Sader, here is my take, for what it's worth.
Christians don't know that God exists. They don't know that he created everything. They believe he did and have faith in their belief.
You might have a near death experience and it might shift your paradigm to correspond with theirs. Or it may not. You might lose someone and that may or may not make one sympathetic to religious ideas. You never know.
All of the above might be totally irrelevant to you and it may also not matter.
The spiritual connection that one can feel to the world around you and the universe at large does not always rely on doctrine or faith to manifest.
Compassion and humility don't need any belief. Sure, habitual religious practices might make you, to some degree, more likely to exhibit those characteristics. Then again, the best sermon in the world might not shift your character one inch either way.
You don't need religion to feel a deeper connection to the world and the creatures that live on it. I know that you already know this.
The fact that you are self aware and feel overwhelming empathy for a wounded animal or are humbled by the power and majesty of nature is proof that even if you don't have a soul, you have an unbreakable and complicated connection to your world.
Your personal respect for the universe is not necessarily a binary affair either.
It's possible to accept that there may be a creator and contemplate your gratitude and respect to it. At the same time you could also wonder about the mystery of a creatorless universe and marvel at the precise and intricate consequences it brought about.
You don't have to choose because either of those paths lead you on a similar path of self reflection and contemplation, ultimately leaving you humbled, grateful and drenched in reverence.
They are both spiritual journeys and the only difference is the details. Christians will say that it's all about the details. Sure, for them it may be. Does what they think make any difference to your journey? Of course not. Let them walk their path.
I realised the above during moment when circumstances brought me, in relatively quick succession, to appreciate power, beauty, mercy and connection. I wasn't in danger, in love or in any other particularly traumatic situation. So it wasn't "lucky to be alive syndrome".
It was an unnatractive unknown women, singing a repetitive chant in a language that I didn't understand. Her voice and the way it changed tone was the vehicle for a spiritual experience that no book, words or habitual practice has ever matched for me.
I could exaggerate and say that I have been a different person ever since, but that would be a lie.
In reality, I had goosebumps for about 10 minutes and it took some days for me to assimilate the experience.
What made it spiritual(or as close as I've experienced)?
The fact that to this day I can recall exactly how I felt and if I think about it for a while, those goosebumps come back. The fact that I remembered some of the words she used and when I looked it up I discovered that the chant was about paying respect to creation.
My feeling is that different belief systems bring people to a similar place. I'd rather discuss that than argue over the details.