Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

The word "valley" can bring different images to different people. Perhaps you think of a green meadow beneath a hill. Or maybe you think of a deep depressing time in your life. We in Silicon Valley might think of congested freeways, mission statements, and rolling blackouts. Ah, Silicon Valley, where to hear a human answer the phone means you have a wrong number. Where else can you have access to the fastest Internet service available but not be able to use it because it takes days to reach an Internet service representative by phone; and if you do, the "fastest service available" leaves you on hold for literally hours? Where else could you buy a fixer upper for a half a million dollars? And where else could you find such religious diversity?

According to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey designed by Harvard professor Robert Putnam, Silicon Valley scores high in religious diversity but low in religious involvement. That doesn't surprise me. California has long been known as a mecca for free thinking individuals, but people don't come here so much to "find" themselves as to "lose" themselves. They really don't want to be involved.
Richard Scheinin's article, Patterns of Belief, from the Mercury News states that 48% of those polled in Silicon Valley say, "religion is very important in my life," while only 27% say "they attend religious services once a week or more." However 42% say they are "members of a church, synagogue or other religious or spiritual community." Don't you just love the clarity of statistics? This, of course, means that almost every other person you meet here is a member of a church, synagogue, or religious community. I find that hard to believe.
What I do believe is that the average person here is searching for spiritual identity. They have need to believe in something that is "more important" than themselves. They need to believe in "purpose" to life. They are finding emptiness in life that can't be filled with bigger houses, faster cars, and the latest technology. They search for meaning but don't seem to be able to find it.

The Industry Standard's article, "Gimme That Online Religion," by Bob Jacobson reports that "on AltaVista, a search on the word 'porn' produced 4,794,806 Web page hits, while a search on the word 'God' produced 6,396,150 hits." He goes on to state "right now 'angels' with 1,292,520 Web sites are storming the Net," and "Satan" had only 295,390 pages. Yes, people are definitely searching. They have need of God but don't know how to find Him. And they are afraid if they do find Him that He won't want to have anything to do with them. And maybe He will make them change they way they live or act. The funny thing is that God doesn't make us do anything. He just wants us to live a happy and productive life. And He's very easy to find. He just stands at the gate waiting to be invited in.
Matthew 7:7 states, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." If the walk in this valley gets a little tiresome at times, why not ask God to walk with you? Why not seek His help? Just say, "God, come on in! Would you help me to find you? I'm tired of walking alone." Trust me, He won't let you down. And He'll help make the walk in this valley a lot easier.

©April 2001

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