Regular readers of The Scene (we know you’re out there) will know that we don’t much go in for that whole religion thing. Not that religion itself is at issue. Just that religious people tend toward the unnecessarily moralistic and cognitively dissonant.
Whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim or any number of other God-fearing options, religion has largely become a vehicle for the, in truth, least moral amongst us to take advantage of the hopes and dreams and, ultimately, fears of others.
Of course, preying on the weak and wanting isn’t new; it’s just the means through which religious zealots enrich themselves that are. What used to be hotlines and holy gatherings has turned to online donations and YouTube testimonials.
Otherwise, not much has changed.
But all that being said, the core of what made religion so important to begin with – spirituality, the search for answers to questions that will never be answered, the desire for community and doing good – remains. So whether you’re a believer – or not – take time out this Sunday to remind yourself that spirituality is important. That belief in something bigger than yourself and whatever form that something takes – isn’t always bad.
That we may be lacking in wise men these days, but that the world had at least three of them once, and they knew that giving, that sharing with those less fortunate, was the only true way to celebrate this one and only life.
Three Kings Day | Jan. 6. 5pm. Free. The Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St. kimmelcenter.org/threekings
– CAL SETAR | @CALSFRO
