I’ll tell you how I see religion. Religions are, for the most part, imperfect human-made trellises. Ideally, they provide social support up which the vine of spiritual life can grow. The fruits can then flourish in the sun, and as a Pink Floyd lyric had it, “Love is the shadow that ripens the wine.” This is a life-long journey.

Mind you, some shadow it can be! It is one thing for the vine of life to grow wild along the ground, but then it stays within its own shadows. Up to a point, we can all “do” our own spirituality at that ground level. The only reason why we need religions, is if we decide we want to do it with others, and hopefully, with the support of their experience. Furthermore, if love is the basis of our spirituality, then it’s got to be all about others. That arguably makes religions inevitable.

Why? Because if we’re going to get it together with others about anything, we need to agree on what we’re sharing and with what ground rules. Such as: will we have rituals and ceremonies, or will we (like us Quakers,) just “do it quietly”? And then if (let’s say) we’re going to have rituals and ceremonies, shall we (let’s say) celebrate the ripened fruit of the vine with wine? “This is my body,” said Jesus – the matter of the universe. “This is my blood” – the spiritual wine, that animates the whole shebang. I’m talking about that kind of social expression of things. Is that kind of ritualised experience helpful, or not? Either way, we need to agree if we’re doing things together.