My children are in their twenties now and making their way into college degrees, careers, and relationships that will hopefully support happy and fulfilled lives. They are kind, creative, and fun-loving kids who worry sometimes about drifting out of touch with classmates and childhood friends as they pursue their dreams.
One type of silent trauma we all struggle through at this time in life is a deepening sense of being on our own in the world. A system that supported and moved us along for so many years now expects us to settle into jobs, manage households, and occupy tax brackets that will help turn the wheel for others coming up behind us.
One concern of my kids has to do with finding a place where they can connect with others their age and explore, in community, the meaning of life. Churches these days are either too dogmatic and moralistic, telling people what to believe and how to behave, or else equally stuck in complacency where the question to which “Jesus is the answer” has long been forgotten. The failure of Christian orthodoxy to keep up and stay relevant with contemporary science, the current secular scene, and the irreverent curiosity of young people in their “individuative-reflective” stage of faith (James Fowler), makes it unattractive – even offensive – as an option.
What’s more, my kids and many other young people who may have grown up under the tutelage of theistic religion are no longer willing to buy into the idea of a god ‘out there’ who is watching over the world, intervening on our behalf, and waiting for our saved souls on the other side of this mortal life. The metaphysical backdrop that may have once given context to a mythology of ups and downs, incarnations and ascensions, virgin births and miraculous resurrections, garden paradises and a home in heaven, no longer fits with what we know about the universe and the adventure of life on our planet.
But they’re not ready to declare themselves ‘atheists’, either. Somehow the argument over whether or not god exists seems unimportant to them. If a literal deity (the god ‘up there’) doesn’t make sense in light of contemporary science, and if the old dualisms of body and soul, matter and spirit, insiders and outsiders no longer resonate with our current world picture, are we left only with the responsible choice of tossing it all aside and leaving religion behind?
In the heat of their reaction, many have not taken a moment to consider the possibility that god might be a literary being and not a literal one at all, and that the sacred stories (myths) where this literary figure lives might still have metaphorical significance, even as the backdrop of an archaic metaphysics has become incredible to us.
Because young adults today are separated from their peer circles by the obligation of getting on with their lives, it is common for them to feel isolated, but also aberrant and alone in their ordeal. If churches and even parachurch organizations are not providing welcome to their questions, doubts, and ‘heretical’ interests, where can they turn? Perhaps they are indeed exceptional, in the sense that no one really shares their struggle or can understand what they’re going through.
And that’s where I tell my kids: You are not alone. In fact, you are part of a worldwide majority of young people who happen to believe, quite mistakenly, that they are lone delinquents of their dominant cultures. As the regulated and gridlocked world of adult life subjects you to a shakedown of your creative intelligence and free-ranging curiosity, this is your opportunity to reach out and find each other. 
What the world needs now is an irenic revolution, inspired and led by young people who want to transcend differences and explore our common ground as human beings. In communities dedicated to the shared pursuit of peace and understanding, they will help move spirituality outside the boxes of orthodoxy and atheism, into a post-theistic future. Together they will foment tolerance, loving-kindness, honest dialogue, and radical responsibility. Instead of terrorists who seek to generate anxiety, they will be irenists (from the Greek irene, peace) who cultivate a deep center of calm presence, inner strength, and creative authority. Their mission in the world will be to wage peace in every quarter until every person on this planet is fearless and free.
I am part of such a gathering which meets every week to talk about the concerns, challenges, and opportunities we daily face as human beings. We call ourselves a “wisdom circle,” not because we’re so smart or have all the answers, but to remind us of our primary task, which is to listen and learn from one another as we seek to live by the principles of wisdom. We understand these principles as guiding insights into the nature of genuine community, where individuality is respected, creativity is celebrated, empathy is nurtured, and unity (not always agreement!) is our highest aspiration.
Our wisdom circle has no ambitions of growing our numbers to the point where we exceed the seating capacity of our homes. We would never allow our gathering to become so large that we could no longer arrange ourselves in a circle, but instead have to sit in rows (like church pews). The point is to look at the faces of each other, to listen to each other, learn from each other, and leap together in the consilient experience that is community.
One question that soon comes up is, What should we talk about? Is the topic of conversation merely a roulette wheel of whatever somebody wants to discuss? Sometimes. More often, however, the dialogue gets started around a recent blog post of mine. (It doesn’t stay on the topic necessarily, but sidetracks can be unexpectedly fruitful as well.) My “tracts of revolution” blog is a library of reflections on such topics as spirituality, philosophy, science, the brain, psychology, education, religion, post-theism, the new humanism, mysticism, ethics, favorite authors, and current events – all sharing the golden thread of my general theme, which is ‘exploring creative change’.
Why don’t we – or why don’t you, reader – find a few others who want to be in dialogue over things that really matter? Commit to gathering weekly. Set up a rotating hosting schedule; brew some coffee, spread a table, open a bottle of wine. Decide on a topic; or choose a blog post, share the link, and ask individuals to read it beforehand. Remember that consensus or agreement is not the purpose of a wisdom circle, and I certainly would not want my views and conclusions to become some kind of orthodoxy. 
The purpose is to become a community, because community is why we’re here. We need to start thinking like the universe and living as one.
Join the irenic revolution.
Tracts of Revolution 