Search for Truth, Spirit, and Deeper Faith

Articles in this section explore striving to find an understanding for that which we call by many names and which transcends our normal experience.

One of the most appropriate quotations for the introduction to this section comes from Karen Armstrong's seminal work on A History Of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam:

My study of the history of religion has revealed that human beings are spiritual animals. Indeed, there is a case for arguing that Homo sapiens is also Homo religiosus. Men and women started to worship gods as soon as they became recognizably human; they created religions at the same time as they created works of art. This was not simply because they wanted to propitiate powerful forces; these early faiths expressed the wonder and mystery that seem always to have been an essential component of the human experience of the beautiful yet terrifying world.

The articles and features on the right explore the striving to find an understanding for that which we call by many names and which transcends our normal experience. The conclusions we reach vary considerably from person to person, culture to culture, and century to century, but our interest on this website is not to explore what people believe (although we will be doing some of that), rather, it is focused on why people believe what they believe.

Index

Why people believe what they believe

Metaphors and symbols of religious and spiritual experiences

To what should you surrender?

Does your spiritual compass point in the direction you want to go?

An agnostic's encounter with God

Special Features

Explaining a Spiritual Experience

Have you ever had a spiritual or peak experience and tried to explain to others what it felt like? This three-minute presentation of Explaining a Spiritual Experience illustrates the most important thing about such experiences. There is also a text version if you wish to only read this piece.

Why I Believe I am Connected to God or Spirit

Just as it is difficult to explain a spiritual experience (see above), it can often be difficult to explain to others why one believes in God or Spirit. This self-directed slide show of Why I Believe I am Connected to God or Spirit illustrates how the images of meditation open a person's heart so we become touched by "something" that is beyond the ego and beyond the rational mind. There is also a text version.

The Nature Connection

Here is a technique for pondering life's mysteries, working through conundrums, solving problems and deepening spirituality. Begin with an article describing our connection to nature and our need for peace and quiet contemplation

Then take a self-directed Walk in the Woods that uses photographs to help you get in touch with the power of nature — even if you've run out of vacation time, your in-basket is over-flowing, and you can't drive out to a wilderness area.