We live in a powerfully secular culture, strongly influenced by the methods and findings of science, by a widespread reliance on technology, and by ubiquitous seductive commercial enticements. There is, in consequence, considerable risk of people rejecting the religion of theirparents’ and grandparents’ culture, never to reconsider deeply this vital aspect of their lives.
Young children all exhibit some degree of spiritual awareness, which usually fades towards the teen years. Some people even come to define their religious identities in negative terms: ‘I am not religious’, and, ‘I do not believe in God’. Only if this is adopted narrowly and as a final position, though, need it be considered a serious problem. Not yet representing true independence of thinking and behaviour, it could be the positive start of something, an honest move forward in terms of spiritual development.