Does God Have a Future? (Part 3)

There is currently a battle being waged between liberals and literalists in the church, yet neither side is likely to win in the long run. It's true that evangelicals are making gains, even in the most traditional places (a country like Ecuador, once a bastion of orthodox Catholicism, is estimated to be up to 25% Protestant, due to inroads made by missionaries from the U.S., and one reads with a shock that the Air Force Academy is rife with evangelical preaching among the cadets). The future of God, however, lies in spiritual evolution, and the next step of growth is for people to start to awaken one by one, just as Jesus, Gautama, and Muhammad did.

Judging by grass-roots activity, the following trends will continue to shape American spiritual life outside the church:

--Meditation will become mainstream.
--Aspects of the paranormal and miraculous will be widely credited.
--Healing, both physical and psychological, will become commonplace.
--Prayer will be seen as real and efficacious.
--Manifestation of desires will be talked about as a real phenomenon.
--People will regain a connection to their souls.
--Individuals will find answers inwardly to their deepest spiritual questions. They will believe in their private answers and live accordingly.
--Communities of belief will arise.
--Gurus and other spiritual authorities will wane in influence.
--A wisdom tradition will grow to embrace the great spiritual teachings at the heart of organized religion.
--Faith will no longer be seen as an irrational departure from reason and science.
--Wars will decline as peace becomes a social reality.
--Nature will regain its sacred value.

Millions of Americans already embody these trends in their own lives. Whether or not they identify with labels like New Age or counterculture, they abide by the values of the new spirituality that emerged in the Sixties. Outward events may mask this widespread revolution in spiritual values, but outward events have always been a poor guide to what is happening at the soul level. Outwardly the Roman Empire was a million times more powerful than a single carpenter in Palestine who died after teaching publicly for three years.

It's worthwhile to see where you fall on this list of developments, and even more worthwhile to stop being isolated. Spirituality is fragmented right now; it has no recognized dogma or orthodoxy, no priesthood or official scripture. But there is a commonality of purpose that unites the fragments, and once you see that you have a place in that commonality, something greater can begin to grow. It's called communion. There is no more powerful force on earth, and unbeknownst to the press, it may be the greatest news story not yet told about life in America.

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