THE NONES – “SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS” – AGNOSTICS – ATHEISTS. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
(“Christians Decline Sharply as Share of Population: Unaffiliated and Other Faiths Continue to Grow,” title of May 12, 2015 PEW Research Center report.)
THE “KNOW-IT-ALL” ST. JAMES’ LIBRARY HAS THE ANSWER
(The number in parentheses is the book’s catalog number on the shelves.)
The Nones are Alright: A New Generation of Believers, Seekers, and Those in Between, by Kaya Oakes, 2015 (SPIR-37.1): Investigates how and why the exodus from organized religion is occurring.
Belief Without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual but not Religious, by Linda A. Mercadante, 2014 (SPIR-28.1): Analyzes their spiritual journeys and explains why they reject the claims of organized religion.
Grounded: Finding God in the World: A Spiritual Revolution, by Diana Butler Bass, 2015 (SPIR-5.3): “…God-in-heaven is giving way to Spirit-with-us.”
Learning to Walk in the Dark, by Barbara Brown Taylor, 2014 (SPIR-4): Episcopal priest reflects on walking in the realm of spiritual darkness.
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, by Donald Miller, 2003 (SPIR-30).
Radical Reinvention: An Unlikely Return to the Catholic Church, by Kaya Oaks, 2012 (BIOG-18): This potty-mouthed devotee of mosh pits, pro-choice rallies, the punk scene, and almost every radical idea one can mention (who doesn’t think much of Episcopalian hymn singing) states: “What Jesus is showing us is this conversation with three woman at the well is a message of ’radical inclusion.’”
My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer, by Christian Wiman, 2014, (BIOG-24): A man with a cancer diagnosis tries to remain fully present in his life with doubt and faith.
Sinners Welcome, by Mary Karr, 2009 (POET-4): This self-defined “black-belt sinner” includes in one of her poems: “Christ always stood to one side with a glass of water/I swatted the sap away.”
“In the days ahead, you will be either a mystic (one who has experience of God for real) or nothing at all.” – Karl Rahner, Foundations of Christian Faith (1982)
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SOME CONSOLATION FOR THE DOUBTERS
“In this quest to seek and find God in all things there is still an area of uncertainty. There must be. If a person says that he met God with total certainty and is not touched by a margin of uncertainty, then this is not good. For me, this is an important key. If one has the answers to all the questions – that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt.” – Pope Francis, in a 2013 interview
“…if he wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the obscurity.” – John of the Cross
“…as for me, the silence and emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.” – Mother Teresa in a letter
~John Maloney