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On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does any-one have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake some day and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.' (Teaching a Stone to Talk, Harper & Row, 1982)

Annie Dillard#10

FaithReligionBeliefDangerReverence

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About this quote

What does it mean?
Treating religious power lightly is dangerous; faith involves real consequences.
In plain terms
Religion should be taken seriously, not treated like a game.
What can you take from it?
Respect the gravity of spiritual matters.

Where it applies

  • worship
  • spiritual practice
  • theology

Putting it to work

  • Approach faith with seriousness
  • Avoid superficial rituals

Questions to consider

  • Do you take your beliefs seriously?
  • Is faith playful or dangerous?

Another view

It uses extreme imagery that may alienate some readers.

More from Annie Dillard

  1. Why do people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute?

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  2. The surest sign of age is loneliness.

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  3. So this was adolescence. Is this how the people around me had died on their feet - inevitably, helplessly? Perhaps their own selves eclipsed the sun for so man…

    Permalink to quote #7

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