Where to Next?

I have a joyous vocation that is difficult at the onset, which is convincing students of the relevance of Religion in their lives (or at least society).

As this was my thesis, it continues to be my mission and each year, a little more progress is made. I’m always humbled at the number of students who send me a note afterwards to express how much they enjoyed the class and how they’re still thinking about it.

The aim is to get them seeking and questioning, finding their path and keeping their heart open along the way. I promise no answers.

However, there’s one one issue that continues to plague me. The number of young people (in North America) in the churches are on a steep decline, and have been for quite some time. My classroom may be their only contact with Religion, which is why I treat this as a serious responsibility.

However, where do I send them afterwards?

Where can they go?

Understanding every person eventually finds their own way (hopefully), a young impressionable person can be seriously harmed if they look in the wrong place.

And right now, there are a lot of wrong places.

I’m watching my own tradition denigrate itself into a breeding ground of partisan politics, completely losing sight of what separated itself from society in the first place. Spoiler alert: it was their followers reaching out to the margins of society and helping people that everyone else ignored.