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Majority of American Adults Believe Strong Faith and Individual Initiative Are Key to Weathering Economic Storm
New Nationwide Survey Reveals Personal Actions Are More Effective than Government Stimulus
 
Contact: Brian Burch, Lambert, Edwards & Associates, 616-233-0500, bburch@lambert-edwards.com
 
HUNTINGTON, Ind., May 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- As our nation's economic crisis persists and families are brought to the brink with layoffs and foreclosures, more than two-thirds (70%) of U.S. adults believe that strong faith is one of the most important elements in helping a person persevere through the current downturn, and most (61%) believe their personal actions play a more vital role in helping to turn around the economy than the government stimulus plan.
 
These are just some of the results from a new, nationwide survey conducted during the height of the economic stimulus debate by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Our Sunday Visitor, one of country's largest Catholic publishing companies.
 
"A great frustration during a time of national crisis can be the sense of impotence, the inability of the individual to make a difference. And yet, looking beyond today's latest installment of dire news, most Americans believe they know what it takes to weather this crisis and that we can even benefit from it, one choice at a time," said Fr. Joseph Langford, author of the new book, Mother Teresa's Secret Fire. "In times like these, it's instructive to recall the message of Mother Teresa, who showed the world that the individual, clinging to the Creator, can endure enormous change and actually become a luminous force during the darkest of times."
 
The OSV study reports that 87 percent of adults "believe that by doing small, positive actions, they can make a positive difference in this world," and 69 percent said "faith in God, a higher power or a divine being gives them more control of their lives and destiny," indicating a willingness to believe in the bold premise at the center of Mother Teresa's message.
 
"Her lessons can help prepare us, as no political plan or economic program ever can, to navigate with grace the trials that await us, and even perceive them as blessings. This is true change that lasts," added Langford.
 
Secret Fire depicts the transformation of Teresa of Calcutta as not just an interesting incident in the life of an ordinary woman, but a moment when the brightness and beauty of God's presence, which has been there all the time, breaks through to the surface. According to Langford, there is no more compelling example of this in the modern world than the life of Mother Teresa. And yet, she was no different than the rest of us, with few extraordinary qualities or resources; her most remarkable trait was the way she invited God into her soul, and clung to Him in good times and bad.
 
Even after her death in 1997, Mother Teresa has continued to be a symbol of the human heart transformed by God's love--and a heart that transformed others. Secret Fire shows us how we all have the same opportunity to be touched and transformed by God, and empowered to share that gift with those around us, making our ordinary lives an extraordinary legacy of goodness.
 
"In this process, we change as Mother Teresa changed, inviting the spirit of Jesus to burn within us with the brightness that was in her--a brightness that shines through in our love, in our smile, in our forgiveness and our understanding. That transformation will create in us the right attitude and desire to make a positive difference in our world," concluded Langford.
 
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Our Sunday Visitor from March 6 to March 10, 2009, among 2,315 adults ages 18 and older. The survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Brian Burch at Lambert, Edwards & Associates, 616-233-0500, bburch@lambert-edwards.com.
 
About Mother Teresa's Secret Fire
For the first time, the very essence of Mother Teresa's message is captured in Mother Teresa's Secret Fire (OSV, 2008), as told by her trusted friend and the co-founder of her priestly community, Fr. Joseph Langford. It centers on a single, divine encounter with God, kept hidden for more than 60 years. On Sept. 10, 1946, traveling on a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling, in the Himalayas, she experienced God in a way so intimate and indescribable that she hesitated to speak of it for almost four decades--until the day in 1984 when, after a series of conversations, she asked Fr. Langford to share her message and open her gift to the world.
 
About Father Langford
Joseph Langford, M.C., began his relationship with Mother Teresa while studying theology in Rome. In 1983 she invited him to be the co-founder of her priestly community, the Missionaries of Charity Fathers. He has led worldwide retreats focusing on Mother Teresa's spirituality and currently resides at the community's motherhouse in Tijuana, Mexico.
 
About Our Sunday Visitor
Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) is one of the largest Catholic publishing companies in the nation. Located in Huntington, Ind., this Christian not-for-profit organization publishes several periodicals and more than 500 active book titles.