How beautifully David Brooks describes having experienced "these magical moments of wonder and clearest consciousness, which suggested a dimension of existence beyond the ordinary" in his column today titled "The Subtle Sensations of Faith."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/opinion/david-brooks-the-subtle-sensations-of-faith.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fdavid-brooks
He quotes Christian Wiman, who in his book My Bright Abyss writes about "making these moments part of your life rather than merely radical intrusions...."
In AA and Al-Anon, people who may have no faith are asked to take Step 2: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
This is hard for many people, and often they are advised just to "act as if" there were such a Higher Power.
Brooks and Wiman offer another approach--learning to notice those subtle moments when faith sprouts and then to nourish the little shoots.
What a good route to faith, rather than seeing faith as some strange, exotic tree that must be bought and transplanted into our lives.
Notice the little moments--as Brooks says, "Maybe... during childbirth, with music, in nature, in love or pain, or during a moment of overwhelming gratitude and exaltation."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/opinion/david-brooks-the-subtle-sensations-of-faith.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fdavid-brooks
He quotes Christian Wiman, who in his book My Bright Abyss writes about "making these moments part of your life rather than merely radical intrusions...."
In AA and Al-Anon, people who may have no faith are asked to take Step 2: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
This is hard for many people, and often they are advised just to "act as if" there were such a Higher Power.
Brooks and Wiman offer another approach--learning to notice those subtle moments when faith sprouts and then to nourish the little shoots.
What a good route to faith, rather than seeing faith as some strange, exotic tree that must be bought and transplanted into our lives.
Notice the little moments--as Brooks says, "Maybe... during childbirth, with music, in nature, in love or pain, or during a moment of overwhelming gratitude and exaltation."
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