I am grateful for science, believe in global warming, an old earth, etc. I am thankful for the enlightenment, separation of church and state, and the freedom those of us in the West enjoy, namely the freedom to live as we choose.

But I also have "faith." By that I mean I embrace mystery, the belief the I don't have everything (or most things) figured out, the possibility good things can still happen to me, the idea history is moving toward an end and not just oblivion, that we are not alone.

My experiences are summed up by neuroscientist Robert Burton who said, "Being certain is a mental sensation not evidence of fact. The feeling of knowing happens to us, we cannot make it happen." There it is. The mental sensation.

I have been deeply, darkly existential. By that I mean discouraged and depressed that my life is passing away, the earth is passing away and, well you get the rest.

But I get up each day and invite God into my life, attempt to live like Jesus and reach out and love people regardless of their beliefs. Could I be wrong? I'm wrong about a lot of things. But for me faith tethers me to humility.

Can someone without faith or a faith live a good life? Of course. Can they be humble? Without a doubt. But the things that happen to me, the people who come into my life, the experiences that happen, have a very different dimension when I do it through faith and prayer.

Only speaking for myself. And if all of my underlying assumptions are wrong, I will still have lived my life by principles that are richer than any I could have created in my head.

Pascal's Wager? Perhaps. Incidentally, Pascal believed he had experienced the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God described in the bible. He carried a note in his pocket every day of his life after having a "vision" of God.

The older I get the more I embrace the Golden Rule and the Enlightenment. Love and reason can co-exist because they are two totally separate domains.