Uncommon Ground with Justin Brierley #6. Elizabeth Oldfield & James Marriott: Is there meaning to life? And is our secular culture rediscovering it?
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Apr 21, 2026 
James Marriott, a Times literary critic who writes on culture and religion, and Elizabeth Oldfield, writer and host of the Sacred podcast who practices communal Christian life, discuss whether life can have meaning without God. They talk about young people returning to faith, art and literature as sources of purpose, rituals and communal practices, psychedelics and transcendence, and whether nihilism can be lived with practically.
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Collective Rituals Restore Lost Meaning
- Modern seekers crave collective rituals and scaffolding, not just abstract doctrines.
- Elizabeth Oldfield argues micro-monasteries and practices like Compline restore rooted belonging that individualism corrodes.
Visiting Churches Changed My Expectations
- James Marriott visited churches with fervent young people and found both Anglo-Catholic liturgy and charismatic services filled with committed attendees.
- He describes kneeling, intense hymn-singing and people discovering Christianity via the internet, which surprised his prior new-atheist expectation.
Multiple Paths Show A Single Appetite
- Young people's search for meaning shows in multiple directions: new-age, psychedelics, and renewed church interest.
- Elizabeth links climate anxiety and political identity to the appetite for transcendence and belonging.
