They say that you become a New Yorker when you live here for seven years. That's next month for me. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong. I love New York - it's fast-paced, full of smart people. I like not having a car (both for environmental reasons and because I have bad mechanic car-ma). There is instant access to culture. People are good at living in groups; they growl and then they grin, like dogs yipping at each other then playing seconds later. And Thai delivery in the snow. What's not to love?

But... I miss California sometimes.

Why? Read this story from the LA Times. It's about the Universal Life Church, famous for ordaining people online. They claim about 20 million ministers, including friends of mine. The article is skillfully done, against a backdrop of an annual "gathering" that now gathers only a few hard-core members.

The ULC is minting about 10,000 ministers a month, double the volume of just a few years ago, according to Hensley. They're ordained so they can become jail pastors, visit hospice patients or gain credibility for their own religious groups. The overwhelming majority—at least 90%, by Hensley's guess—sign up just for the perk of having the legal authority to officiate at a wedding.

These days, interfaith marriages are commonplace, as are second marriages. Many couples don't belong to any formal religious institution. And many want a ceremony tailored to their tastes and personalities. So it's no surprise that the number of nondenominational officiants, both hired professionals and volunteer amateurs, is booming.

By the end of the weekend, only the Hensley family remain, the descendants of the man who, 50 years ago, decided to found a church with no set beliefs or requirements for ordination. His grandson has this to say:

...it was just family left. Kalena shared a smoke with her girlfriend on the church's back steps. Her brother, Josh, arrived with his daughter Delaney to pick up his wife.

"I don't believe in God or any higher power," Josh was pleased to tell me. "But I'm a member of this church. I'm even ordained. For me, a good church isn't about worshipping whoever—it's about the community to which you belong. The fact that I can have no religion whatsoever and be totally welcome here is fantastic."

I've been reading a lot of Josiah Royce lately, this Harvard philosopher of religion. He was a hard-line Christian in an age of increasing secularization. In trying to reimagine the church, Royce makes the claim that what Jesus promised as the Kingdom of Heaven was, in fact, a community of believers on earth.

Royce seems to say that the most Christian virtue is not love, but loyalty. Love is for one person - loyalty is a love of the group. Join your community and give them your heart. Give up stubbornness and pride and, more important than belief, stand by your people.

For better or worse, Californains are my people.

Another California book came out a few weeks ago - The Visionary State by Erik Davis. He covers everything from the Self-Realization temple to the Haight. I met a friend of Erik's here in the city, who writes a Hinduism blog called Souljerky. Check it out.