Identity: What do we believe?

‘When men stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.’ (G.K. Chesterton)

Habits of Mind: Taking Responsible Risks

There is an interesting podcast that I often listen to called ‘The Sacred’. In each episode a well-known figure is interviewed and asked about what they hold to be most sacred. We most often use the word sacred only to mean something connected to God or religion, but The Sacred is a podcast about our deepest values and the stories that shape us. It also seeks to build empathy and understanding between people who may be very different.

Those being interviewed, from academics to journalists, playwrights and politicians are asked where their values and beliefs have come from, what they are trying to do and what might help heal our often very divided public conversations.

This makes for enlightening listening at a time when public discussions are frequently polarised and an exploration of the fundamental beliefs that inform our lives rarely explored in depth.

None of us operates without a set of beliefs unconscious or otherwise. According to recent UK statistics 51% of people in Britain believe in God or a spiritual power, 38% say they do not and the rest remain undecided. These are all positions of belief. Yet as GK Chesterton is reputed to have said ‘when men stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing’. And perhaps worse still they may end up ‘believing in anything’. That is why it is important to reflect on what our deepest values are and the stories that shape us. What is sacred to us…the things that motivate us and for which we might stand up and be counted? What is their provenance and do they stand up to scrutiny? Do they bear fruit that enriches the world in which we live or develop personal characteristics that dignify?

So this week, perhaps listen to an episode of ‘The Sacred’ and consider what you might answer if you were asked ‘What do you consider to be sacred in your life?’

Christine Crossley