Being sparky

I was invited to dinner with an old friend recently. While I was admiring his new digs, he told me that in the intervening years he'd lost his faith. That's probably a bit inaccurate, but it led to an interesting discussion about his story as to how he arrived at that point of hedonistic agnosticism in his life. He also challenged me in many ways, to articulate how I managed to hold onto faith, despite my own incredible odds over the years.
What I also found interesting is that he has still continued to dabble in the church a few times a year, and his own admission that some of the people he has noticed that have stood out to him as respectable, good people, "sparky" people, he's also found at church, when he's actually attended. He acknowledges that there still remains some beauty, and likely some deep truth to that.
Now, I concur with him that "good" people are not exclusively the domain of the Church, nor even that the Church is made up exclusively of "good" people, as they are found everywhere, in every culture and every religion. However, I do hope that I have some of that "sparkiness" as well, that deep Truth can be seen in me as well...