Follow the guide

We are living in uncertain times - and the combined threats of terrorist attacks, economic meltdown, environmental disaster and global warming seem destined to keep it that way for years to come.  Moreover we now live in a multicultural society which every day presents us with a wide range of personal choices about our lifestyle, morality and spirituality.  The certainties that guided our parents and grandparents are now relegated to the realms of nostalgia as all beliefs are seen as being equally valid.

And yet despite all our advances in building a more tolerant society and despite all the progress that has been made in the realms of science & medicine many people with no particular axe to grind are left with an aching longing for something more.

Douglas Coupland in his book 'Life after God' writes this:

Now — here is my secret: I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God — that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.

So in a world of such uncertainty and surrounded by so many voices that clamour for our attention, can we find a solid place to stand without going back to the old religious dogmas that have been found wanting?

What if the way forward is by going back - and re-examining the clues left in the intriguing life of Jesus Christ - who said simply to all who would listen, "Come. Follow me".