Dave Csinos
Associate Professor, Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Founder, Faith Forward

Originally published in June 2022.

In each edition of IG Mix, we ask a guest writer two questions:

What keeps you up at night?

It’s been a rough few years. With the the pandemic continuing to rear its head and political turmoil on every channel, there’s a lot to be worried about. And yet there is one issue that keeps me tossing and turning: climate change. My family just celebrated my daughter’s first birthday. Amidst our joy and laughter, I felt an ongoing uneasiness deep in my soul about the world that she will inherit. If the current life expectancy of 82 (in Canada) stays strong, she’s likely to see the turn of the next century. I’m afraid to imagine the challenges that face her generation and those of her children and grandchildren as our planet groans in pain at the destruction it continues to face at the hands of my generation and those that have come before me.

What gets you up in the morning?

Hope. It’s corny, I know. But the best mornings are those when I wake to the sounds of my daughter playing and laughing in her bed following a good night’s sleep. After a restless night simmering in my own cynicism of the world to come, the voice of God calls to me through the giggles I hear from the next room, reminding me of that God is never finished and that hope is greater than fear. Yes, younger generations will have to bear the environmental burdens that we are placing on their shoulders. But my daughter’s laughter is a hope-filled sign that our world is continuously being infused with the sort of unbridled creativity, unfettered ingenuity, and unwavering joy that can only arrive in the world through the lives of the young.

Dave Csinos is associate professor of practical theology at Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and founder of Faith Forward, an organization for innovation in ministry with children, youth, and families. He has written and edited several books, including Little Theologians and A Gospel for All Ages: Teaching and Preaching with the Whole Church.