Childhood Spiritual Experience Analysis

Summary: The author describes the importance of childhood spiritual experiences as a way of shaping the rest of the child’s life towards a future of continual spiritual development. The author also points to the massive decline in spiritual endeavors by our youth, and hints at the decline nationally and globally of a spiritual population. It can be assumed by the author’s words that the author believes the future of spiritual development as a whole is directly correlated to the amount of opportunities for spiritual experiences our children receive.

Strengths and Weaknesses: While I can agree with the author that spiritual interaction within our youth is an incredibly important aspect, I cannot agree that development as a whole will be stifled. From a personal standpoint, I’ve come to know many post-adolescents who would describe themselves as practicing within a faith yet had no childhood experiences with any sort of spiritual organization or event.
A mentor of mine once told me that if we could not lead a student to Christ by their eighteenth birthday, the probability is that they would never come to know Him within their life time. While this does not necessarily mean post-adolescents are a lost cause with evangelism or spiritual development, it does address the ever increasing problem of the lack of spiritual development within the youth of our nation. This article does an incredible job of not only addressing the problem, but properly painting its