Impassioned Clay

Deep in ourselves resides the religious impulse.
Out of the passions of our clay it rises.
We have religion when we stop deluding ourselves
that we are self-sufficient, self-sustaining, or self-derived.
We have religion when we hold some hope beyond the present,
some self-respect beyond our failures.
when our nerves are edged by some dream in the heart.
We have religion when we have an abiding gratitude
for all that we have received.
We have religion when we look upon people with all their failings
and still find in them good; when we look beyond people to the grandeur
in nature and to the purpose in our own heart.
We have religion when we have done all that we can, and then in confidence
entrust ourselves to the life that is larger than ourselves.

Ralph N. Helverson