So NPR ran a story, rather an interview, with Eric Weiner just as his new book, “Man Seeks God: My Flirtation With the Divine”, hit bookstore shelves. In it, he tells the story of his own trip around the world in an effort to understand the devout faithful. He counts himself among an offshoot of atheist – the Questor. Among other things, he defines Questor as one who values the question more than the answer. It is no longer sufficient to be a skeptic, however. The Questor seeks the value in “the religious experience”. From Weiner’s perspective, “belief” is not what makes religion worthy of his consideration. What counts are the actions of people who take steps to participate in a religious community, and the religious or ritualistic experiences that touch the senses and stir the spirit. He also expresses surprise to discover many devout people who still have doubts, and are comfortable with that doubt, content with the mysteries and, in some cases, inconsistencies of their faith.

Eric Weiner’s descriptions remind me of TV’s Fox Mulder of the 80s show “The X Files”.

Fox Mulder in "The X Files"

In the end, Eric Weiner expressed a small amount of envy with the fact that so many have “found their home” so to speak. Throughout the book, he seemed to want to settle on a particular faith, on one God, as though a sudden realization of belonging was just as simple as finding just the right hat for one’s head. I found myself wondering if he truly understood what may have been at work in each person’s life to bring them to faith. I respected him for undertaking the journey and for attempting to comprehend the complexities of each. The compassionate parts of me wanted to reach out to him, encouraging him to continue.

To use another Hollywood analogy, Mr. Weiner was in a kind of Ollivander’s Shop (aka Harry Potter) trying out different wands as a non-magic-user. He went through the motions of using the wands, but nothing happened. In the films young Harry Potter, new to the magical world, was full of wonder and, at the same time, trepidation. Though just a young man, he entered Ollivander’s shop with the sense that something Very Important was about to happen.

Ollivander's Wand Shop

Belief goes way beyond mere intellectual thought. One can read a statement that is presented as fact and make a judgment of “true” or “false” regarding the statement. But mere acceptance of a truth does not constitute belief. I think it boils down to asking oneself, and then answering a simple question: “Do I have a soul?” Even though questions can be, in and of themselves, a sort of end unto themselves, in order to “be religious” one must start with a few core beliefs. The first is an acknowledgment of the existence of a soul. The second is an acknowledgment of a connection between the intellect, the heart, the body and the soul. Here, in a nutshell, is at the core of all religious experience and faith.

So faith is a combination of the following:
The mind contains the awareness of and conceptualization of faith. One receives the concept of God (or gods) as a gift from the very deity we seek to understand. It is a personal connection that is made on the level of core understanding and conscious thought. We cannot create the connection between our body and soul and that cosmic, spiritual being (or beings) on our own. As Ollivander said, “the wand chooses the wizard”. As a person seeks God, God seeks the person. The trick is to recognize when we have found “the One” and when the “One” finds us.

At the same time our mind begins to form a concept and basic definitions of faith, our soul awakens to a presence that transcends time and space. The soul is the part of us that we least understand, but in faith, we allow it to grow – yes grow – and this is the conduit through which God dwells. Again, this is true across all faiths and religious communities. Each religious tradition has its own sense of “how” this growth is accomplished. But one thing is clear. It is personal, powerful, and brings a person to a whole new level of existence. But one must be open to it. Deny the soul and one will never “find” God.

Allowing God to reach us takes courage and openness to new possibilities, no doubt. It also may lead to our denial of “self” – this notion that we are somehow muddling through life alone and beholden to no one, and no thing. Until one realizes the benefits of a God-indwelled soul, one finds it difficult to accept that religious belief may somehow cause our path to shift to places we’d really rather not go. But isn’t all growth uncomfortable? We don’t want to be “forced” somewhere we do not want to go – and are afraid to be compelled to do something we’d rather not do. Fear is the ultimate obstacle to fully realizing the joys of our faith.

Finally, the heart is the motivation behind every action, and the body is the vessel that acts. If the mind and soul are united, then we must consciously decide to act on that understanding of belief. The heart of a person is also part emotion. We allow ourselves to be stirred to action by things like compassion, love, and desire to please. All people of faith find action to be most effective when thoughtful purpose, unity with soul, and heartfelt emotions form the basis of our actions. Sure there can be some fear – and doubt. We are only human, after all. But when we choose to step out in faith, with the courage of conviction in our soul, this is when we do great things as people.

New faith requires a person to possess a childlike wonder in accepting new possibilities and impossibilities, an open mind, an awakening soul, and a heartfelt desire to not merely seek but to find. Perhaps most importantly, faith comes when a person admits a certain vulnerability. One chooses to risk bending one’s will, even denying ego altogether. Complete acceptance and serenity await for those who find that balance. I wish the Eric Weiners of the world all the best in finding what they seek.