Many moons ago, I wrote a post on nostalgia in which I appealed to The Voltron Rule:

Healthy nostalgia leaves space for new stories to be told;
unhealthy nostalgia ignores or drowns out new stories in favor of the old.

For example, Star Wars: The Last Jedi told a new and very different story dressed in the trappings of traditional Star Wars and retaining many of the original’s themes, so it passes. On the other hand, Ready Player One was a hodgepodge of pop culture references with an uninteresting plot which did nothing new with the hero’s journey formula, so it fails. Of course, The Voltron Rule can also apply to modern politics: does conservatism or liberalism or Trumpism or whatever -ism leave room for a new story? If not, it’s not adaptable —in fact, it’s toxic—, and it won’t stand the test of time.

But how does The Voltron Rule apply to religion and spirituality?

So much of religion is about sacred remembrance: the familiar smell of incense, the familiar taste of unleavened bread, the familiar words which have been here since long before we were born and will be here long after we die. When we participate in spiritual community, we enter something beyond time, something which calls us back to the past. In this way, religion is inevitably nostalgic, but does it leave room for new stories to be told? Does it pass The Voltron Rule?

In recent years, I’ve grown to appreciate the emphasis on “God’s table” in many churches. Because the communion table belongs to God alone, all are welcome there. The nostalgia of communion (familiar elements, familiar words, remembrance of something which occurred 2,000 years ago) invites infinite new stories because it invites infinite new people. There’s always room at the table.

On the flip side, I’ve also experienced faith communities dead set on defining who’s in and who’s out. I’ve encountered groups for whom change was tantamount to sacrilege. All that mattered was “how we’ve always done it,” and there was no room for new stories.

So when does religion satisfy The Voltron Rule?
Well, it varies by community, so whenever you encounter a new group or new ideology or new place of worship, ask the question:

Is there room to tell a new story here?