jimrigby.org

Every animal in nature comes into the world with a set of instructions. Birds are born, if not knowing what to sing, with a predisposition to join in when they hear the song of their species. Birds are born with a predisposition to build a nest, to fly in certain directions at certain times of the year. Seeds are also born with instructions, as are insects.

I do not believe that human beings, alone in the world, are born without instructions, I do believe our consciousness is so complicated that we can easily lose our homing beacon.

We are not the orphans of nature. We are not truly outside of nature at all, it just looks that way to our frightened and confused minds. One purpose of religion, whether or not we call it by that name, is to reconnect, to re-establish contact. Whether or not we find the symbol “God” helpful in expressing it, religion is remembering our home in that primordial mystery out of which everything shines.