That idea of an objective God who created the world and is out there somewhere standing by, watching, caring, interacting—in other words, exercising divine providence—that idea doesn’t appeal to me. Maybe that idea has been replaced with a faith in humanity in some quarters, but the idea is still rampant.

Rather than just faith in humanity, I think faith in nature, of which humanity is a part, makes more sense. By nature I mean ultimate reality. In that model there is not some separate god “out there”. Rather there is the subjective Us. In a certain sense, “We” are God.

For sure let’s continue with our “progress”. Develop a better arrowhead, faster transportation, efficient clean energy, space travel, etc. That kind of know-how is valuable for survival of the human organism, but progress toward what? If progress is our mantra we darned well better figure out what we are supposed to be progressing toward.

The nuts and bolts are good and necessary, but IMO the main progress needed is courage to look directly at the significance of reality with deep appreciation and to realize our truly staggering value. The only progress truly needed is to take off our blinders. We are in heaven everywhere at all times.