportunities for study in Hungary. She had come to the United States as a small child, and her family is not active in Hungarian associations. But as we spoke - first in English, then in Hungarian - she became more and more animated. “I want SO much to be more connected to Hungary”, she exclaimed, with tears in her eyes, as she hugged me goodbye. I’ve seen that longing for fellowship and connection to their roots in so many young people. They represent a challenge and an opportunity to serve the Federation’s historic mission of connecting American-Hungarians. Figuring out how to reach the people who are longing for connection to Hungarian life, those who are seeking insurance with a human face, will be a daunting task, requiring innovative marketing and the creative 169
