When I was in high school, I developed a unique scale for measuring my level of happiness. I called it the “4 Gs.” The Gs were grades, golf (I was on the school golf team), girls, and God (the Big G). I realized that if my life was running smoothly in each of these areas, I was happy, and less happy if one or more were faltering or unstable.
I’ve noticed that most of the young people I know these days have little if any faith. For them the Big G is running on empty. And from what I suspect, they are not as happy as I was when I was their age.
Half of my more elderly friends have little if any faith either. In my mid-twenties I lost my faith, so I know what it feels like to have none.
According to the Gallup Poll, the happiest Americans are what the Poll called “the saints among us.” These are spiritual, prayerful folk of deep faith who are confident of a happy destiny after death. They are more generous with their money, healthier, live longer, and are kinder than their less saintly peers.
Back to my young friends. Most don’t know what is expected of them in life. They have no sense that a Creator has bigger hopes for them than a good job, money, pleasure, and a network of friends. Becoming a compassionate, sensitive, thoughtful, generous, productive citizen is not on their radar scope. Virtues like these are promoted and often modeled in our city’s churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and gurdwaras.
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