dead people, great thoughts

"Most secret and most truly present; most beautiful and most strong; stable, yet not supported; unchangeable, yet changing all things; never new, never old; making all things new, yet bringing old age upon the proud, and they know it not; always working, ever at rest; gathering, yet needing nothing; sustaining, pervading, and protecting; creating, nourishing, and developing; seeking, and yet possessing all things. Thou dost love, but without passion; art jealous, yet free from care; dost repent without remorse; art angry, yet remainest serene...Thou owest men nothing, yet payest out to them as if in debt to thy creature, and when thou dost cancel debts thou losest noghting thereby. Yet, O my God, my life, my Holy Joy, what is this that i have said? What can man say when he speaks of thee? But woe to them that keep silence..." Augustine, Confessions
Men of old speak more clearly than present man. Why is that? Why are we not able to articulate great thoughts about God and the life the extends from him. Surely it is not that everything about God has been said or explained. Instead, we take no time to think deeply about who God is or how He operates or what the Bible says about Him. Instead, we are content to live in a bumper sticker society with cute quips and catchy phrases. Our minds have been conditioned to accept no more than the fast paced, quick camera shots that tv has fed us. Our actions are usually only geared to bring us instant satisfaction, with no thought as to how it might affect the future. We thing we live in a time where the philosophy of the day is that truth is relative. However, I think that has turned into a veil so that we can do whatever we want to with no regard to ultimate truth or relative truth. We are only interested in now and being pleasured. The sad truth is that many have turned their back on the only one who can bring the ultimate satisfaction. One commentator on Schaeffer's book The God Who is There seems to have made a good point when he said that (paraphrasing here) "the philosophers and artists of the modern/postmodern era at least were brought to some point of despair. Today people do not even do that." They are content to live in a way of life (themselves being there beginning) that offers no hope. If this is the case, where will the next generation be?