Of course religion is man-made -- it is a human response-- and
structuring into human organizations- to the awareness of God within and beyond
human beings.
It lies in the wonder and gratitude for the miracle of
nature, the awe at light and dark, the fear of dark and the fear of the
unexpected, but most of all the sense that there is a pattern and a
purpose, even if human beings cannot work out exactly what it is.
Services, prayers, churches, synagogues and mosques are all human
inventions, as are Masses and confession, last rites and grieving
rituals,.. It is how we deal with the world. But what makes us cling to
religion is not man-made-- that is the awareness of God within and beyond
us, and the sense that it is for us to try and make God's world, God's
creation, a better place- and that imperative comes from the divine.
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