G.K. Chesterton famously observed that when people cease to believe in God, their natural tendency is not to believe in NOTHING, it is to believe in ANYTHING.

This is an expression of the truth that spirituality is a basic component of human nature (though, like other basic components, strong in some and weak in others). It cannot be denied, and must always find an outlet.

There was a nice little illustration of all this in today’s New York Post (America’s Newspaper of Record). A young actress named Nicole duFresne was shot dead in a mugging Jan. 27 in NY city. Here is a follow-up story.

“Sparks [Nicole’s fiancé] got down on his knees and prayed as a Guyanese shaman performed a special ceremony, wafting incense with wild turkey and eagle feathers.”

Wonder who Sparks was praying to?