"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."

-- C.S. Lewis

Many of us lament the bygone days when sound moral values were taught, in part, through our communities. Everybody knew everybody else, and kids dared not stray into trouble because they knew their parents would eventually find out about any misdeed from a neighbor or acquaintance.

Now, in Augusta, community partners from schools to churches to business leaders are working toward the goal of helping spread family values once again.

It all started with the annual Columbia County Ballet staging of The Roar of Love , based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the outstanding children's book by writer and scholar C.S. Lewis. The book's allusions to faith-based values and principles resonate strongly with readers.

Gordon Renshaw, former executive director of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, sheepishly admits that when he first saw The Roar of Love several years ago, he brought a book to relieve what he thought would be boredom.

The book never got opened.

Marveling at how well Lewis' spiritual message translated magnificently in the ballet, Renshaw began forming an idea: Develop a community partnership to spread this message to children and their families -- not just through performances of The Roar of Love , but through other spin-off programs among schools, churches and other organizations.

And it's already taking shape. A cornerstone of all this will be a weeklong C.S. Lewis festival, currently scheduled for March 2009, that will feature performances of Lewis' adapted works and kid-friendly explanations of Lewis' teachings.

Renshaw eventually will hand off leadership responsibilities to one of the other partners for this undertaking -- and there are several heavy hitters involved. They include Focus on the Family, the Georgia Family Council, the Columbia County Board of Education and Augusta Christian Schools.

This is an exciting initiative taking shape here. It's a creative method of propagating family values that we all should firmly support. Anyone with questions on how they can do that can call Renshaw at (706) 993-6969, or e-mail him at grenshaw@humancapital groupinc.com.

And if you want to find out what the Roar is about, you can see this year's production of The Roar of Love at the Bell Auditorium at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20 for adults, and $15 for students and senior citizens.

It just might make you appreciate your spiritual values -- and remember how valuable they are.