Religion, every religion, conceals at least as much as it reveals. Religion probably muddies up more than it clarifies. Nevertheless, religion has something absolutely crucial to reveal.

Jesus told a parable about this:

‘Have you understood all this?’ They (his followers) answered, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe (wise teacher) who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.'

If we want to be wise in our spirituality, we'll always be nosing about in the cellars of our traditions, sifting through the records of what our sisters and brothers through the ages have thought was really important to pass on.

If we want to be wise in our spirituality, we'll also be learning to set aside what's not helpful (to set it aside with decreasing frustration that so much has to be set aside; that's just the way it is). Accepting this is just part of growing up.

If we want to be wise in our spirituality, we'll learn to welcome new insights, our own and the many, many fresh insights of others, trusting that God gives us the wisdom to recognize what's needed for in our own times and what's not, trusting that sifting and sorting is part of the vary process of developing the capacity to know the difference.

It's wise to be critical of religion. But for most of us it's foolish to give up on it.