For families facing a crisis, it is natural and good to turn to faith and spiritual practices to help make sense of the madness. (Notably, the Pew Research Center says that roughly a quarter of Americans report that their faith has deepened during the present pandemic.) And while it’s not impossible to establish healthy habits in crisis, it’s far easier to have such habits in place, so you can dig into them when you feel the world crashing around you.

How you as a family approach your spiritual life is of course a deeply personal issue, but all the research points to its importance. Whether you attend religious services of some kind, pray together (also associated with greater marital and family relationship satisfaction and trust), read faith texts, practice spiritual meditation, or some other practice, your family benefits from a disciplined, mindful approach to faith. Whatever it is, do it together, and probably even with other families. The research generally points to the fact that it is communal faith vs. a more individualistic, personal faith that confers a myriad of benefits. And be intentional about explaining to your children why you as a family do what you do.