ParentMap, December 2007 

Pray much? Lots of local parents do — whether they go to church or not. Find out why faith matters now, and what it means to families. Plus, your kids spend hours in it every week, but how kid-friendly is your car? We’ve got a guide for every Age & Stage . . . and a holiday gift guide that shines with sweet and stylin’ ideas for giving. Feature: Does God matter? From the Editor: About this issue

About this issue

Dear Reader,

God is the greatest subject of controversy worldwide since the beginning of time. Young adults raised with or without religion revisit the subject with a fresh perspective when they have children. Perhaps they feel they have experienced a miracle? Or maybe they’re beginning to consider how best to teach values to their children. (Does God matter?) It takes something supernatural to battle today’s bombardment of that powerful children’s influencer: the media. Parents are finding community by filling the pews, looking for personal spiritual satisfaction and like-minded friends for their kids and themselves — despite our reputation as the area with the “lowest percentage of church-goers in the nation.”

Another reputation we have here in the Puget Sound region is as providers of “oxygen” on a national scale. Think about how our innovation and leadership influences the world. Coffee, technology, aerospace, green living (Green Bites, hybrid reviews) music, and being home to the only organic cacao bean roasting plant in the country (Sweet spot). But would you believe our greatest influence is yet to come?

Enter . . . Dan Kranzler (Seeds of Compassion) and John Sabol (Roots of Empathy), bringing with them incredible vision, generosity and collaboration with teams of the brightest individuals around to launch a product that will have worldwide impact: a compassion movement.

Roots of Empathy is an innovative, award-winning classroom program (now in 11 local schools) that has shown dramatic effect in reducing levels of aggression among schoolchildren while raising social/emotional competence. Seeds of Compassion will nurture kindness and empathy in the world, starting in Seattle, and featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama (April 13-15, www.SeedsofCompassion.net). This will be an unprecedented gathering, engaging the hearts and minds of the nation, but growing out of the ground under your feet! (You’ll read much more about this in our Jan. 2008 issue.)

You may just consider giving yourself or a dear friend the gift of knowledge with tickets to hear our beloved local Dr. Gottman speak about healthy marriage and raising an emotionally intelligent child. Check out our new Pathways lecture series lineup.

Let’s try and give as we live this holiday season.