FRIENDS

Author’s note: Trill is a fictional female acquaintance who makes it possible to write in a style that is comfortable for me.

My Dear Trill,
It is not surprising at all that in growing up and entering the real world  you are suffering   moments of disappointment and even despair. I am sorry to read that a dear friend has summarily “defriended” you. Such people may be troubled, have decided to change their lives, are  having a fit of petulance, or have paranoias over which they have no control.Try not to dwell on it. Fortunately time is a great healer and your one-time friend will soon become a distant memory.
       There is a difference between acquaintances and friends. One can have many acquaintances, but should hold only a few friends. The more you have, the greater the likelihood that there will be opportunists or predators among them. Beware of sycophants. The test is loyalty, remaining true despite what events turn up.
It is amusing that you are still thinking about what religion you would be comfortable in. Such a wide choice. Do you know, there are approximately 23,000 denominations of the Christian religion alone in the world? It is hard to believe than any were started by other than opportunists.  I am sure you will let me know of your choice, whenever it comes about.  
Then there are other religions where God doesn’t even enter the picture. A heavily populated one  is the secular religion called  consumerism. The economies of most nations are capitalism. Success is based on ever increasing growth. The strength of all the media has been harnessed to get  more and more adherents to the religion -  hawking products you can easily do without.
You may benefit from reading a new book “Age of Anxiety: by Joseph Bottum. In it he details the unexpected phenomenon of post-Protestantism, a flight by millions from the formal church to a way of life in which the individual is in control of morality, spiritualism, and all the other aspects of living in the Occidental world. It is quite a  revealing, and in many ways a thoughtful and reassuring book
But I worry that with the weakening of formal religion, a concurrent ascendance of opposition forces invites a  sober reckoning regarding where world society is headed. This is where sustainability makes its appearance, a marshaling of human effort around the world to behave and perform as though Earth is not here to plunder, but to conserve and protect her in all aspects. Is it possible that sustainability will become the new secular religion, firmly displacing consumerism? There are many reasons why this is necessary, and one can only hope that it will occur in time to save Planet Earth as we know her, so accommodating to humanity.
Remember to always be a skeptic, but follow through with thoughtfulness. Whenever someone approaches you with an “opportunity,” be aware that in all probability it is their opportunity.