A number of news articles I have read recently refer to studies of the declining mental health of people here in the United States and elsewhere as we slowly emerge from the grip of the pandemic.  One report from the Centers for Disease Control says that as recently as February, 2021, over 40% of adult Americans reported symptoms of anxiety or depression.  This same study, like a number of others I consult, mentions also that the hardest hit among us are our young people age 18-29.  A society's spiritual problems concentrate and become most evident among our young.  Now that is something to worry about. 

These reports prompt me to ask, "How are you doing?" How are you doing?  Honest evaluation, like confession (which this sort of evaluation is), is good for the soul.  

I'm asking a serious question and (perhaps) pleading with us, then, to take stock of our answers to two other related questions, because our honest answers have direct...