Immanence of God's Presence (Quote)

"The importance of the teaching of the Incarnation is that this mystery of God in his eternal creativity is not only brought closer to us but is really united to us. We no longer need to objectify the mystery that has taken up dwelling in our hearts of flesh. We now know that our awakening to his reality is an imminent possibility for each of us because the awakening is an incarnate encounter. The joyfulness to which this feast should recall us is that this awakening is not the result of our own inadequate resources. It is not our own power or wisdom that leads us but his love that is present as the light of the supreme reality in our hearts." (John Main)

Confusion in 'No Religion'

Here is an interesting article by Philip Hughes over on the ABC religion portal. it examines the waning of traditional religion in Australia. All is not as it seems though. 'No religion' might reflect people's inability to decide, to know what to believe, and how to develop a deeper spirituality. Some 'no religion' might be something like a default position for those confused and stuck by inertia.

Here is a quote.
 

"Thus, influenced by the freedom offered by the "post-traditional" culture that has developed in Australia, many people have withdrawn from the Christian faith, sometimes to a more general spirituality, sometimes to "no religion" at all.

"While many people experienced post-traditionalism as giving them freedom, and thus warmly embraced the option to make their own decisions, others found the responsibility of making their own decisions about the basic ways of approaching life and what to believe about life and the world daunting. Indeed, this has been a root cause of much insecurity in Australian culture.

"There is an interesting parallel here with occupations. While every Australian young person values the opportunity to make their own choices about what work they will do, finding the right occupation is often a very long process and causes great insecurity in the process.

"Young people jealously guard their right to make their own decisions about religious faith and spirituality. Yet they do not find those decisions easy. Few feel equipped to think through what is involved. They frequently fall, almost by default, into a non-religious, non-spiritual approach to life that focuses on the here-and-now."