--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even religious people are vulnerable to…" description: "\"“Even religious people are vulnerable to this longing. Those who belong to communities of faith have acquired a certain patience with what is sometimes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/793/barbara-brown-taylor-3225_faith_even-religious-people-are-vulnerable-to_2257882.jpg" --- # Even religious people are vulnerable to this longing… ![“Even religious people are vulnerable to this longing. Those who belong to communities of faith have acquired a certain patience with what is sometimes called organized religion. They have learned to forgive themselves. They do not expect their institutions to stand in for God, and they are happy…” quote by Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/793/barbara-brown-taylor-3225_faith_even-religious-people-are-vulnerable-to_2257882.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/793/barbara-brown-taylor-3225_faith_even-religious-people-are-vulnerable-to_2257882.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/793/barbara-brown-taylor-3225_faith_even-religious-people-are-vulnerable-to_2257882.jpg) > ““Even religious people are vulnerable to this longing. Those who belong to communities of faith have acquired a certain patience with what is sometimes called organized religion. They have learned to forgive themselves. They do not expect their institutions to stand in for God, and they are happy to use inherited maps for some of life's journeys. They do not need to walk off every cliff all by themselves. Yet they too can harbor the sense that there is more to life that they are being shown. Where is the secret hidden? Who has the key to the treasure box of More?”” [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Faith communities offer patience and inherited guidance, yet individuals still seek deeper meaning beyond institutional religion. **In simple terms:** Religion gives maps, but people look for hidden treasures beyond them. Key Takeaway Seek personal meaning while honoring communal wisdom. Themes faith search for meaning community Mood hopeful contemplative Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - spiritual seeking - interfaith dialogue - life transitions Key Concepts spirituality existential quest tradition Questions to Reflect On - What “secret” are you searching for? - How can you balance inherited beliefs with personal insight? A Different Perspective Relying on tradition may limit personal discovery. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Organized religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organized-religion/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Religious people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-people/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) ## Related quotes > [I think communities of faith are extremely important in this question. I think that all faith communities share a common and unusual distinction in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-think-communities-of-faith-are-extremely-important-in-this-question/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We need to do a better job of working, again, with the communities, faith communities, business communities, as well as the police to try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-need-to-do-a-better-job-of-working-again-with-the-communities/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Because we are rooted in a generous Christian heritage, we are eager to collaborate with people of other faiths, and those seeking the common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-d-mclaren/because-we-are-rooted-in-a-generous-christian-heritage-we-are-eager/) [Brian D. McLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-d-mclaren/) > [“The only antidote to religious triumphalism is the readiness of communities of faith to permit doubt and self-criticism to play a vital role in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-john-hall/the-only-antidote-to-religious-triumphalism-is-the-readiness-of/) [Douglas John Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-john-hall/) > [“We are communities in time and in a place, I know, but we are communities in faith as well - and sometimes time can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/we-are-communities-in-time-and-in-a-place-i-know-but-we-are/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Humanity will never be religious unless all organized religions disappear and religion becomes an individual commitment towards existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/humanity-will-never-be-religious-unless-all-organized-religions/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Few things are more important at this time in history than for religious people to listen to the New Atheists as if these unbelievers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dowd/few-things-are-more-important-at-this-time-in-history-than-for/) [Michael Dowd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dowd/) > [“Human history’s the most funny and yet the most tragic discovery will be the discovery of the religious people that all religions are man-made!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/human-history-s-the-most-funny-and-yet-the-most-tragic-discovery-will/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Faith is a great thing, and really religious people would like us to believe that faith and knowing are the same thing, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/faith-is-a-great-thing-and-really-religious-people-would-like-us-to/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Religion often is very embarrassing, and I totally get it. So I am sort of sometimes burdened with the fact that I love talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-holmes/religion-often-is-very-embarrassing-and-i-totally-get-it-so-i-am-sort/) [Pete Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-holmes/) > [The new spirituality will also base itself on a third very large spiritual understanding, which is that life is eternal. Most religious people claim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/the-new-spirituality-will-also-base-itself-on-a-third-very-large/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Every once in a while I have this thought, we've got to piss off the religious people. How are we going to do that?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perry-noble/every-once-in-a-while-i-have-this-thought-we-ve-got-to-piss-off-the/) [Perry Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perry-noble/) > [Most people I know are not hard-core religious people. They are what I would call 'lightly religious.' So I don't buy the notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-parker/most-people-i-know-are-not-hard-core-religious-people-they-are-what-i/) [Trey Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-parker/) > [ Listen to these words of \[apostle\] Paul: "We war not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and the rulers of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/listen-to-these-words-of-apostle-paul-we-war-not-against-flesh-and/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) ## More by Barbara Brown Taylor > [The poets began drifting away from churches as the jurists grew louder and more insistent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/the-poets-began-drifting-away-from-churches-as-the-jurists-grew/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [I decided I got to say whether I was Christian or not, and so I've relaxed enormously since then. I'm the one who gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/i-decided-i-got-to-say-whether-i-was-christian-or-not-and-so-i-ve/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [Having been brought up with a definition of faith as adherence to a set of beliefs, I have more and more begun to turn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/having-been-brought-up-with-a-definition-of-faith-as-adherence-to-a/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [I don't miss the ministry, because I'm completely engaged in it. 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I learned that from my father, I think, who loved his own company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/i-love-being-alone-i-learned-that-from-my-father-i-think-who-loved/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [There was no time anymore to be quiet or still or pray. So, in many ways, that's what led to my downward spin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/there-was-no-time-anymore-to-be-quiet-or-still-or-pray-so-in-many/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [The beauty in the losing is a loss finally of self-consciousness. There's a gorgeous moment that can happen in all kinds of places. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/the-beauty-in-the-losing-is-a-loss-finally-of-self-consciousness/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [“The world for which you have been so carefully prepared is being taken away from you,' he said, 'by the grace of God.' (Walter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/the-world-for-which-you-have-been-so-carefully-prepared-is-being-2/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [So if waiting is an aggravation, it is at least partly because we do not like being reminded of our limits. We like doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/so-if-waiting-is-an-aggravation-it-is-at-least-partly-because-we-do/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. 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When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Keep the faith, and keep going strong!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/keep-the-faith-and-keep-going-strong/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Once you pull the trigger, you've got to throw balls aggressively and with conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-smith/once-you-pull-the-trigger-you-ve-got-to-throw-balls-aggressively-and/) [Alex Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-smith/) [Browse all 37,796 Faith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Even religious people are vulnerable to this longing. Those who belong to communities of faith have acquired a certain patience with what is sometimes called organized religion. They have learned to forgive themselves. 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