What Happened to the Promise?

Entering Grade 12, our grandson Cameron now fields questions about the future like a superhero deflecting bullets.

Amidst the uncertainties, he does know one thing: he likes trains—a lot.

“If I’m ever lucky enough to own a house, I’m going to have a basement so I can put up my model trains.”

At his age, I assumed that, if I wanted, I would have a house, a car, and my own treasure box to fill with whatever the sale flyer promotes as indispensable and fun.

But this is not his reality. So our conversations now turn to “next steps.” Long-range interests may endure, but he knows that a career as an engineer on a steam locomotive is as possible as lucrative employment as a buggy-whip artisan. His decisions now revolve around course selection and the wisdom of a gap year.

Our conversation surfaces discernment questions: What does he want? Where should he invest time and resources? What or whom merits trust?

Marinated as I am in the Biblical stories, I wonder about the shift in underlying social covenants. Beneath covenant obligations lie implicit questions about who or what we should trust to deliver the life we seek.

The language of covenant is not widely used, but covenants exist beneath the surface. They shape how we understand trust, duty, belonging and reward.

Like the abundance of demigods in Biblical times, several covenants appear in the smorgasbord currently advertised as the path to the good life.

Of course, I want Cameron to be happy, free, and authentically fulfilled. But can the covenants of the marketplace, the autonomous self, or personal fulfilment get him there? Their demands can be comprehensive and exhausting. But can they bear the weight of life? Or will they leave him tired, burned out, lonely, and wondering who he is?

Many younger people feel they live under a broken covenant. Constantly reminded of obligations, they wonder why the benefits their parents’ and grandparents’ generations received are absent for them.

What happened to the promise of a middle-class life in Canada that was at least as good as my parents’—if not better?

What happened to “Education leads to a solid middle-class life”?

What happened to “normal” jobs like a teacher, a tradesperson, or a civil servant?

What happened to “Education leads to a successful life”?

The imminent arrival of AI, like an invading alien force, scrambles the entire jigsaw of future employment. Now the struggle is to “keep up” more than to “get ahead.”

What happened to work hard and you’ll be able to own a home? Home ownership has shifted from “expected milestone” to “privileged outcome.”

From the perspective of the young, the core issue is not entitlement; it is a broken covenant. The promised good life has proved inadequate at best, deceitful at worst, and the disappointment runs deeper than a failed deal.

Broken covenants create a different kind of pain than deals gone wrong. Ask a spouse whose partner has cheated on the covenant. The polling evidence on Gen Z and younger millennials is consistent: frustration, financial insecurity, pessimism about the future, loneliness and dissatisfaction are elevated among younger adults.

The 2024 World Happiness Report, as reported by Statistics Canada, ranked Canada 58th internationally for happiness among people under 30, while Canada ranked 8th for people aged 60 and over.

Statistics Canada, Stretching the loonie: A time series analysis of financial difficulty and quality of life, April 8, 2026

The impacts of broken covenants ripple personally and globally.

Trust, the rebar of covenants, lies bent as Canada, Europe and many other formerly close allies and friends of the United States seek new relationships and new identities.

Frayed and broken covenants lie on the floor of this ruptured time. As a country, as a church, as individuals, we are reexamining the faith and covenants that shape our lives.

So how do I shape my conversations with my grandchildren, knowing that critical matters of the spirit, theology, and ethics are involved? I start by choosing character over contract and by identifying waypoints along the way.

What kind of people should we, and they, be on this rocky and unstable part of the path?

I try to keep the basics at the front.

Seek relationships: covenants built upon respect and trust. Without those, we have only contracts.

Claim what is worthy: costly love, patience, forgiveness, steadiness in relationships, care for the vulnerable, questioning mixed with quiet endurance, fierce hope, respect. These are the threads from which a whole and holy life can be woven.

A Blessing

May you recognize the covenants that quietly shape your life,

and have the wisdom to release those that cannot bear the weight of hope.

May you find relationships worthy of your trust,

steadfast in love, generous in mercy, and faithful through changing seasons.

May your life be woven with courage, respect, hope, and enduring peace, as you walk The Way of Jesus—
and let that way shape what you trust, choose, and become.

*Chat GPT assisted with research.