Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Just as love is a verb, so is faith. Nannie Helen Burroughs

I listened to comments about the most dangerous cities in Canada, and I started thinking about when, how, and why they became this way. What could we have done to keep them from becoming this way, and what can we do now?

Drugs have played havoc in our society, and we probably won’t get this genie back into the bottle. I’m wondering if becoming a more secular society and drug abuse are correlated. I can almost hear a collective sigh as I write this. I’ve loved living in a secular society, but I see cracks, and I think we are going too far; indeed, I’ve gone too far.

Too much minding my own business, sweeping my own doorstep, and leaving society to itself has left us with no one picking up the collective pieces. If finding religion is the antidote to some of society’s ills, it at least means fixing things is possible.

Overcoming substance abuse by finding a higher power has long been the power of Alcoholics Anonymous, and I’m thinking collectively, maybe we need to get back to relying on a higher power to power our lives and our families.

What if the power to inoculate our children and grandchildren from substance abuse lies in our choices to give our families religious scaffolding to build on? Life is built one step at a time, and we might not realize the impact of some of our choices. A private faith might buoy us up, but do nothing for our children and grandchildren.

Stand straight, walk proud, have a little faith. Garth Brooks

Secularists will argue that secular societies can exhibit high social stability, and that the decline of religion does not mean society must break down, but if we look at where we are, it is hard to believe there is not a direct correlation.

The choices each of us makes will impact our families, and I’ve been thinking about decisions I’ve made that I wish were different. If we don’t all have decisions we wish were different, I’d be surprised. But if taking our kids to church helps them build a better life, we might be missing out on building resilience that will help them build a good life.

One of the mistakes I’ve made is not thinking about where certain choices take us and thinking about what if we all make the same choices. The problem might be the tipping point of too much secularism. Too much religion and the wrong kind of religion turned a lot of people off religion. Finding a good balance is what we need to do, but it seems we rarely stay in balance; we tip into extremes, and extremes have dire consequences on our society.

If we want a different outcome, do we have to make different choices?

My faith didn’t remove the pain, but it got me through the pain. Trusting God didn’t diminish or vanquish the anguish, but it enabled me to endure it. Robert Rogers

The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness. Henry David Thoreau

The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith. Billy Graham

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