I have never known religion in the way a religious person seems to. I have never felt the touch of a divine on my mind. I have never had what one may call a ‘religious experience’. Or so I had thought. To muddy an old french philosopher, God made me in such a way that I am utterly incapable of faith in the supernatural. This holds true, but I now think I have found the dimension of myself that is religious.

Surely, many people find religion, or something religious looking, in different aspects of their cultural and social lives. Cults of personality. Fandoms. Social media followings. Worship is as good a business as it has ever been since Gilgamesh. The concept was crystallized quite clearly for yours truly when a pop star began cultivating the label “Belieber” for his dedicated fans. If we, as a human whole, were to magically shed all the religious institutions and holy texts of the world overnight, the next day would definitely hold plenty of religion. It's in our bones and blood as much as the need for companionship and social interaction. What is it exactly that is dwelling in our core, though? It can’t be a specific doctrine or deity calling out and having this effect on us. Gods and books are a dime a dozen.

The answer, and it is by no means a new one, lies in narrative. All religions can be boiled down to or are centered on a story. Some of the more insecure religions seem to feel the need to claim that theirs is the ‘greatest’ story. A good story draws you in, it makes you feel for the characters. A great one allows us to see something we didn’t see before in ourselves. A narrative worth following tickles and teases some exposed nerve that connects to the soul. It appeals to us, because it’s how our minds work. We want to follow the path of progression from event to event and see that they are all connected. This is why religion, in a sense, works. It uses this narrative-philia to give people one story that, for all intents and purposes, connects everything in life.

How does any of this make me realize I have a religious dimension to my own life? As thrilling as deconstruction of social institutions like religion is, it’s not exactly a revelatory experience. The thing of it is: I’m in the theatre. I’ve gone back to school to study it. I work in it. I live and breathe plays and scripts. Theatre is the art of storytelling. Other arts may try to make the claim, but theatre has always beaten them to the punch. Because before there was writing and painting, there was storytelling. Anytime a story is being told to at least one person, being to being, that’s theatre. (This means that if a thespian performs in the woods and nobody's there to experience it, it really isn’t theatre.)

No doctrine is needed, no ritual sacrifice required, and certainly there is no honor to lose in the theatre. For this author, there is no need to find a narrative or a story that is the answer to everything. There is simply a lifetime of exploring every story that cares to be explored, and learning more about life as a human being every time. I don’t know quite what to call this secular exercising of the religious muscle. Diversification of narrative experience? Worshiping at the temple of narrative pluralism? Maybe the truth of the matter will reveal itself. *insert winking face*