Relistening to half alive: I am deeply religious but not Christian. Those symbols are closed off due to past experiences. But the songs of Sufjan or half alive speak to me. Why? I think perhaps religion w/o mystical experience is useless. Anyway this is my favorite verse from The Dark Night of the Soul (trans., mine):
In the blessed night
In secret, completely unseen
And seeing nothing
With no light to guide
But the one that in my heart gleamed