New President

I believe that this election is possibly unprecedented in US history.  I have never seen such an extreme difference in candidates, to the point that the followers of one candidate despise the other.  Be that as it may, the reality is that Donald Trump is our new president.  Love him or hate him, he is the man, so we better get used to the idea.
This leads me to the protesting and rioting that is taking place in highly Democratic areas.  I really have to wonder, do these people actually believe that rioting, violence and vandalism is an appropriate response to their dislike for Mr. Trump?  How does spray painting “F*ck Trump“ on someone elses vehicle constitute a reasonable protest?
Trump is our new president, but will not take office until January 20, 2017.  Why don’t we simply wait and see what kind of president he will be?  Instead of responding to what we think he might do/be, why don’t we wait and then respond to what he is actually doing?
We have been using the electoral vote process for over 200 years and everyone has been pretty much happy with the process.  If you don’t like it, then pursue legal (and effective) methods for changing it.  Breaking the front window of a local business is hardly a reasonable response to the success of the presidential candidate that you don’t like.

Setting the Bar

I’ve spoken before about judging others and judging ourselves. The first is very easy, the second is very easy to get wrong.  A different aspect of this came to mind, and that is the idea of where we set our bar.  In other words, the goals/standards that we set in any/every area of life will determine how our life plays out.  The thing that really stimulated this line of thinking is that of raising children.  So often we hear about so-and-so’s kids are “such good kids”.  This is all fine but by what standard are those child being judged?  If we as parents set a standard or a “bar” that we expect our children to attain, we ought to be aware of how it is that we are actually determining that standard.

If we set the standard very low or set it according to worldly standards, it would be pretty easy for a child to be labeled as “good”.  Whereas if we look to those in the past, or those within a markedly Christian culture, we will find that the label “good” will be much more difficult to attain.  I suppose determining our expectations requires some real wisdom.

One very difficult aspect of this is the responsibility of helping our children attain these goals.  As is typical of goal setting, we choose a goal that we would like to attain, but have not yet done so.  In other words, we may be choosing goals for our children that we ourselves have not attained, which introduces a real difficulty in leadership.  Especially when we can only provide a bad example.  Children will follow our actual example far more than our verbal instruction.

The end result of this thought process should be two fold. One, we must deliberately think through and establish a realistic but yet worldview appropriate standard for ourselves and our children. And don’t be afraid to seek out help in this regard.  Two, it will be of no value to us to judge, critique or analyze other people in this regard, for their standard may be way out of alignment with what we regard as “good“.  This even goes as far as seeing others children and lamenting why their kids seem so “good” when our own seem rebellious.  It may be that their standard would not be acceptable to us.

This is not about “the ends justify the means” but instead, “x” is our goal, we should not compromise to successfully attain a lower standard.

The media

I personally don't put much value on our political system.  I think it has strayed far from its original form.  I think too that much of it is controlled by special interest groups.  But, be that as it is,  they are still in power.
The other side of it is the media.  They too have strayed from honest journalism and also are directed by special interest groups. 
So, with those two points in mind, we can consider what is happening in Syria.  One cannot believe what the media is telling us, nor can we believe what our government is telling us.
I'll just offer one warning. Always question what you are told, in this regard,  for much goes on that we don't hear about,  for reasons we don't know.

The point

"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." Anyone who has been around for long enough must realize that the way these words are defined are probably not done so in the way the recipients of these words initially expect.
What I am saying is this. While these words are very true and exactly right,  the Christian path is hard work.  We are to strive after holiness while we live in a culture that doesn't.  We are the odd ones.
Life with God is wonderful,  but it is a lifetime of fighting against sin and our own passions.  Life is bootcamp.

Fasting

The very unAmerican and foreign practice of fasting is actually a regular practice in the historic Christian church.  Christians have, from the beginning, consistently and regularly practiced fasting. But what does that mean?  In Scripture, we see a few examples of people doing a fast.  But these are the extreme, total fasts, like Moses and Jesus, both, on a mountain, eating nothing for forty days.  This is not what they church encourages us to do.  Not to say that the church discourages us from doing these, but the regular practice of fasting in the church is different.
The Orthodox church has, in its yearly calendar, a regular cycle of fasting.  You can look here to see the calendar for our current month: calendar.
What is the point of fasting?  For the Orthodox church, fasting is a tool to help us learn self control.  We practice a regular cycle (weekly) of fasting from certain foods, at certain times, to learn to be able to say no to our flesh/passions/desires and focus on prayer and things spiritual.  The church gives very general directions about how to fast and from what food and one can receive specifics on fasting from their priest or spiritual father, if something in the general instructions is unclear, or if you think you see yourself as an exception from these, for some reason (medical or otherwise).
The simple fact is, fasting is very valuable.  So much of our lives, especially in modern day America, is about instant gratification and having a multitude of choices, instantaneously.  At this point in time, we can pretty much have whatever we want, whenever we want it.  This mentality is very bad for our souls.  This sort of thinking/practice totally gratifies our flesh and our passions, which is the exact opposite of how we grow and mature in holiness.
We can really see the wisdom of God, in the church, for fasting really does work.  It is far more difficult to do than it sounds.  To have a refrigerator full of food and only allow one self to eat what is directed by the church is a struggle.
When we combine this sort of fasting with extra prayer, reading and church attendance, the long term results are amazing.  Just like someone who has committed to jogging everyday, one does not necessarily see immediate results, but in the long term, one will eventually be able to run a marathon.  Fasting is one of the tools the church has given us to help us grow in holiness.  We learn to turn away from our passions, we learn to fight against sin, we learn how to love God and love neighbor and we learn how to see into our hearts and repent of the sin we find there.
Here is a link to some good books on the practice of fasting: here.

Our children

How do we train up our children to love the pursuit of holiness? For one, to love holy things, they need to know what these are.  To love holy things means to love those things that will purify our souls and draw us to God.  Meaning also they need to learn to not love unholy things.  This is tough to do in modern America, with the constant barrage of godless media and instant gratification.
What is best way to teach them to love the pursuit is holiness? It's definitely not by lecturing them. They need to see us loving this, first and foremost. The details of how to pursue this needs to be put before them. Fortunately, the church has the tools to do so, and the church is eager to move us this way.
Of course, one of the most difficult aspects of all this is their maturity level.  The pursuit of holiness is very hard work and a serious matter of self denial and an attention to things not material.  Children are immature and "play" focused.  This is a big obstacle to overcome.
Probably the best place to start in all of this is to pray for them.  St Seraphim of Sarov has a great love for children. We should ask for his intercession.

Unseen

Kind of like seeing your own eyeball, seeing and critiquing one's own worldview is rather difficult.  One of the best tools for accomplishing this difficult task is the spiritual father.  The church has established for us this wonderful blessing.  We need to take the responsibility of using the tool.
The spiritual father is one who has spent many years and effort in cleansing his soul from sin and learning to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  This is so incredibly foreign to our modern American thinking that it almost sounds ridiculous.
The spiritual father is one who can see our hearts and our weaknesses and guide us toward holiness.  He can see things that we cannot see.  He is familiar with the lies that we tell ourselves and that the demons tell us.  He knows how to avoid certain sins, how to work past certain sins and how to repent.
The hard part is finding one, for as Paul tells us in 1 Cor 4, there are not many fathers.
The place to start is your local Eastern Orthodox church.