While we should not seek to be what we are not, I think that there are things we can do to add more "spirit" to what we believe and what we do as individual humanists and as a community. Among these is a deepening appreciation of humanism as a lived philosophy of life; that is, not merely beliefs we hold about life and reality, but beliefs we strive to put into practice in every aspect of our existence. A second emphasis is to see the connections between what we believe and what we do--to appreciate how our actions are rooted in our convictions and how our ideals inspire our actions. A third approach would be to deepen our relationship to the sources of our being.

For the traditional believer, this source is God. For the humanist, it is usually understood as Nature. It is the sense of rootedness in the cosmos and drawing strength from those forces in nature that sustain us. Lastly, it is openness to the "big" questions of life and reality, the reflections that inspire awe, wonder, cosmic piety and reverent humility in the face of the grandeur of existence.

--Joseph Chuman, Ethical Culture Leader
From DIALOGUE publication of the American Ethical Union
Autumn 2005