WILL WE IN NEW THOUGHT “WALK OUR TALK?”

“As we grow in our commitment to racial equality or social justice we have to be very imaginative. We have to find ways that have transformative potential.”

~ Walter Brueggemann

We find ourselves in a complex, fast-changing world. As the Spiral Dynamics™ model show us, some are being left behind as overall complexity grows, and those people are frustrated, angry, and in many cases, acting in regressive ways to return our society to an idealized former time. There are many problems with this – including the fact that cultural evolution only goes in one direction, toward the future and greater complexity.

We in New Thought find ourselves being called to transform how we relate to the world beyond the walls of our spiritual communities and ministries. It no longer seems sufficient to stay inside and work only on our own spiritual growth. So many of us find an emerging yearning to engage with the larger world to co-create a better world for all. This emerging way of being represents a sea change for the New Thought Movement. Like any new way of being, there is a learning curve and a requirement for deeper inner work.

“Offer yourself to the world — your energies, your gifts, your visions, your heart — with open-hearted generosity. But understand that when you live that way you will soon learn how little you know and how easy it is to fail. To grow in love and service, you — I, all of us — must value ignorance as much as knowledge and failure as much as success… Clinging to what you already know and do well is the path to an unlived life. So, cultivate beginner’s mind, walk straight into your not-knowing, and take the risk of failing and falling again and again, then getting up again and again to learn — that’s the path to a life lived large, in service of love, truth, and justice.”

~ Parker Palmer

Our young people are very clear about the imperative to be in the forefront of social activism. The Parkland, Florida students (LINK) are showing up in an inspiring fashion after the tragic mass shooting at their school. Many New Thought Young Adults are socially engaged without involvement in a New Thought spiritual community. This is not a trend of the moment, this is the current face of an ongoing emergence of the human desire for peace and connection in our lives. It is the self-correcting mechanism of the newly emerging consciousness to replace an older declining consciousness. And it will happen with or without the involvement of the New Thought Movement. I, for one, feel that we have much to offer at this time, but we are not essential to its momentum.

 

Spiral Dynamics speaks to the process of emergence – the need to midwife the newly emerging values systems and to hospice the older fading values systems. Spiral Dynamics also tells us about the nature of the Green Level of Existence (LINK) which is a “we” level and places a high value on people feeling good about themselves and their surroundings. This can manifest as a fear of “rocking the boat” or creating discomfort of any kind. When Postmodernist-Green is unhealthy, it will seek to justify victimhood and may insist that entering the world of politics is not spiritual. Those centered at Traditionalist-Blue may also resist political or social action, but for different reasons – essentially that it is not part of “our tradition.” And Modernist-Orange may be preoccupied with personal success and not interested in the greater good. One thing is clear – spiritually motivated social engagement requires showing up prepared on several levels.

“You can’t be a wimp when you’re doing justice work.”

~ Bishop Yvette Flunder

As I have noted before (LINK), social engagement demands a high degree of psychological and spiritual development, including high emotional intelligence. Entering the wider field of social action means entering places where fear, ignorance, anger, and, sometimes violence dwell. Spiritual Leaders who are engaging in this way need to have more rigorous standards for their students and congregants. Those who are unprepared may well do more harm than good in stressful situations. They will encounter fake news, Russian trolls and bots, and a lot of angry people who are convinced they are on the right side. This takes a great deal of spiritual poise.

Spiritual leaders must be about the business of preparing their members for spiritually motivated social engagement. This is not about attracting new members or creating a certain image in the world – it is about walking our talk and bringing our spiritual principles forward to contribute to the healing of humanity on this planet.

Our spiritual principles tell us that wholeness and healing are already present in the field of potential – they need to be revealed by means of a change in consciousness. We can be the living examples of love, compassion, wisdom, and strength by engaging in social action having done our spiritual and psychological work to be our best selves. We can show up and be examples of healthy responses to a wounded world.

“So perhaps change is less about fixing a broken world and more about uncovering hidden wholeness in all events, all organizations and all people and remembering our personal power to make a difference. This old story has greatly changed the way that I am a physician and also a teacher. It has given me new eyes. Everyone and everything has in it a seed of a greater wholeness, a dream of possibility. Perhaps what I once saw as ‘broken’ or ‘lacking’ might just as easily be seen as the growing edge of things … a place to be valued and nurtured in our patients, our students and in ourselves.”

~ Rachel Naomi Remen

What I saw at the recent Centers for Spiritual Living Convention was a call for greater engagement. It was in many of the talks, workshops, and hallway conversations. The time has come for New Thought to step forward as a body of evolutionary souls who have been willing to do the work of personal healing and transformation to be prepared to contribute significantly to creating #AWorldThatWorksForEveryone and #TheBelovedCommunity (LINK).

“Job Description for Spiritual Seeker: Full time position available for person who strives to be mindful and aware of the deeper context of life. Must be intellectually curious, open-minded, and willing to change. Reverence for creation, personal humility, and a strong commitment to social justice will be necessary. Study, prayer, dialogue and meditative practice are expectations. Cross cultural experience important. Compassion and kindness are requirements. Starting date: now. Salary: zero. Benefits: unlimited. Apply in person to the Maker of Everything.”

~ Bishop Steven Charleston

 

Copyright 2018 – Jim Lockard

 

 

A TIME FOR HEART-CENTERED COURAGE, STRENGTH, AND PERSONAL TOUGHNESS

“Tough times never last, but tough people do.”

~ Robert Schuller

For many people on our planet today, times are tough. Even in the United States, among the most prosperous nations on earth, many are suffering in serious ways – from poverty, disease, discrimination, and the like. Others are finding the political turmoil of current times to be very difficult to live with – they are feeling increasingly hopeless.

We can look at all kinds of reasons for this – but that is not the point of this post. What I wish to address here is how to apply New Thought spiritual principles to our lives at times like these – including being careful how we label such times. We are in the midst of vast emerging change driven by cultural evolution. It is critical that we stay deeply and consciously rooted in our spiritual nature so that we remain strong and effective in directing our lives.

“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word love here not merely in a personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace —not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.”

~ James Baldwin

There is more to you than meets the eye; more than you can even imagine. You are born out of and remain within an Infinite Spirit and your good, your peace of mind, are not determined by external factors, by who is in what political office, unless you allow them to be.

New Thought teachings are about the realization of an empowerment, a birthright, which has always existed and never been diminished. It is not a teaching about how to hide from harsh conditions – it is a teaching about how to transcend them by transforming consciousness.

“Stop worrying about your identity and concern yourself with the people you care about, ideas that matter to you, beliefs you can stand by, tickets you can run on. Intelligent humans make those choices with their brain and hearts and they make them alone. The world does not deliver meaning to you. You have to make it meaningful…and decide what you want and need and must do. It’s a tough, unimaginably lonely and complicated way to be in the world. But that’s the deal: you have to live; you can’t live by slogans, dead ideas, clichés, or national flags. Finding an identity is easy. It’s the easy way out.”

~ Zadie Smith

There are, of course, times when we are seriously wounded, times when a retreat is necessary for healing, however, such times are relatively rare when you think about it. I hear people saying they just want to go and hide until everything is better. These voices are more numerous today, driven by the antics of the current administration in Washington, or by some other more localized difficulty. These issues do not warrant hiding or retreating, they warrant standing in our full power and integrity. We are all capable of crafting creative change in our systems – all of them. This requires the deep realization of inner strength and a practice of being in dominion emotionally – even on Facebook and Twitter.

“People need to be encouraged. People need to be reminded of how wonderful they are. People need to be believed in—told that they are brave and smart and capable of accomplishing all the dreams they dream and more. Remind each other of this.”

~ Stacey Jean Speer

Most of life is challenging in one way or another, and we have our own devices to make it more challenging than it needs to be much of the time. It’s called self-sabotage, and it is yet another proof of our power over our experience, isn’t it? Metaphysics tells us that everything that comes into our experience contains the potential to bring forth something new and more useful from within us. What is being called forth from you in these times?

“Be patient and tough. Someday this pain will be useful to you.”

~ Ovid

Toughness is something that is rarely talked about in New Thought circles today (in my experience anyway). We talk about being loving and heart-centered and often speak of these qualities as if toughness were not an important aspect of their expression. I think that in trying to move away from the perceived authoritarianism of our past (and of our own personal pasts), we have become so non-authoritarian as to be largely ineffectual in the world – and, I suggest, this is also too often the case in our own lives. The pendulum has swung a bit too far in the opposite direction – there is little to no authority in our organizations today – and too little in how we practice our teaching. (LINK to posts on the Green vMEME) We are called to find a more balanced approach – to express our authority in ways that are both clear and compassionate.

 

“Your problem is how you are going to spend this one and precious life you have been issued. Whether you’re going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.”

~ Anne Lamott

There are limits to our ability to apply our principles. We may not like to hear this, but it is the truth. Those limits may be conditional – I may not have developed the consciousness to simply think peace on earth into existence yet – but I suspect that many are more than conditional. I believe that we do not single-handedly create reality – we influence external reality, which we co-create with others. We are the sole creators of our experience of that reality. This means that we must find ways to cooperate with others to change things beyond our individual capacities to heal.

The word courage means strength of the heart. Loving people – truly loving people – are very tough – they do not abuse others and they do not allow others to abuse them. Toughness in a heart-centered person respects boundaries, speaks Truth to power, holds themselves and others accountable, and expects the best from themselves and others. They live courageous lives, which, when practiced regularly, becomes a natural way of being.

“We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.”

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I question I often ask myself is “How does a student of New Thought refuse to engage the outer world when so much of that world is in pain?” Aside from personal fear, which is normal and can be overcome, how have we come to align with belief systems which propagate suffering and inequity, or which believe in scarcity and lack? How do we not stand for justice, help the needy, spiritually educate those willing? How do we bicker, argue, and engage in endless circular conversations on social media (including our list serves)? How do we fail to do our own spiritual practices in a rigorous way – leaving our fears not soothed, our wisdom and strength not energized?

Several people with arms raised, holding hands, low angle view

 

I plan to focus the remainder of 2017 on crafting a new vision for my life in 2018 – to be more present, more authentic, more focused on being my True Self, and more of a contributor to the world around me. And to be a better husband, father, friend, and citizen (of the world). I can’t think of a better way to spend my time.

“You must be willing to change. You must be willing to break the deal you made with the devils within. You must be willing to leave the past and not be tempted to rebound when times are tough. You must be willing to let go of everything and anyone that takes you back to your mistakes. You must be willing to have hope. You must be willing to have hope that you can change and that you will and that you will be better. You must believe you are worthy of change and you are worthy of improvement and you are worthy of being the best. You must be willing to set aside your negative notions about life, about hardships, about people, about things, about yourself. You must be willing to stop feeling sorry for yourself while looking at the world move around you. Get up and make something of yourself.”

~ Jack Barakat

Your comments are welcome in the section below. If you find this blog to be of value, please consider following it – you will get an email whenever a new post is published.

Copyright 2017 – Jim Lockard

I will be speaking at a special event in La Jolla, California in January – the information and registration is at this link: http://lornabright.com/gathering/

 

 

HOW TO BE EFFECTIVE AT ENGAGED SPIRITUALITY, PART 4

“Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation or social standards never can bring about reform. Those who are really in earnest are willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathies with despised ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.”

~ Susan B. Anthony

Engaged spirituality requires a strong consciousness. When those engaged in activism have not done their personal psychological and spiritual work to a sufficient degree, they can do more harm than good. They lose their poise, fail to act from a compassionate heart, and are swept away by the energy of events. Only when one has been trained with some degree of rigor in spiritual principles and practices, and has applied themselves to regular practice over sufficient time is one likely to be capable of acting from such a consciousness.

“You can’t be a wimp when you’re doing justice work.”

~ Bishop Yvette Flunder

The Postmodernist-Green values system now dominates New Thought organizations and many local spiritual communities. If, as we evolve along the spiral, we do not bring forward the healthy aspects of the Traditionalist-Blue and Modernist-Orange levels (transcend & include), then Green will become unhealthy, because the values at the Green level do not support what organizations need to thrive. Green is, in part, a transitional stage between 1^st and 2^nd Tiers of the spiral – between levels of complexity and their value systems. Many of the values (both healthy and unhealthy) essential to the Blue/Orange organizational structure can be abandoned with the movement into Green.

Green sees consensus as the ultimate form of decision making and shared leadership as the vehicle for generating consensus. But while consensus is laudable, it is rarely achievable unless everyone at the table is operating at or beyond the Green Level of Existence. Someone at Orange or below on the spiral will not value consensus and will feel forced into compliance, even though that may not be the intention of leadership.

“Consensus comes with another flaw. It dilutes responsibility.” 

~ Frederic Laloux, REINVENTING ORGANIZATIONS

In fact, Green is where the Blue/Orange form of organization goes to die. Die so that it can be re-born at the 2^nd Tier level, as the caterpillar goes into the chrysalis to die as the caterpillar and be re-born as the butterfly. The caterpillar has no knowledge of what is coming, a huge transformation; the butterfly has no knowledge of where it came from. Organizations entering the chrysalis of Green, without awareness of the dynamics involved, are like the caterpillar – they are blind to what is coming, what is beginning to emerge from within them. And while in the caterpillar to butterfly transformation, nature knows what to do, in organizational transformation, we must depend on the collective wisdom of the group.

Green is where we begin to shed the old forms of fear-based structure, of centralization and hierarchical authority, of mistrust of people at every level. We have some insight into Integral-Yellow level organizations thanks to the work of Frederic Laloux (LINK to REINVENTING ORGANIZATIONS) and others. What we see emerging at 2^nd Tier levels are things like self-organizing teams where full authority is moved to those who actually do the work.

“Others will arise who will know more than we do; they won’t be better or worse, they will be different and know more than we do. Evolution is forward.” 

~ Ernest Holmes, Sermon By The Sea- Asilomar, Saturday, August 15, 1959

This requires 2^nd Tier leadership at the top of the flattened organization, as leaders centered in the 1^st Tier generally lack the degree of trust and vision needed to actualize the Yellow organization. In fact, most of the structures in Blue/Orange organizations arose out of a lack of trust in people. However, Laloux give us a glimpse into what can be. We see the beginnings of this with the increasing decentralization of authority in Centers for Spiritual Living and Unity. But this is only the beginning of the movement into 2nd Tier, and Green values often  limit the functioning of the organization or spiritual community while it is still in its First Tier structure. This makes the transition more difficult, even treacherous, than it need be.

“Nothing is more curious than the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of its existing modes of knowledge. Advance in detail is admitted: fundamental novelty is barred. This dogmatic common sense is the death of philosophical adventure.” 

~ Alfred North Whitehead

Where in our New Thought organizations, with their predominance of Green leadership, is there the vision and the power for change? Where is the authority held in organizations to require ANYTHING of leadership in local spiritual communities? It has dissipated like the morning fog as we have moved into new cultural evolutionary ways of being. Leaders who try to exercise authority are ignored or shouted down, sometimes lovingly, but they surely are hampered in their ability to lead.

This shows up in many ways – one is when ministers who teach accredited classes in CSL (I cannot speak for Unity here) freely replace significant content from the accredited curriculum and yet see no ethical issues in signing off on certificates of completion from CSL which say that the student has completed the required curriculum. If CSL leadership questions this practice, they are rebuffed with a “how dare you question me?” attitude. And the leaders tend to back down, because what else can they do without upsetting someone?

Why does this matter? Shouldn’t ministers have the freedom to teach what they want?

I think it matters because the  CSL organization and local spiritual communities had an original intention – a Prime Directive if you will – to teach the Science of Mind philosophy. If every community does that differently (and, let’s be honest, not every unique way of teaching the material is equally effective), where is any sense of uniformity within our movement about our basic reason for being and our spiritual principles?

Simply put – New Thought leaders need to up-level cultural evolutionary awareness, as in Spiral Dynamics™, Theory U, and the work of Frederic Laloux.

My reason for bringing this issue up here is to give some context to the issue of whether to engage in social activism, or any form of engaged spirituality. If we are drifting away, however unintentionally, from our core reason for being, how can we engage in this important conversation from a common set of principles and values?

There are two steps to effective engaged spirituality:

1. Realization and actualization of the spiritual principles of the teaching.

2. Engagement with the outer world that is consistent with those principles by people who have developed #1.

In my opinion, before (or at least, as) we decide what forms of engaged spirituality we will take, we need to decide to become a unified body teaching the same basic spiritual principles in an atmosphere of love, compassion, and full accountability. This means that, at minimum, every student who takes classes in the Science of Mind at any CSL center will learn the same principles and practices. There will be a common understanding of these and a common vocabulary. We all recognize the importance of bringing the highest possible consciousness to what we do; so why should involvement in engaged spirituality be any different? 2nd Tier organizations may self-organize and decentralize decision making, but they do so in an atmosphere of adherence to the basic principles and values of the organization.

This blog series, I hope, will lead to some serious consideration about how we go forward as New Thought organizations and spiritual communities. To do so, we must understand where we are developmentally on the spiral, and bring the best of those values systems present forward in our visioning and decision making.

“Job Description for Spiritual Seeker: Full time position available for person who strives to be mindful and aware of the deeper context of life. Must be intellectually curious, open-minded, and willing to change. Reverence for creation, personal humility, and a strong commitment to social justice will be necessary. Study, prayer, dialogue and meditative practice are expectations. Cross cultural experience important. Compassion and kindness are requirements. Starting date: now. Salary: zero. Benefits: unlimited. Apply in person to the Maker of Everything.”

~ Bishop Steven Charleston

As always, your comments are appreciated.

Copyright 2017 – Jim Lockard

 

CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY: A Handbook for Spiritual Leadership,

By Jim Lockard

Available in paperback or Kindle editions –

(LINK TO AMAZON.COM)

 

HOW TO BE EFFECTIVE AT ENGAGED SPIRITUALITY, PART 1

“Never forget that social justice is what love looks like in public” 

~ Cornel West

The debate in New Thought circles about whether, or to what extent, to engage in spiritually motivated social activism focused on social justice is an active and controversial one. Those on the Centers for Spiritual Living Ministers’ List Serve are well aware that this topic surfaces again and again.

I think that the best term I’ve heard for such involvement is Engaged Spirituality. What is often omitted from the conversation is the idea that engaged spirituality in support of social justice is best viewed as a moral action, not a partisan action; and therefore is a principled activity – and any spiritual community choosing to so engage must make that clear in word and deed.

A concern of some spiritual leaders is that should a spiritual community or a spiritual organization take a position or take action in some area that there may be those who do not support such actions, or who find it offensive to their own political beliefs. The choice, however, is not merely whether to engage with the world outside the walls of the spiritual community, for all action, and all inaction, are forms of engagement.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”  

~ Bishop Desmond TuTu

The choice is more about how to presence oneself in engagement – how to show up in terms of deep spiritual development and realization. Spiritual leaders cannot hide from the moral and human issues of the day.This is true whether the choice is to remain silent or to speak out on any given issue. In either case, it is important to realize the need to be prepared to enter the arena of engaged spirituality. It is a demanding way of life.

“There is a pervasive form of modern violence to which the idealist…most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence.

“To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.

The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his (or her) work… It destroys the fruitfulness of his (or her)…work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

~ Thomas Merton

When we are unprepared, spiritually and psychologically, for the world of engaged spirituality, we commonly fail to bring the change we desire. We are more likely to militarize than to be compassionate, more likely to distance others from our point of view than to change minds. We project our own fears and inadequacies onto others and we lose ground rather than gain it. Before we decide to engage in activism of any kind, we need to make sure that we are spiritually and psychologically prepared to make that decision wisely with a compassionate heart.

“Our unwillingness to see our own faults and the projection of them onto others is the source of most quarrels, and the strongest guarantee that injustice, animosity, and persecution will not easily die out.”

~ C.G. Jung, Depth Psychology and Self-Knowledge

As I note in my book, CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY: A HANDBOOK FOR SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP (LINK), a first step in engaged spirituality is to do your own spiritual and psychological work. A high degree of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) are essential. Spiritual Leaders must be doing their own work, and ensuring that those whom they teach are adequately prepared to engage in any form of social action.

“I cleanse the windows of my mind, that I may become a mirror reflecting inspiration from the Most High.”

~ Ernest Holmes

Here, Dr. Holmes gives us clear guidance as to what it is we seek – to be clear as Spirit AS us. We must go past our shadow selves and heal our woundedness to be clear in our decisions and actions. Nothing less will do. Clarity must reign over confusion.

“Most people do not see their beliefs. Instead, their beliefs tell them what they see. This is the simple difference between clarity and confusion.”

~ Matt Kahn

Our first step is to begin an ongoing process – Do our spiritual practices regularly and deeply to build the consciousness of clarity needed to make wise and loving choices. Until we are in a place of personal dominion over our thoughts and feelings, we are ill-equipped to enter any contentious arena. And the area of engaged spirituality is such a place.

“(One’s) mind should swing from inspiration to action, from contemplation to accomplishment, from prayer to performance.”

~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

In Part 2, we will explore the elements of the decision for those in New Thought to engage in spiritually motivated activism, both individually and in community.

Copyright 2017 – Jim Lockard

CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY Has Been Published!

(LINK to CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY on Amazon.com)

I am very pleased to announce that my new book, CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY: A Handbook for Spiritual Leadership, is now available on Amazon.com.

“Jim Lockard’s new book, CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY is an essential read for every spiritual leader, regardless of faith tradition.”

~ Rev. Dr. Kenn Gordon, Spiritual Leader of Centers for Spiritual Living

CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY is about the qualities, attitudes, and practices that are needed in order for the kind of world envisioned by Howard Thurman and Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. to manifest. The focus is on how to support the larger concept of the Universal Beloved Community by creating The Beloved Community locally – in local spiritual communities. This book is for spiritual leaders of any faith tradition who have a desire to create the kind of world the great spiritual visionaries have described for us. It is for anyone in spiritual leadership (clergy, practitioner, lay leader) who is interested in transcending the limited reality of focusing only on organizational survival so that a greater vision can unfold.

“This book and its content is extremely important in contributing to a world that works, for unity lives inside community.”

~ Rev. Dr. Howard Caesar, Unity of Houston

The book speaks of the leadership qualities needed to create such a community, including cultural evolutionary awareness, presencing, and psychological awareness of our own and others’ development. The role of the mystical realms and the evolutionary nature of spiritual community are presented as necessary to fully engage taking The Beloved Community into the world. It is time for us to walk our talk and to bring the promise of harmony and peace to a world that cries out for them.

I hope that you, my blog readers, will find this book of great value.

Not a spiritual leader? You can read it anyway!

AND you can purchase a copy for your spiritual leaders!

You can preview the book at (THIS LINK).

“Jim Lockard has created an inspiring vision of what “church” can be – and how it can support our genuine spiritual growth and contribute to a better world for all.”

~ Cindy Wigglesworth, author of SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence  

“Anyone who leads a spiritual community of any faith, or a movement of any kind, must surely know about the challenges of navigating the ups and downs, obstacles and disappointments on the path.  Dr. Jim Lockard’s book provides relief, inspiration, and hope for those who are engaged creating a spiritual community.  It takes the reader through a precise, deep, and uncompromisingly honest look at what leaders must face.  Creating The Beloved Community ought to be required reading for anyone who desires to lead anyone else.”

~ Rev. Dr. Edward Viljoen, author of Ordinary Goodness, and The Power of Meditation

“Where was THIS book when I was the spiritual leader of my church community for twenty-three years?” That is the question I found myself continually asking out loud as I read Jim Lockard’s latest book, Creating The Beloved Community – A Handbook for Spiritual Leadership. This book belongs on every minister’s bedside table as well as in every Board Room meeting” 

~ Dr. Dennis Merritt Jones, Award Winning Author of THE ART OF BEING & YOUR RE-DEFINING MOMENTS

(LINK to CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY on Amazon.com)

Copyright 2017 – Jim Lockard

LET’S DO THIS – NEW THOUGHT AND AMERICAN POLITICS, Part 4

 

SHOULD CSL GO TO NASHVILLE? Here are my two cents.

The United States has seen a number of state governments propose so-called “religious freedom laws” during the past several months (LINK), some of which have been signed into law. These laws are aimed at two areas, small businesses whose owners or employees find it objectionable to serve certain classes of people, and the use of public restroom facilities by transgendered people. Legislation similar to this has been occurring for some time (LINK), although it is the most recent laws are somewhat different – they are in response to the recent Supreme Court case allowing marriage equality (LINK).

A number of New Thought spiritual communities serve the states where the legislation has been most recent, which so far includes but is not limited to Indiana, Tennessee (pending), Georgia (vetoed), Virginia (vetoed), North Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama. As it happens, the Centers for Spiritual Living has scheduled its 2017 Spiritual Living Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

Whatever CSL leadership does, they will surely be primarily guided by spiritual principles. In this case, I think that includes holding the highest vision for all concerned and seeing those in CSL who are charged with making this decision in the highest possible regard.

“Never forget that social justice is what love looks like in public” 

~ Cornel West

If the decision is to hold the convention in Nashville, then everyone concerned will have some personal decisions to make. Obviously about attending or not, but perhaps more importantly is the mental/emotional atmosphere in which that is done. And then, regardless of the organizational decision to be there or not, we have a decision as to what, if anything, we choose to do regarding the issue of the legislation in Tennessee and in other places that is harmful to those in the LGBT communities. Is the path to be one of spiritually motivated social action? These bills, especially the current variety that are being presented in dozens of states (LINK), are part of a larger attempt to get the Supreme Court ruling overturned and to further marginalize members of the LGBT communities. Let’s not kid ourselves about that. So this is more than simply “cherry picking” locations to boycott. It is sending a message to a larger audience than in any place where there are sympathies for such discriminatory laws.

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.”

~ William Faulkner

As for myself, I am personally choosing not to travel to any state that has enacted legislation that discriminates against LGBT people in this manner (and actually, the laws in Tennessee and Alabama at least, extend well beyond those communities). That is my choice, and I do not hold anyone else to the same choice. A larger concern is for the general spiritual and physical welfare of the United States at this time. And what is happening here is also happening, in ways similar and different, around the globe. How do we learn to develop ways to respect and honor (or at least tolerate) one another? This is especially true in the current political climate in the U.S. where we are challenged to be the best versions of ourselves.

Personally, I do not see how Centers for Spiritual Living can elect to hold the convention in Tennessee. Even if the governor vetoes the bill that has been passed, members of the LGBT communities, who are part of our spiritual family, will be, at minimum, exposed to an emotionally hostile environment. The idea that by attending, we can somehow change the hearts and minds of such a large number of people is simply not proven by experience. We can probably have a larger impact by the news that our dollars will not be coming to any state whose laws discriminate in this manner.

What CSL can do is to find ways to support the local member communities in these states who chose the path of spiritually motivated social action. That might mean funding, or sending others to participate in social action of one kind or another. Or it might mean engaging in intentional social media campaigns in support of equality for all. There is much to do. Individual spiritual communities from other states may decide to provide similar support.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

– April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr: Letter from a Birmingham Jail

It is true that our impact is not the biggest issue here. The safety, emotional and physical, and well-being of our members is first and foremost. I do not see that as negotiable. I treat for the highest and best outcome for all.

 

Copyright 2016 – Jim Lockard