Dear Born-again Christian,

I know what you’re going through. Really I do. Partly because I’ve been there and partly because you are facing the same things that all of us face.

There are several things that are incredibly uncomfortable about being human.

First of all, we’re all going to die. This is the big kicker, actually. We can’t seem to avoid it, although people use many ingenious methods to fight it. Yet death is there and it throws our lives into relief.

It raises the question of meaning. Is life merely dust to dust, ashes to ashes? If not, then what?

I’ll grant you that your belief system gives you hope for eternal life. It begs the question of death. It also hands you a system of meaning. It explains everything, it gives you answers; it helps you sleep at night if certain answers are what you want.

We also share the dilemma of being responsible for our own lives. Yet such freedom is a burden in a way. I can understand giving it over to authorities who seem to know best.

Finally, we all face the fact of being alone. No matter who we know or how much time we are with others, we are ultimately alone. This is not easy and I can see how an exclusive church family helps and the promised intimacy with Jesus appeals. People are not entirely reliable, are they? And many of our families of origin were disappointing.

Overall, it’s natural to want security and certainty. We cannot predict or control the future.

But, dear Christian, what if these comforts cause you separation and limitation? What if in looking to life hereafter, you miss this one? What if clinging to your group of believers, you are disconnected from the rest of the community, and you feel separate from humanity? What if in turning over responsibility for your values and choices, you have a very narrow path?

I know that you were taught that the narrow path is the one correct path, and safety is important to you. But what if these teachings are only ideas, albeit powerful and held by many? For centuries, another powerful and widely held idea said the earth was flat.

So I’d like to present you with a different core idea and an invitation. May I suggest the idea that there is more than one way, despite the exclusive notions of truth you have learned? I invite you to explore. I invite you to have courage, for that is what we have as humans that makes us grand.

Yes, we will die, but for now we are alive. I invite you to notice that – the day we have today, the world around, the breath you breathe, and exult in it. I invite you to join us, the rest of the human race, and the rest of life on the planet as well. we ask you to share with us this journey of uncertainty, ambiguity, joys and sorrows, knowing we are flawed, yet capable - yes capable – not full of original sin, depraved, weak, dependant, foolish. We are capable of dancing and singing, loving, working, falling down and getting up again, laughing and trudging on, continuing on a life journey that is wide and wonderful, certain only of mystery and surprise`.

Please join us, and despite your ultimate individuality, I can guarantee you will feel far from alone. There are many of us relinquishing the illusion of safety, rebuilding and reconnecting, above all connecting deeply with ourselves, learning to trust our own thoughts and feelings. We can support you.

We invite you to let go of right and wrong, good and bad, and join us in the relief of acceptance and the warmth of compassion, where we share our desire to work for justice, express our creativity, and not turn away from what is possible. Join us as we learn to tap into our inner resources of love and wisdom and strength. Let’s stop fighting with “sin” and allow our own goodness to permeate our lives, leaving room for imperfection, mistakes, and forgiveness. Let’s be good animals, learn to be in our bodies, and experience the sensory richness of life.

We do have options. The way we look at things makes a huge difference. We can see death as a closing phrase of a beautiful sonata. Freedom and responsibility can be parts of an exciting challenge, not a burden. Aloneness can be taken in context, like a wave in an ocean – individual and special but much more – united with others and powerful in the largeness of existence. Meaning might be fluid and a natural outcome, not defined or chased or captured. Perhaps as we embrace and engage with life, meaning takes care of itself. Perhaps we are co-creators with God, and she is evident among us as we are willing to participate.

Earth is our home, here and now. We are sharing this beautiful and fragile little planet. We need you. Welcome home.

Sincerely yours,
The Great Unwashed (but happily so)