How I feel today is best summed upon in a verse from the Old Testament from the Book of Jeremiah.

"Stand at the crossroads and look;

 ask for the ancient paths,

 ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

 and you will find rest for your souls."  (6:16, NIV)

When you have children in the kind of world we have today, then sometimes there is a hankering after the wisdom of the past. Sure, these times had their own problems - slavery, poverty, injustice, discrimination and so forth, but there were also deep truths and ways of being that created stronger communities.

I see less and less of that today. I think that kids in the West are to be pitied - the competition for their attention has grown so much that there is a constant background noise where there is no peace.