6 Ways to Find Meaning and Purpose in a Secular Age

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Countless studies show that religion makes us happier, healthier, and more giving. Religion connects us to our past, creates tight communal bonds and provides a space for people to grow in faith together. While religion plays an important role in the lives of most Americans, a recent Religious Landscape Study found that Americans have become less religious in recent years. The change in Americans’ religious beliefs correlates with the rising share of the U.S. public that is not affiliated with any religion, commonly referred to as the “nones”. The religious unaffiliated not only make up a growing portion of the population, they also are growing increasingly secular. While most Americans are raised in a religious tradition, many are leaving religion, and in turn losing a key sense of belonging and community. How can we still find ritual, story, community and belonging in a secular age? Here are six ways to find meaning and purpose in our nation today.

Create Grace Moments

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Grace by definition is the unmerited favor of God, a remarkable reflection of God’s love for us. It is an abundance of gratitude for things we didn’t ask for. We don’t have to wait for grace moments to happen. We can train ourselves to recognize them so that we are prepared when they happen and create them in our own lives. In the book “Grace Without God” author Katherine Ozment shares how her grandmother believed that God looked down on her and blessed each moment, freely, from the infinite well of His great love. She talks about how her grandmother didn’t ask for grace, but it was all hers the same. It infused her life in meaning. For her grandmother, and for us, receiving and being thankful for God’s grace each day is important and can give us a greater sense of meaning.

Model Compassion and Morality

Many of us live by some version of treating others well. When it comes to purpose and meaning in our homes, we can do more than package it in a religious saying like the Golden Rule. Simple compassion can be modeled. The trick is modeling it in such a way that kids take notice. When we’re in church, we can force our children to sit through a sermon. This can be harder to do in our own homes; however, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to model this. To articulate our sources of morality, you can teach your children the story of who you all are as a family, and your family’s connection to the past, and respect for the histories of our relatives who came before us. It’s important that you own your values if you want your child to practice them.

Practice Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation has become increasingly more popular in recent years. Adopted from Eastern religions, it appeals especially to the spiritual but not religious set because they offer seekers a complete package, an alternative worldview as well as a framework for how to live. It is not directed toward getting us to be different from how we already are. Instead, it helps us become aware of what is already happening moment by moment through the practice of channeling our thoughts for some length of time, then letting them go. Those who practice it say it helps them eliminate stress and focus better. In an increasingly busy and connected world that often leaves many of us overwhelmed and over-stimulated, mediation offers an opportunity to center ourselves.

Grow in Religious Literacy

Religious literacy is important, not only because it guides us in understanding our history, but also in understanding what is happening now. Studies have shown that increasingly secular generations are losing a working knowledge of religion. Religious illiteracy cuts us off from our history and understanding of the spiritual impulses that once structured the societies of our ancestors, and from a working knowledge of how Western art and culture used to be – not just the past conflicts but the conflicts making the news today. If you don’t understand religion, you don’t understand what’s going on in the world. We also lose greater awareness of how we fit into a larger culture framework. We can grow in religious literacy not only by reading and studying religious texts, but also by having relationships with people who come from different religious backgrounds. This comes through discussion, sharing and respectful debate.

Have Interfaith Conversations

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The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and beliefs. Interfaith dialogue combats the common misconceptions of different faith traditions and explains what others’ faith, or lack thereof means to them. There are groups like the Interfaith Youth Core that attempt to tear down walls we put up when we’re ignorant about religion and choose not to learn more. These conversations are happening more and more in colleges around the nation, but it’s important that we encourage these discussions before our children are old enough to go off to school. If we don’t, it may be too late.