So many gems in here. I was raised kind of Jewish (I say kind of because we rarely went to synagogue and had a Christmas tree), and felt so smart when in 6th grade, I declared myself an atheist. Then I found new age, opened up to spirituality after a cancer diagnosis, and now fully believe in God, if only because my life flows and feels better when I surrender to a power greater than myself. Everything works better in life when I ride with God as my co-pilot.
Your point about people being more depressed and hopeless than ever is so true. I think the country was better off when more people identified as Christians. Does the church have some toxic elements? For sure, but taken as a whole, we were a happier, healthier, saner, more high-trust society when people put their faith in something other than politics, science and their (fallible, human, subjective, perhaps Big-Pharma funded) therapist.
We definitely have a meaning crisis, and I think the true answer to finding meaning and purpose in life is to cultivate a spiritual connection to God. So many people have an emptiness within that I believe only God can fill.
Christianity doesn’t fully resonate with me but I believe in judging a philosophy by its fruits and Christianity reliably produces cohesive, orderly, prosperous societies. I don’t personally know how to reconcile that divide in my heart, but it’s something I continue to sit with.
I could read a whole book on this take. This came together so well. Even though I have a much different up bringing I found myself really relating to this even as a person who didn’t experience organized religion in my youth. I still found myself bouncing back between what I thought was faith and believing there was actually nothing out there and it’s all meaningless. Only to find myself here today not truly knowing what is what but searching for a higher meaning to all this. Maybe it’ll be found in community and doing something for others, maybe it’s in spending time to myself, or perhaps it’s in the universe being God. But I can definitely feel myself searching.
This is a very thoughtful piece, Erin I've been having a difficult time with reading articles on substack lately, but this one really pulled me in cause this is a topic that is often on my mind.
I was raised mildly Christian... we watched veggie tales and occasionally went to church, but we weren't forced to believe anything. My parents wanted us to decide for ourselves what to believe, and Christianity was just one loosely laid out option... yet, at all of my lowest and most desperate moments in life, I have fell down on my knees and prayed to God. Even though I have never considered myself religious, my sliver of faith in God helped me hold on to hope when it was otherwise lost.
I strongly agree with you that we need stories, we need structure, and we need community... and being so focused on the "I" doesn't seem to be boding well for any of us. It makes sense that with a decreasing faith in the church, people are looking for anything that can give them answers, guidance, and rituals, and there are so many different brands to choose from, so you can pick the aesthetic most appealing to you.
I'm not sure what the answer is...
I got heavily involved in a cult for 3 years because of my own need for answers, guidance, and rituals. I sometimes wonder if maybe I would be happier if I had stayed in it, because it is so relieving to have people telling you how to live and to be working towards a common goal! My soul was full in so many ways... but I didn't have autonomy.
Now I have autonomy over my life and my choices, which is overwhelming and terrifying sometimes, but also feels so much healthier for me in other ways.
I don't have the answers, I don't think any of us really do, but we try our best to create them cause it's much easier to move through the chaos of this world when you have a something to tether yourself to. We all just want to be well, hence why "Wellness" is the new religion... and maybe that would actually be enough for us, if state of the world and it's future wasn't so bleak... if it wasn't so expensive to live, and if we could actually trust the people in power to have our wellbeing at heart.
Anyways, these are just some thoughts that were prompted by reading your essay this morning, and I sure there will be more.
Thank you for sharing! This is exactly the type of thought I was hoping to provoke. I had a hard time writing this because it’s SO layered and nuanced—multiple times I felt like I bit off more than I could chew—but it’s so nice to know it landed and resonated well!
"And despite our best efforts, things continue to decline—”wellness” is the top category Gen Z is willing to splurge on, yet they are three times more likely than other generations to experience mental health conditions." - One day we'll understand that you can't buy your way to happiness; personal fulfilment can't be prescribed, rather it must be discovered.
I think you touch on an important topic here, "religion without spirituality" that doesn't mean anything. I call myself a Christian and was raised one, but it's true, so many self-professing Christians are just going through the motions. There's no personal relationship with God or treating Jesus as the 'friend and brother' He is to us.
It makes me sad that so many people stray from organized religion (like you) because it's dull, boring and repetitive, and ultimately meaningless. It makes me sad that so many people become atheist or agnostic instead of pursuing a relationship with Christ and a life-giving church. I count 'religion' and 'having faith in God' as two separate things. Anyone can be religious, but don't forget that Jesus chided the ultra-religious Pharisees and said to Martha that Mary had chosen what was better (sitting at Jesus's feet, learning from him).
I have a lot of thoughts on this, and I might need to write about it myself one day.
We also came up with philosophy, which is in itself a story... Also, let's not over-analyse it but counting calories and mindfulness has become the new rosary beads. One more healthy habit and I will be worthy of ascension to the heaven of the trouble-free people. Emotionally, mentally, and physically healthy.
Man, I wish I knew the answer to this one. I also grew up with “organised religion” and turned my back on it for most of my 20s and 30s. Now, I honestly don’t know. Something is “missing”, but as you say, most organised religions have done a right old job of fucking it up (war, child abuse, homophobia etc) so it’s hard to know where to turn. Maybe humans just end up corrupting these things. Maybe that’s the point 🤷♀️
Spiritually is important. To me it differs from religion. Spirituality calls to the part of us that longs to wrap ourselves in stories. But stories can also easily contain falsehoods. Man has a way of distorting everything to suit nefarious purposes. Religion to me represents man’s belief and attempt to control human behavior. And that control has done great harm to the collective psyche.
Religion has killed many… it is destructive in its own way. It kept us in the Dark Ages, and tried to eliminate those who would seek to question. We have learned - some of us - that diversity as in Nature is also important in thought. It is the diversity of thought that advances us. I feel religion especially demonizes and diminishes women. And so it cannot be something I accept as a way to a better society. Yes, fear of going to this place or that is good to keep people in line- controlled- but not everyone needs that.
I grew up in a non religious household and somehow I learned that killing someone was wrong, as was deliberately causing harm to anyone— or anything— the land and other beings. I was taught to respect everything around me. But also to question everything around me. I didn’t need a church, religion or school to teach me this. I actually believe we know these things when we are born but the corrosive narratives, cultures, limiting beliefs and religions begin to divide us as soon as we are born, perhaps before… and this knowledge gets buried.
If I have felt lost in my life, it wasn’t really lost as much as aimless wandering while looking into the way my lived experiences have constructed me, and learning to be brave enough to ask if I still want that construction or want to reconstruct who I am.
Wellness sounds too manufactured to me. It reeks of spiritual bypassing or soul washing. Feels good to do but lasting effects like any trend aren’t really lasting because you are required to do the work long term.
I’m curious… When we look at the overall negative view of how people feel today… could it also be from things we’ve created such as social media and a hustle culture constantly consuming that is impossible to sustain? Could it simply be that due to 24/7 news and fear mongering from those who seek to control… we have large swaths of people who don’t know which way is up? Or feel helpless because they don’t feel they conform to the super loaded word ‘normal’? We’ve created a way of being that consumes and harms people daily. Could it be we are so disconnected from Mother Earth now?
Healing is exactly what it is. Healing is not a religion. It is something one does for one’s self. My belief is we continue to look for outside things to believe in - because we avoid healing internally. We avoid healing because it’s really hard, often scary, soul deep work that is never really finished. Everyone has wounds, just not everyone has the strength to access those wounds in order to heal.
Religions teach you that you are less than. And you spend your life wondering if you are ever good enough. Healing offers the wisdom of understanding you have always been enough.
Thank you for this thought provoking post. It is much appreciated. 🙏
So many gems in here. I was raised kind of Jewish (I say kind of because we rarely went to synagogue and had a Christmas tree), and felt so smart when in 6th grade, I declared myself an atheist. Then I found new age, opened up to spirituality after a cancer diagnosis, and now fully believe in God, if only because my life flows and feels better when I surrender to a power greater than myself. Everything works better in life when I ride with God as my co-pilot.
Your point about people being more depressed and hopeless than ever is so true. I think the country was better off when more people identified as Christians. Does the church have some toxic elements? For sure, but taken as a whole, we were a happier, healthier, saner, more high-trust society when people put their faith in something other than politics, science and their (fallible, human, subjective, perhaps Big-Pharma funded) therapist.
We definitely have a meaning crisis, and I think the true answer to finding meaning and purpose in life is to cultivate a spiritual connection to God. So many people have an emptiness within that I believe only God can fill.
Christianity doesn’t fully resonate with me but I believe in judging a philosophy by its fruits and Christianity reliably produces cohesive, orderly, prosperous societies. I don’t personally know how to reconcile that divide in my heart, but it’s something I continue to sit with.
Thanks for another thought provoking piece!
I could read a whole book on this take. This came together so well. Even though I have a much different up bringing I found myself really relating to this even as a person who didn’t experience organized religion in my youth. I still found myself bouncing back between what I thought was faith and believing there was actually nothing out there and it’s all meaningless. Only to find myself here today not truly knowing what is what but searching for a higher meaning to all this. Maybe it’ll be found in community and doing something for others, maybe it’s in spending time to myself, or perhaps it’s in the universe being God. But I can definitely feel myself searching.
This is a very thoughtful piece, Erin I've been having a difficult time with reading articles on substack lately, but this one really pulled me in cause this is a topic that is often on my mind.
I was raised mildly Christian... we watched veggie tales and occasionally went to church, but we weren't forced to believe anything. My parents wanted us to decide for ourselves what to believe, and Christianity was just one loosely laid out option... yet, at all of my lowest and most desperate moments in life, I have fell down on my knees and prayed to God. Even though I have never considered myself religious, my sliver of faith in God helped me hold on to hope when it was otherwise lost.
I strongly agree with you that we need stories, we need structure, and we need community... and being so focused on the "I" doesn't seem to be boding well for any of us. It makes sense that with a decreasing faith in the church, people are looking for anything that can give them answers, guidance, and rituals, and there are so many different brands to choose from, so you can pick the aesthetic most appealing to you.
I'm not sure what the answer is...
I got heavily involved in a cult for 3 years because of my own need for answers, guidance, and rituals. I sometimes wonder if maybe I would be happier if I had stayed in it, because it is so relieving to have people telling you how to live and to be working towards a common goal! My soul was full in so many ways... but I didn't have autonomy.
Now I have autonomy over my life and my choices, which is overwhelming and terrifying sometimes, but also feels so much healthier for me in other ways.
I don't have the answers, I don't think any of us really do, but we try our best to create them cause it's much easier to move through the chaos of this world when you have a something to tether yourself to. We all just want to be well, hence why "Wellness" is the new religion... and maybe that would actually be enough for us, if state of the world and it's future wasn't so bleak... if it wasn't so expensive to live, and if we could actually trust the people in power to have our wellbeing at heart.
Anyways, these are just some thoughts that were prompted by reading your essay this morning, and I sure there will be more.
Take care ♡
Thank you for sharing! This is exactly the type of thought I was hoping to provoke. I had a hard time writing this because it’s SO layered and nuanced—multiple times I felt like I bit off more than I could chew—but it’s so nice to know it landed and resonated well!
❤️
"And despite our best efforts, things continue to decline—”wellness” is the top category Gen Z is willing to splurge on, yet they are three times more likely than other generations to experience mental health conditions." - One day we'll understand that you can't buy your way to happiness; personal fulfilment can't be prescribed, rather it must be discovered.
I think you touch on an important topic here, "religion without spirituality" that doesn't mean anything. I call myself a Christian and was raised one, but it's true, so many self-professing Christians are just going through the motions. There's no personal relationship with God or treating Jesus as the 'friend and brother' He is to us.
It makes me sad that so many people stray from organized religion (like you) because it's dull, boring and repetitive, and ultimately meaningless. It makes me sad that so many people become atheist or agnostic instead of pursuing a relationship with Christ and a life-giving church. I count 'religion' and 'having faith in God' as two separate things. Anyone can be religious, but don't forget that Jesus chided the ultra-religious Pharisees and said to Martha that Mary had chosen what was better (sitting at Jesus's feet, learning from him).
I have a lot of thoughts on this, and I might need to write about it myself one day.
We also came up with philosophy, which is in itself a story... Also, let's not over-analyse it but counting calories and mindfulness has become the new rosary beads. One more healthy habit and I will be worthy of ascension to the heaven of the trouble-free people. Emotionally, mentally, and physically healthy.
Yes. Absolutely 🙌🏻
Man, I wish I knew the answer to this one. I also grew up with “organised religion” and turned my back on it for most of my 20s and 30s. Now, I honestly don’t know. Something is “missing”, but as you say, most organised religions have done a right old job of fucking it up (war, child abuse, homophobia etc) so it’s hard to know where to turn. Maybe humans just end up corrupting these things. Maybe that’s the point 🤷♀️
Spiritually is important. To me it differs from religion. Spirituality calls to the part of us that longs to wrap ourselves in stories. But stories can also easily contain falsehoods. Man has a way of distorting everything to suit nefarious purposes. Religion to me represents man’s belief and attempt to control human behavior. And that control has done great harm to the collective psyche.
Religion has killed many… it is destructive in its own way. It kept us in the Dark Ages, and tried to eliminate those who would seek to question. We have learned - some of us - that diversity as in Nature is also important in thought. It is the diversity of thought that advances us. I feel religion especially demonizes and diminishes women. And so it cannot be something I accept as a way to a better society. Yes, fear of going to this place or that is good to keep people in line- controlled- but not everyone needs that.
I grew up in a non religious household and somehow I learned that killing someone was wrong, as was deliberately causing harm to anyone— or anything— the land and other beings. I was taught to respect everything around me. But also to question everything around me. I didn’t need a church, religion or school to teach me this. I actually believe we know these things when we are born but the corrosive narratives, cultures, limiting beliefs and religions begin to divide us as soon as we are born, perhaps before… and this knowledge gets buried.
If I have felt lost in my life, it wasn’t really lost as much as aimless wandering while looking into the way my lived experiences have constructed me, and learning to be brave enough to ask if I still want that construction or want to reconstruct who I am.
Wellness sounds too manufactured to me. It reeks of spiritual bypassing or soul washing. Feels good to do but lasting effects like any trend aren’t really lasting because you are required to do the work long term.
I’m curious… When we look at the overall negative view of how people feel today… could it also be from things we’ve created such as social media and a hustle culture constantly consuming that is impossible to sustain? Could it simply be that due to 24/7 news and fear mongering from those who seek to control… we have large swaths of people who don’t know which way is up? Or feel helpless because they don’t feel they conform to the super loaded word ‘normal’? We’ve created a way of being that consumes and harms people daily. Could it be we are so disconnected from Mother Earth now?
Healing is exactly what it is. Healing is not a religion. It is something one does for one’s self. My belief is we continue to look for outside things to believe in - because we avoid healing internally. We avoid healing because it’s really hard, often scary, soul deep work that is never really finished. Everyone has wounds, just not everyone has the strength to access those wounds in order to heal.
Religions teach you that you are less than. And you spend your life wondering if you are ever good enough. Healing offers the wisdom of understanding you have always been enough.
Thank you for this thought provoking post. It is much appreciated. 🙏