I’m the old guy. Threescore and ten years, that traditional marker for old age, disappeared from my rearview mirror a while ago.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines young adults as those between the ages of 18 and 34. These are the men and women who will soon command our politics, our economy, and our culture. They are my subjects for examination here.

And my hometown is the field from which my notes and observations derive. In this memo you will find no barrage of statistics or links to learned academic studies, only my personal impressions of young adults in the realms of faith, family, work, and education, all of which are connected one with the other.

Let’s begin with the 8:30 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. John’s Catholic Church. Squeeze inside, and you’ll find the pews packed with young families, the wiggling bodies of babies and toddlers, their older siblings, and mom and dad, with some mothers always swaying a baby to sleep in what I think of as “the church mom dance.” In this place and town, large families, by which I mean four children or more, are no aberration but the norm.

Let’s head next to my favorite cafe. Operated under the auspices of a local Protestant church, Dynamic Life, visit this establishment on a busy morning, and you’re liable to encounter moms and their little ones talking with friends, homeschoolers studying with tutors or with friends, absorbed 20-somethings tapping away on their computers and smartphones. The members of the crew who staff this shop include a woman who just married at age 23, two employees who are engaged in Bible studies, one at an Alabama college, another online, and a loving grandmother who looks to be in her early forties.

Parents in this community take education seriously. Dynamic Life runs its own school, as do a couple of other Protestant churches, and there are at least half-a-dozen private Catholic academies, all independent of the diocese and all of which feature some mode of classical education.

Meanwhile, our county has 635 homeschoolers, a number which continues to grow. The county is also home to the Seton Home Study School, which provides curriculum and counselors to homeschool families across the United States and abroad. One enterprising homeschooling mom, Lara Purciel, has just recently opened the St. Columba’s Place Library, which offers traditional quality books for families.

Ten minutes from the coffee shop is the Christendom College library, where I go sometimes to work. Surrounding me there are the youngest of the young adults, the 17-22 year-old crowd, students who take their academics and their faith seriously, if we are to judge by the numbers in both the library and in the chapel for daily Mass.

Just as diligent are those young adults of my acquaintance who are working hard to earn a living: nurses, teachers, a cop, several workers in the trades, three entrepreneurs, and more. One good friend under 30 currently works from the home she owns while striving to become a published writer, while another is part-owner of a construction company. The work ethic is alive and well in this community, bringing to mind those scenes from Richard Scarry’s delightful book for children, “Busy, Busy Town.”

By now, some readers may be thinking, “This guy’s living in a bubble.” Perhaps. But across America are hundreds, thousands, of other bubbles, ranging from the many homeschooling families I’ve interviewed over the last five years to the graduates of trade schools I’ve reported on to students enrolled in programs at schools like Michigan’s Hillsdale College and the University of Dallas.

And some of these bubbles are growing larger. Here’s one case in point: right now, a religious revival is sweeping across many of our college campuses, not in places like Christendom College or Liberty University, but in secular state schools like the University of Arkansas and the University of Florida. The legacy media have mostly missed covering this significant cultural trend, but you can find an excellent report at Christian Broadcasting Network.

Faith is the foundation of family, and family is the foundation of work and education. The formula’s that simple, and we’re seeing it in action today.

Here’s another bit of evidence gleaned from my broader exploration: Karoline Leavitt, age 27 and press secretary for the White House. This wife and mother is a one-woman whirlwind and a shining example of the goodness and courage found in her generation.

“We went to work every single day, and you work hard, and nothing in this life is given, everything needs to be earned,” Leavitt shared in one interview. “I was taught that very young, and those values were really instilled in me and ingrained in me through my Catholic education that I am so grateful for.”

There’s that formula again: Faith, family, work, education.

My prognosis? The future of America is in good hands. These young adults, the kids I sometimes call them, will be fine, and so will our country.

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The republication of this article is made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal. 

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