Religious naturalism is the idea that the sacred is found in nature. (Where else would you expect to find it?) It embraces reality and finds inspiration in it. ... Read More about Living in Reverence and Natural Piety
Week 44: Connectedness
Being at One with All
All things are part of the whole. Without a unifying theory of knowledge, this idea remains just a way of looking at things, an ideal. But it is noble and inspiring ideal that prompts people to ... Read More about Being at One with All
Paying It Forward
Maybe some day I’ll have kids of my own. I hope so. If I do, they’ll probably ask what part I played in the movement that changed the world. [Catherine Ryan Hyde, Pay It Forward: A Novel ... Read More about Paying It Forward
Being Devoted
The political and journalistic world can boast of very few heroes who compare with Father Damien of Moloka'i. It is worthwhile to look for the sources of such heroism. [Mohandas Gandhi commenting on ... Read More about Being Devoted
Consilience
Consilience is the unity of knowledge, the religious equivalent of a unifying force or principle in physics. In 1998, Edward O. Wilson wrote passionately and persuasively about this subject, arguing ... Read More about Consilience
Belonging; Cultivating Friendships
Much of what we believe is a social construct. In other words, we believe what we believe because the people around us tell us, through their words or actions, to believe it. For thousands of years, ... Read More about Belonging; Cultivating Friendships
Having a Sense of Connectedness
A human being is a part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest ― a kind of ... Read More about Having a Sense of Connectedness