I just can’t fully give up on faith.
I don’t know if it is because it won’t give up on me, I have no idea.
Here is what I believe: The literal world is at stake, and it is dependent upon each of us to double down on faith individually and to take it more seriously than ever before.
This does not mean that we double down on some immature and fractured understanding of the faith that diabolically tears the world apart with its tribalism and foolishness. It means that we take the time to find the minority and mature understanding of the faith that recognizes a global common humanity that teaches us to give up our ego, our need for power and security, that dissolves our tribal lines, focuses on accountability for ourselves (and not just for those outside of our chosen group), takes the Sermon on the Mount seriously, and would make a conscious decision to be a healing and reconciling presence.
A few years ago I heard someone speak about how spirituality is the sole discipline that encourages us to wake up to our responsibility to one another and the world around us. A healthy spirituality is the only thing that reminds us to give up the vices that modernity values as virtues, and encourages us to “aim up together.” Without a healthy spirituality, we are prone to using business, science, economics, and the like in horribly inhumane ways, ways that create human collateral, atomic warfare, homelessness, and selfishness on a massive scale.
So yes, I understand some people’s decision to walk away from childish and unhealthy spirituality, but that does not necessarily mean to walk into the desert of nothingness. To me, it means to consciously double down and commit to a healthier and holier faith practice that might actually save the world.
