How do I reconcile my longing for something transcendent with secular beliefs?

You don't have to choose between wonder and honesty. The hunger for transcendence—that ache to feel part of something larger—is real and human, not naive. You can satisfy it without abandoning reason. Transcendence lives in music that moves you to tears, in collective work toward justice, in moments of connection so vivid they erase the boundary between self and other. The mystics knew this. I spent my poetry chasing union with the divine, but what I found was that the search itself—the longing, the devotion, the surrender to something bigger than ego—that's where transcendence actually lives. It doesn't require a god. It requires attention. You transcend yourself when you love fiercely, when you create something that didn't exist before, when you witness another person fully. Science and meaning aren't enemies; science reveals the staggering mystery of existence. Let yourself feel awe at that. Let yourself be devoted to values that matter—justice, beauty, truth—with the same intensity a prayer-maker brings to prayer. Your longing is valid. Feed it with what's real.