Recently, I discovered that a friend I thought was Catholic has embraced some other belief system. It made me think of a poem by Christian Wiman called, “All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs.” Wiman is a poet my wife introduced me to a couple years ago, through this very poem.
Whether they know or not, most people in America are essentially existentialists. That is, they make up their own worldview and believe whatever they want. This is even true of many in organized religions; they might belong to this group or that, but they are “cafeteria” believers who take what looks good to them and leave what doesn’t.
Confusion is where this leaves us as a society. Through statements like, “This one converts to Catholicism and this one to trees,” Wiman captures, not only the fact of faith in this cultural moment, but the feeling of it (which is like insects swarming).
Given the highly individualistic nature of belief these days, disconnection is the other hallmark of our times, which Wiman wryly presents by listing a series of diets: “Paleo, Keto, Zone, South Beach, Bourbon”. It is the “whatever works for you” approach to faith.
One of the poem’s final images is of the planet “turning faster and faster in the blackness,” which sums up our dizzying (maybe even sickening) state of disorientation due to a lack of light.
Wherever you stand on issues of faith, Wiman’s poem hits on some universal emotions. There is, perhaps, a final irony in this. Humanity might be in a state of mass confusion, but we’re all in it together, LOL. Please take a couple minutes to read, “All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs.”
A Wandering Minstrel 