Troubled by Religious People...

I had hardly arrived at a teaching spot in Iliff last summer when the secretary hung a new sign on the wall of the office.  It said, “What God wants is spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.” I kept being bothered by the fact that she hung it just after I got there. I do recognize that there is a lot of craziness in the religious community and that there are times when I must confess to you: I’m terribly troubled by very religious people. They make me exceedingly uncomfortable!  That is not less true, I suppose, than at any point when I find people who know all the answers. And yet seeking for the answers is a task of a religious person. For change is painful – but resistance to change is even more painful.

I think that it’s fair to say that change is inevitable -- and navigable – but growth is an option, a choice, an exercise, a willingness to ask questions! Somebody asked, “How can you talk about counterclockwise to a kid who’s never worn anything but a digital watch?”

-- from "Asking the Big Questions"