{"id":3752,"date":"2019-02-20T12:24:16","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T17:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=3752"},"modified":"2019-02-20T16:47:58","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T21:47:58","slug":"faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html","title":{"rendered":"How Faith Fills the Holes a Secular World Leaves"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shutterstock.com\"<\/a>
Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The world is becoming increasingly secular. Some tout this as a good thing and the natural progression of the modern world. Others, however, have pointed out that a purely secular and atheistic world leaves holes that cannot be filled by anything manmade. Only faith can fill them.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks pointed out that \u201cwhat the secularists forgot is that Homo sapiens<\/em> is the meaning-seeking animal\u2026[and] if there is one thing the great institutions of the modern world do not do, it is provide meaning.\u201d Where the secular world tries to provide meaning, it often falls short or makes things worse. The decline of religion has led some people to hunt for meaning in secular areas such as politics.<\/a>\u00a0This in turn has led to the infection of nearly-religious zealotry found in politics today where hatred flies freely and differing political views are seen as perfectly reasonable grounds for ending a friendship or refusing to speak to a family member. Still, the secular world fails to bring about meaning.<\/p>\n

Pew research found in a recent forum<\/a> that 20 percent of Americans stated that their faith was what made their lives feel meaningful, roughly the same percentage of people who stated that their spouse gave their lives meaning and not too much lower than the number of people who emphasized their children or grandchildren. That said, a larger survey<\/a> found that actively religious people were noticeably more likely to describe themselves as \u201cvery happy\u201d when compared to unreligious people across several countries.<\/p>\n

The research supports that faith is important, but personal observations uphold the idea as well. On a trip to Paradise, California, Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commented <\/a>on both the destruction the Camp Fire had caused but also the role faith played in helping people through such devastation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we tried to comfort those still reeling from the disaster, they seemed more concerned about how we were doing [after the death of our daughter Wendy to cancer.]\u2026As we tearfully looked into each other\u2019s hearts, the blackened chimneys and a sea of ash seemed to fade into the background. Our shared faith that God would heal our hearts and help us rebuild our lives knit our hearts together in love and allowed us to experience \u201cthe peace of God, which passeth all understanding\u201d (Philippians 4:7). We flew home sobered by what we had seen but also inspired by the goodness of so many.\u201d<\/p>\n

That peace could not have been brought by secular forces. \u201cThe most profound thing I\u2019ve witnessed [during my 35 years of traveling the world],\u201d said Nelson, \u201cis the unrivaled difference that belief in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, has in a person\u2019s life. There is simply nothing to compare with the refining, ennobling strength and meaning that come into the life of a devoted believer and servant.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a surgeon, Nelson worked on the human heart. He was part of the team that created the heart-lung machine that enabled open heart surgery, but he recognized that humans had limits, God did not. \u201cAs a surgeon, I repaired hundreds of hearts,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cBut my skills could not heal heartache, or erase grief, or salve emotional wounds. Nothing man-made can ever approach what God can do for His children\u2026The most able minds cannot offer redemption from sin or heal our hearts from emotional pain. They cannot generate enduring hope or joy. They cannot promise life after death or the potential of being with our loved ones beyond the grave. They cannot generate peace of mind\u2026If there is anything I\u2019ve learned in my 94 years of living, it is that a life with God is far better \u2014 more filled with hope \u2014 than one without Him. Faith in God is, and has always been, the pre-eminent force for good in this world. It is the most enduring source of peace for minds and hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Believers will say the same, and the research supports that religion helps people deal with tragedy. Once the necessities are rebuilt, it may be time to focus on rebuilding faith in California rather than celebrity\u2019s second homes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world is becoming increasingly secular. Some tout this as a good thing and the natural progression of the modern world. Others, however, have pointed out that a purely secular and atheistic world leaves holes that cannot be filled by anything manmade. Only faith can fill them. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks pointed out that \u201cwhat…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[741,4,6],"tags":[958,90,840,959],"class_list":["post-3752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-inspiring-messages","category-thought-to-ponder","tag-disaster","tag-faith","tag-natural-disaster","tag-wildfires"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Faith Fills the Holes a Secular World Leaves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A purely secular world cannot fill the holes that a lack of faith leaves or bring the sense of comfort and meaning that religion provides.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Faith Fills the Holes a Secular World Leaves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A purely secular world cannot fill the holes that a lack of faith leaves or bring the sense of comfort and meaning that religion provides.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiration Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-20T17:24:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-20T21:47:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephanie Hertzenberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/files\/2018\/08\/faith-christian-bible-reading-hands-woman-prayer-light_credit-shutterstock-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Faith Fills the Holes a Secular World Leaves","description":"A purely secular world cannot fill the holes that a lack of faith leaves or bring the sense of comfort and meaning that religion provides.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Faith Fills the Holes a Secular World Leaves","og_description":"A purely secular world cannot fill the holes that a lack of faith leaves or bring the sense of comfort and meaning that religion provides.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html","og_site_name":"Inspiration Report","article_published_time":"2019-02-20T17:24:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-02-20T21:47:58+00:00","author":"Stephanie Hertzenberg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/files\/2018\/08\/faith-christian-bible-reading-hands-woman-prayer-light_credit-shutterstock-300x225.jpg","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html","name":"How Faith Fills the Holes a Secular World Leaves","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/files\/2018\/08\/faith-christian-bible-reading-hands-woman-prayer-light_credit-shutterstock-300x225.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-20T17:24:16+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-20T21:47:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/2accd57241ae3de281b15e255b66b126"},"description":"A purely secular world cannot fill the holes that a lack of faith leaves or bring the sense of comfort and meaning that religion provides.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/files\/2018\/08\/faith-christian-bible-reading-hands-woman-prayer-light_credit-shutterstock-300x225.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/files\/2018\/08\/faith-christian-bible-reading-hands-woman-prayer-light_credit-shutterstock-300x225.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/02\/faith-fills-holes-secular-world-leaves.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Faith Fills the Holes a Secular World Leaves"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/","name":"Inspiration Report","description":"Inspiration News, Life Advice and Emotional Wellness","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/2accd57241ae3de281b15e255b66b126","name":"Stephanie Hertzenberg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/080\/080e3b9c5b3764a74a7323d03c0bfb80x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/080\/080e3b9c5b3764a74a7323d03c0bfb80x96.jpg","caption":"Stephanie Hertzenberg"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/authors\/s\/stephanie-hertzenberg.aspx"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/author\/shertzenberg"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/616"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3752"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3763,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3752\/revisions\/3763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}