Recently on NPR, reporter Rachel Martin interviewed Dr. Lisa Miller, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, about her controversial claim that spirituality is good for mental health.  

According to Miller, those who say spirituality is “very important” show an 80% decreased risk for addiction to drugs and alcohol and are 82% less likely to die by suicide. “[T]he more high risk we are,” Miller said, “the more that there’s stress in our lives, … the greater the impact of spirituality as a source of resilience.”  

“Here is published, peer reviewed science for skeptical audiences,” the interviewer concluded, which runs contrary to what we so often hear. Though a particular kind of religion is not specified by Dr. Miller, apparently turning our focus outward and even upward is better for us than just “looking inside” or “following our hearts.”  

That makes sense if we are indeed creatures and not just self-creations, made for relationship with the One who gave us life in the first place.