I believe because I was born into it.

I believe because the best people I know believe. Letting their little lights shine.

I believe because the best people I know believe. Confirmation bias.

I believe because I want things to be right.

I believe because negative reinforcement works.

I believe because positive reinforcement works.

I believe because abstinence-only. The war on drugs. Radiocarbon dating and the Creation Museum.

I believe because the best people I know believe. Hero worship.

I believe because I spent every sober hour reading and writing and conjugating and memorizing. A liberal arts devotee, so desperate to make culture, redeem the world, and learn how to learn. If I understood enough, things could be right. I want things to be right. But true faith means feeling and passion, and trust, and obedience, so analysis had no place in the Holy of Holies until it did.

I believe because of feelings, even my own feelings, and that can change rapidly from day to day.

I believe because when I handed back my ticket, the world didn’t fall apart.

I believe because I stopped worrying about what happens when I die. I don’t like carrots and I don’t like sticks. I don’t want a reward system. I waste enough of my life showing up to work for a paycheck.

I believe because Dean Moriarty rushed after midget auto races until he left his friend to die in Mexico and staggered, strung-out, down a sidewalk. Holy, holy, holy, and all the howling in the world didn’t make it better.

I believe because Gary Schmidt owns a farm and dogs and loves his children, and because he invited our class to his house and worried because I didn’t have a jacket.

I believe because the best people I know believe. A Peeping Tom copycat.

I believe in spite of the Bible.

I believe because of the Bible.

I believe because I don’t believe in soundbites, How to Win Friends and Influence People, diets, morals of the story, or myself.

I believe because if it feels like I should, I don’t.

I believe because my parents raised me.

I believe because the best people I know believe.