Nor is our willing commitment to justice and peace, our yes to belonging, as wholehearted on the practical level as it is in moments of mystical communion. And our feelings often fail to celebrate the beauty that we glimpsed unveiled for a moment, the beauty that continues to shine through the veil of daily reality. Thus, doctrine ethics and ritual bear the mark of our shortcomings, even n these earliest buds of religion. That is the glory of every religion. As long as all goes well with a religion, then doctrine, ethics, and ritual work like an irrigation system, bringing ever fresh water from the source of mysticism into daily life.
Religions differ from each other, as irrigation systems do.
But subjective preferences are also important. The flow from the source slows down to a trickle. Fortunately, I have not yet come across a religion where the system didn't work at all. Unfortunately, however, deterioration begins on the day the system is installed. But then the intellect begins to interpret that interpretation.