I’ve been sitting with this for a while. How to say thank you, how to offer respect, without wrapping it all up too neatly. So here it is, just as it comes: I’ve learned from you. From your perspective, your questions, your clarity. You’ve challenged assumptions I didn’t even realize I was holding, and in doing that, helped me understand my own views more deeply. It’s not just the role you play, though I do think it’s an important one. Atheists help keep the whole spiritual spectrum honest. In a world full of self-proclaimed guides and truth-tellers, I think anyone who steps into that kind of influence deserves to be questioned, even gently humbled. But more than the function you serve, it’s you, your voice, your view, that I value. Because spirituality, or aspirituality, or whatever you want to call it, is deeply intimate. Everyone walks their own path. Everyone chooses, or refuses, on their own. And yours is real. Valid. Needed. Not just as counterpoint, but as its own truth. Your presence adds depth and diversity to something much bigger than belief. You have a most welcome and celebrated place in our grand community. I hope you feel that.