The Theological/Scriptural Landscape
Literal / Fundamental: An approach to Scripture or Holy Writ and Practice that holds that these sources are without taint, free of errors, and are wholly inspired, complete, and to be considered inviolate and divinely authored.

Scientific/Provable: Belief or trust in ONLY in those faith assertions that can be tested, corroborated scientifically, and empirically proven to be accurate and true. Skeptical of all other conclusions or claims.

Intellectual/Rational: Similar to the scientific, but broader and more conciliatory in scope or its appeal. The proofs here are based in logic and reason, and can be intellectual or abstract. Faith can be based on a rational assertion from philosophy.

Ethical/Prophetic: Understands their religion as principally a guide to ethics in action. seeks to empower or follow through on their faith claims and religious ideals in personal and social terms of reform and renewal. Central concerns are for justice-making, social reform, and using one’s faith in the world.

Mystical/Experiential: A wide open theology, not bound or constricted by Scriptures or tradition, but informed by them. Potentially exotic and ethereal, the mystic is open to nonlinear, non-rational and the extraordinary dimensions of religion and spirituality. The Experiential is paramount- I know what I believe because I have had the experience of it in my life- these experiences be they more rational, aesthetic, or faith based or extraordinary become the focal point of their faith.

The Theological Spectrum
Reactionary/Radical: A person who reacts negatively to threat of change and becomes alarmed if there is any modification in the conventional, the expected, or the earliest ways.. This form of radical wants a return to the “original intent” and the most sacred, time-honored traditions, and rejects modernization as being irrelevant and moves away from the old ways are misbegotten.
Conservative: One who protects or conserves what has been established. They desire to keep, retain protect and preserve the status quo; or whatever has been the standard beliefs and practices in worship, beliefs, and practices.
Moderate: A person who is not likely to have or express strong feelings, ideas, or values. Enjoys remaining an anonymous contributor to the group, but rarely will speak out or express their views unless the changes or directions are very upsetting or disconcerting for them.
Progressive: One who makes or seeks out steady, gradual changes or advances. A person who favors incremental changes in polity or beliefs. A person who willingly adapts to easily assimilated changes and seeks to balance their concern for tradition with an interest and an openness to what is new or different.
Liberal: A person who seeks to free or to liberate from the status quo… A person who chooses consciously to embrace change; to explore, investigate, and to experiment with a variety of approaches and ideas. Someone who favors a broad, inclusive, tolerant approach to faith and values.
Revolutionary/Radical: A radical is one who seeks to return to the core or the roots of a concern or situation, belief, outlook or organization. Someone who looks for root meanings and the original vision or inspiration of a belief or ideal. A revolutionary is someone dedicated to change; constructive or destructive but whatever accomplishes the goal of tearing down in order to rebuild.

Types of Church/Faith/Institutions
Creedal / Sacramental:
A person, church or community that ascribes willingly to a historical statement of beliefs and practices, decisions and conclusions that govern their faith and outlook. It describes a person or a group that holds in common certain theological definitions and affirmations of faith and holds them publicly; often reciting a portion of them as a part of regular worship.
A community that openly adheres to historical articles of faith that include within them the recognition and efficacy of the administration of the seven/eight traditional sacraments of the Catholic churches and their members.

Presbyterian/Elders:
Here the community has a more limited hierarchy. It elects or appoints a board of overseers or elders- members who would guide and direct the workings and operation, the stability and the worship life of the community.

Congregational/Community:
A person, church or community that declares itself to be lay governed and directed supported by its membership. Through publicly held democratically run government, all the decisions concerning the church, its polity and practices, are elected or decided by the consent of the members. This is a historical development most often aligned to American style Protestantism, with a low style of church worship, that is anti-hierachical in nature.

Free/Independent/Non-Traditional:
Usually Congregational in its format, but not always strictly mainstream Protestant in its content or approach. The beliefs and practices are peculiar or unique within the congregation, as are any statements of mission or faith. Strict, local control is observed. No formal ties with larger, more traditional organizations or denominations.

The Four Essential Qualities:

For Health:

Healing; Harmony; Holiness/Wholeness; Hope

For Discipleship:

Discovery; Discernment; Discretion; Discipline

For Community Relationships:

Reason; Respect; Reverence; Responsibility

to be eventually connected to the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality……

Celebrating Our Original Blessings:

An Introduction to the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality

The Reverend Peter Edward Lanzillotta, Ph.D.

There is a great search going on in our society today. It is a common yearning, a deeply held one and now; Often this inquiry is an expressed need for connection to the Earth and to one another.

From the dawn of civilization, humankind has sought out ways to define relationships to the greater world around them. To be fully human, is to search for meaning; we are not just social animals, political or economic beings, we are a seeking, curious, creative and wondering animal- homo sacralis- We seek that which is holy, meaningful, what is divine within and divine without. Civilization has proceeded from the building blocks of religion.

Religion can be defined by any activity, which by its practice and understanding, helps us to feel more connected; unified; together,(from the Latin religiare) and by any activity that assists us in transcending the intellect and the ego- that faciliates our ability to going beyond our social selves, and to look both beyond and within for our deepest, most true answers.

Today, the old, traditional ways of religion and being together, no longer fit the demands of new approaches to planetary science, or the complexities of our social existence. It is a growing vital concern…

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An abiding and ripening concern that humans everywhere come together to create a new cosmology- in new, inclusive and inspiring ways that include the holistic or interdependent linking of science, art, service, and mysticism, in a simple and yet profound universal acceptance that spirituality and ecology, art and justice belong to and are connected to each other.

This yearning, this search has had some leading edges…. Nowhere is this yearning felt more deeply than in the various liberation movements, 12 step recovery groups, and the worldwide desire for church revitalization.

As a consequence of a search that is becoming critical and apparent, there is also a need for a common religious and metaphoric language that unites religious ideals to the frontiers of science, the depths of art, and the expanse of culture. One approach that boldly and enthusiastically presents itself as being able to facilitate these desires, and fulfill these wide ranging and inclusive needs. It is called Creation Spirituality.

Right away, let me declare that this approach has nothing to do with Creationism..In fact, its openness to science and mystery function as the direct opposite!   One of the main purposes of Creation Spirituality is to remedy and rectify old harmful theologies and those religious beliefs that have crippled people since their childhood…

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As an interfaith movement, it offers a new interpretation of the Creation and the entire Biblical story based on its positive themes. As a uniting philosophy or framework, Creation Spirituality helps us to reclaim the beauty and inspiration of The Western religious traditions without having to accept any of the old control centered, static, necrophilic, irrational and pious theology!

Those interpretations of scripture and human nature that are so often used to promote grief, guilt, shame or fear. Creation Spirituality teaches that our salvation is not based on believing some speculative man-made creed. If we are to be saved; that is, if we are to be whole, loving, and free, we cannot divorce our personal concerns from those of our planet Earth, or from our sisters and brothers around the world.

CS is an outlook and a conviction that says that if we, as humankind, and we, as a civilization and as a planet are going to survive, then we will have to actively acknowledge our common origins, our shared human experience, and actively affirm the worth, the sanctity, the mystery and the divinity of Earth itself.

Creation is a wonder… It is nothing short of a supreme miracle called life on Earth. Out of wonder, awe and mystery religion is truly born, and a genuine spirituality is first expressed.

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Yet, it is ironic that so few of the Western churches teach such respect and reverence as a part of their religious education programs or life span teachings.

Instead, the models that have been passed down to us are either excessively moralistic, or do not give equal time to the dignity and worth of the person and the environment. Many of us have been sternly taught and often admonished about Original Sin, but very little is ever said or affirmed about our Original Blessings. It starts with the affirmation of the mystery and miracle of God as Spirit, presence, enegery that is inherent, interwoven, alive and timelessly participating in Creation. It teaches about God as an alive Spirit that maintains a gracious benevolence and sustaining intimate relationship with all of life.

Creation Spirituality states that Heaven and Hell are not places, but states of mind and heart that confirm that we need a more positive view of ourselves, and our world, if we are ever to repair, restore, or revitalize the Earth or one another. As for the greatest sin… It is not found in eating an apple- it is the wholesale desecration of Mother Earth herself; our ignorant, wasteful ravaging now holds all of humanity liable, and holds the world’s people at risk.

So while Creation Spirituality does not avoid dealing with sin, it does not wallow in sin or shame either. Instead, it encourages us to look at ourselves compassionately; to educate ourselves out of any

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lingering beliefs, ignorance, or an acceptance of imposed inadequacies, and see one another as people who can be caregivers, who have to reclaim the natural wonders and blessings of our world. C.S. teaches us to see and experience the beauty and love, understanding and consolation we can find in walking the beach, watching a leaf hold a butterfly or when we hold hands across our cultural ways to give another person hope and find a quiet joy looking into one another’s eyes, or the sanctuary felt when we are in another’s arms.

Creation Spirituality is an approach to community and one’s own religious life that emphasizes the positive values and options we have in living; it promotes creativity and compassion, and offer ways that teach how the interrelationship of the arts, sciences and religion can combine to create a better world.

Creation Spirituality does not start with Adam and Eve, the Fall, and Sin. By affirming our positive identity as the children of God, made in the image and likeness, we find our working and royal identity when we live as companions to all the creatures of Earth, when we can empower ourselves to heal our world.

Creation Spirituality is a move toward Oneness; it honors human dignity and worth. Its teachings and principles equalizes the sexes, and is an inclusive trans-denominational approach to spirituality and ecology.

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While the ideas and ideals of its teachings go far back, even before the Bible, the rediscovery of its

truth is only 35 years old. A progressive, once labeled a heretical Catholic radical, now finding a tentative safe haven as an Episcopal priest, named Matthew Fox. He rediscovered these truths while doing research on the great Christian or Creation mystics. They were those inspired men and women that kept this alternative way of looking at God, Nature, and life alive throughout the centuries; not bowing down to the coercion or control, or the patriarchal and dehumanizing teachings that have condemned church goers to those reinforced feelings of failure, robbing us of health, happiness, creativity, justice and joy.

From those controversial Catholic beginnings, Fox and his followers quickly understood that using ecology to inform one’s faith drew all kinds of people, many world faiths and different spiritual expressions into a greater awareness of their lives on Earth.

The inclusive and interactive philosophy, theology, and practice within progressive congregations worldwide is generally divided into four interdependent paths or ways in which sacred universal archetypes are known, understood and embodied as part of every person’s search for truth and meaning.

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For those of you who are unfamiliar with these four ways or paths, I will give you a quick synopsis of each path, and then ask how each way or approach can be understood in practical and personal terms.

First, from Path One or the Via Positiva, the task is to emphasize our Original Blessings, the wonder and promise of life and the Creation. Fox suggests that we have to learn to find beauty, for how can we see and experience, feel and understand the meaning and the magic found in everyday life. Fox states that: “we have become afraid of our own divinity,” that we are the sons and daughters of God. With this divinity comes the identity of each of us as a royal and wonder-filled human being; a marvelous new way of perceiving who and what we are… yet, with this truth, there is also responsibility.

One of the principal reasons the old, fearful forms of religion endure is that it is easier for us to accept being passive, afraid, childish, even guilty, than it is to accept our adult and ongoing responsibility as co-creaters of our own world. Here, in the first of the four paths, called The Via Positiva, we are taught that we need “to taste and see that life the world is good.” Because of this, each of us has to uphold beauty, truth and virtue with sustained strength and a resolve that brings to all men and women the ability to celebrate all the ideals they believe in or trust. This is the path of the mystic.

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The Mystic’s main task in life is affirmation, and closely connected to it, is to maintain the outlook of  gratitude.(approx.Thanksgiving to Epiphany)

So, now I will ask each of you…What can you affirm in your life? What makes you thankful? How does your community conncetions promote affirmation and gratitude?

The Path Two is called the Via Negativa, or the emptying way. Here is where the warrior battles for mental, emotional and spiritual clarity; He or she accepts their own need to let go- to empty oneself of false beliefs, negative feelings, rehearsed roles. In the Via Negativa, we have to face up to our inner pain, our hurts and whatever we feel that we lack in ourselves, or have failed to accomplish in our lives. Here, the path urges the spiritual warrior in each of us to develop fortitude, persistence, and the courage to go beyond the familiar, and to welcome the unknown; to expect the good, to be open to grace, despite life’s wounds. Fox says this: we have to learn to let go- Letting go of comforts, security, of past images of oneself, or all that we have reinforced or rehearsed about past ways of relationships- all those ways that keep us stuck or dissatisfied with our lives…Here the task is to learn what serves growth and goodness, and practice only what will not harm rob anyone else of dignity and respect.” This is the path of the prophet.

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(January to Lent)The main task of the prophet is to interfere with the status quo in ways that promote equality and justice, dignity and selfhood.

I ask: In what ways are you willing to infere with the staus quo? When is it that you stand up for others?

What does your congregation interfere with regularly?

The Third Path or way is called the Via Creativa or the way of creativity and resourcefulness. Here is where we learn about giving birth to newness and hope, and how to experience a rebirth of who and what we are or can become.  It takes a lot of faith, and a sincere degree of flexibility to be creative; to bring into being a new way of looking at the world, of defining and refining yourself.

We also find in this creative path, the creativity that uproots or refashions. As Fox puts it, “in Path Three, we stand up and offers our gifts to the community. Here the fight is engaged, and the demons exorcised….” Creativity arises from a depth of awareness that states that… if we do not give back what is our unique gifts, talents and skills, and give expression to life’s mysteries and give witness to life’s truth, no one will stand up, or give or do it for us.” If we do not give back, whatever gifts or talents we have will atrophy or go stale… This is the path of the artist. (Approx.Easter to August)

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I ask: How do you express your creativity? How do you share your gifts? How does this church or community give of itself to the community?

The last way or Fourth Path is called the Via Transformativa, the transformative way. But as Fox emphasizes, “transformation does not come easily.

Powerful people and entrenched institutions do not relinquish power and privilege cheerfully or willingly.. Paradigm shifts in religion, politics or ecomomics are often resisted vigorously.

We have to learn compassion for ourselves and for our world. “Through empathy, we learn to celebrate the common struggle and can find the strength, the willingness to stand up for justice, equality and truth as belonging to everyone, as being the right way of in community, as living on and for the Earth. This is the path of the Healer. (Approx. August to Thanksgiving)

I ask: How do you find healing for yourselves? How do you offer it to others?How do you work together as a group to offer or provide healing?

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As this movement relates to U-Us, listen to some of the thoughts Matt Fox shared with us at the 1987 General Assembly:

“In your letter of invitation to me, the following sentence caught my attention: ” You said “there exists a great spiritual hunger among religious liberals today.” To this I respond, It is as it should be! Great Souls! Great hungers! Great visions! Great Dreams! Mister Eckhart states, “that God is delighted to see how our souls can be enlarged by a heartfelt participation in life.]”

Your denomination is famous for its impressive record in civil rights, feminism, justice issues…

And for your respect for the mind and for science. But what you are undergoing today is something that all of us trained in Newtonian universe are undergoing, and that is the quest for a living mysticism-

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[A way of affirmation and practice that supports] the struggle for justice, because we cannot sustain justice without an imaginative mysticism.

Every religious tradition needs to take a harder look at Origins. There is no question that endemic to the mystery and the gift of the Universalist and Unitarian tradition is the wonderful mysticism of Thoreau and Emerson, which is creation-centered. Many of you have lost that root and that is one reason why

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there is such a great spiritual hunger. Cosmology is the opposite of piecemeal thinking, which is the essence of the Newtonian universe. A cosmology where we open ourselves to the whole of human experience, the whole of life, where the universe itself is our shared home. Our task is to be co-creators of a place where every person wants to live and will thrive.

In this new view of the whole, cosmology, we are all equal members in the community of being; in the interdependence of all things….

The best work on mysticism today are being written by scientists. … Scientists, not monks, and certainly not most theologians! Today, mystics are coming out o the closet all over the world, and in every community, church or meeting house. They are artists and engineers, householders, parents, lawyers, doctors, and yes, even a priest or a minister or two!…

(among the naturalists we can claim are John Muir, Luther Burbank, Ansel Adams, and Rachel Carson…)

Carl Jung said that the mystic brings out what is creative to religion… But you will never get a full definition of mysticism or spirituality. Why? Because definitions are all left brain, and living creatively and celebrating the mystery is right brain- we are never going to define or control it! ( Emerson- We dare not fence the Spirit!)We need as much heart knowledge as we have head knowledge. We need experience awe, wonder, fascination, and inspiration, and teach these mysteries to our children so they will really know what life is about… Creation Spirituality, and our liberal religious appreciation for what it can teach us is something I highly recommend.

For me, and for the others who have embraced it as a theological guideline, It is simply about how we humans can grow our souls to realize the beauty of the earth, and how best to cooperate with our humanity, our creativity, our divinity, and experience the holiness of universe itself. AMEN. SO BE IT!

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PS: One more definition- especially important for Unitarian with all your debates you have between the atheists and your theists, your humanists, and your mystics- panentheism is your answer. It cuts away all those 19th century world views and distinctions. You can discard both atheism and theism! Panentheism is the mystical teaching that we are all in God, and all that is God, all that is good, can be found in us.]”

In truth, there can be no complete approach to God, humanity, or the planet unless all the approaches to human interaction, and  understanding our place in that universe must include spirituality and ethics, mysticism and justice.

On his faculty of his Institute, you will find, Indigenous and Native Shamans and Aboriginals, Celtic  Pagans, different kinds of Buddhists and Sufis, physical and social scientists, artists, dream weavers, and other assorted seekers and witness bearers that affirm that  the time has come to change the way we look at religion, the planet, and ourselves.

Readings and Reflections About Mid-life, Age, and Change

Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul, which has been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or more fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this: That you are the master of your thought, the molder of your character, and the maker and shaper of your condition, environment, and destiny.
James Allen
As You Think

You can create opportunity for yourself by speaking about your Life Work as you want it to be. All of your life counts, and you do not know where your most important opportunity will show up. You create the significance of your Life’s Work.
Start today, telling yourself about your Life’s Work in its largest way. Let yourself dream and envision the impact you want your Life’s Work to make.
How can you make a difference in the life of your work? What do you believe needs to happen about its course or pattern that would give you great joy? If nothing stopped you, what and how would you live your life? Life Work is a big idea. You get fulfillment and passion when you put talk into life, and life into your talk.
Brown, Paulson, and Wolf
Living On Purpose

I am not a mechanism, an assembly of various sections, And it is not because the mechanism is working wrongly that I am ill.
I am ill because of the wounds to my soul, to the deep emotional self, and those wounds of the soul, take a long, long time … only time can help… and patience, and a certain difficult repentance; a long, difficult repentance, [which includes] a realization of life’s mistakes, and the freeing of oneself from the endless repetition of the mistake…. especially of those that humanity and society have chosen to sanctify.
D.H. Lawrence

All things in the creation exist within you, and all that is within you exist in the creation; there is not border or boundaries between you and the closest things, and there is no distance between you and the farthest things, and all things, from the lowest to the loftiest, from the smallest to the greatest, are within you as equal things.
In one atom are found all the elements of the earth; in one motion of our minds are found the laws of all existence ; in one drop of water are found the secrets of all the endless oceans; in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of existence… “[Thus] your life has no end, and you shall live forever more. ”
Kahlil Gibran

Mid-Life and Change:

1/24/99
Invocation/ Opening Words:
If I desire to accomplish or complete anything of merit or lasting worth in my life, I have to remember this:
Before I can do anything, I must be willing to be someone;
That I am not a human doing, but a human being– and that the greatest and most challenging task of my life is to be myself-
to find, to affirm and then to be my truest, kindest, most transparent and highest self.

Benediction/Closing Words:
May I outgrow whatever problems currently beset me– May I replace worry and fear with courage and trust
May I believe in my own self-worth, and my own capacity to express love for others and through my community.
May I remember that any limitation of my humanity is not better and no worse than any I might find in others, and that we are together to promote understanding, justice, forgiveness and compassion.
May I be open to knowing the dark and unresolved that is within me, and to be courageously true to whatever light there is in me, and allow it to shine–
And in these ways, May I become a living poem, and become an embodied blessing.

Readings from the World Religions
Wisdom writings, collected stories, koans, etc.

Prophecy

“Master”, the young student exclaimed,” I want to become a teacher, a teacher of Truth!
The Master replied, “Are you ready, then, are you willing and prepared to be ridiculed, ignored, poor and starving until you are at least forty-five, even fifty?
The student said, “Yes, yes I am. But tell me: What happens after I am forty-five, even fifty?
“By then,” the Master said,” you have gotten used to it.”

Pueblo Prayer

Hold on to what is good,
even if it is a handful of earth
Hold on to what you believe, even though
you might feel that you are a tree, standing alone
Hold on to what you must do
even if it is a long way from here, a long way from home
Hold on to life
even if giving up and letting go is easier
Hold on to my hand
even when I have gone away from you.

To Change The World

The Sufi saint, Bayazid, said this about his life and his effect on people:
“I was a revolutionary when I was young. All my prayers and all my actions were aimed at giving me the power, the attention of others, so that I could change the world!
As I approached middle age, I realized that half my life was over, without knowing whether I have changed one soul, or one situation. So, I changed my prayer asking to give me the ability to be heard by my family and friends, and then I will have changed enough people to have changed the world.
Now that I am older, and my days are numbered, I have only one prayer left- give me the grace to change myself- If I had prayed and acted in that way from the beginning, I would have not wasted my life, I would have changed the world.”
And with that prayer, he became enlightened.

The Guru and The Scholar
A Guru was asked by a scholar how he would be able to obtain greater self-understanding than anything he had found in the Scriptures. The Guru said, “Go out into the next rain, and raise your eyes and hands to heaven… That should bring you to your first self-revelation.”
The scholar came back after the next rainy day to report conscientiously to the Guru… He told the Guru that he followed his advice, raising his eyes and hands towards heaven, but the cold water just flowed down my neck… That as I stood there getting wet, I felt like a perfect fool!
Well, said the Guru, for the first day, that is quite a self-revelation, isn’t it?

Kabir
What good is it if the scholar pours over the words and misses their meaning? Reads intently what is holy but does not feel soaked in love?
What good is severe ascetic disciplines and multiple prayers, wrapped in saffron robes if your soul remains colorless and your spirit bland?
What good is it if you scrub your ethical behavior until it shines, but your heart contains no music?
There is a difference between knowledge and enlightenment: Knowledge- the task of the first half of life- teaches you how to hold the torch so that others might see and find the way…..
Enlightenment – the task of the second half of life- is when you, your life becomes a torch from whom all others can see and find their way…..

Pronoia: Our New Antidote to Social Paranoia?
The Reverend Peter Edward Lanzillotta, Ph.D.

Pssst… Psst.. I have a secret to reveal to you…. Its all about a new wave of thought in the Western world. … It is a way of looking at the world that generally unsupported by traditional religion, certainly not accepted by conservative or pessimistic politicians, is looked at skeptically by traditional psychology, and since most philosophers are already suspicious, it has, of course,
gotten my attention!
Similar in intent, but not in tone to the great but largely unfulfilled paradigm shift of the 1980′s, called The Aquarian Conspiracy, this new movement is announcing itself in an irreverent but joyous way, and holds out to us the promise of a new personally and culturally transformative conspiracy. It is all held within a wider, more inclusive set of beliefs called Pronoia. But before I define that term, I want to speak to you about a very important word, so often maligned, conspiracy….
All too often, a conspiracy takes on a sinister definition; as a nefarious plot, or as a fearful reaction that sees some lurking form of evil collusion. Conspiracies and their malevolent actions are always set to strike down some treasured value system or patriotic platform, or if they are heeded and accepted, their influence will personally corrupt our morals with intrigue, while it threatens us with complex international diplomatic schemes…

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No, I have not been listening to Glenn Beck too much, nor have I been overdosing on negativity by watching Fox News, or tuning in all those prognostications on the History channels about the year 2012, and all the certain disasters that are to come!
I believe that we forget that charming use of conspiracy found in the Christmas song whose lyrics talk fondly about conspiring by the fire, in a winter wonderland, or that a strong, working conspiracy is necessary for the ideals of social groups to manifest- from American Revolutionary patriots, to the Civil Rights movement, from environmental awareness to peace rallies, all of which depend, for their effectiveness, on a shared feeling of working together for the same goal1 To unite, and to rally, and then to act in concert towards change, reform, or to establish new freedoms from oppression and combat tyrannies large and small… Remember, That is a conspiracy, too!
As a pastoral pneumatologist, or as a process theologian who believes deeply in the shared power and noble effect of what united hearts and minds can accomplish in their lives, the concept of a conspiracy for me is a cherished and vital one.
Conspiracy, from the Latin, con spirare which means to breathe together, and then be inspired as One… To share one breath, one essence, one life within an instant of intimacy, can have great sustaining implications for our personal transformation, and for the cause of global, human empathy-
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A breathing, working force that offers us release and connection, hope and healing, justice and compassion… While today I will defer from explaining some of the esoteric ways and visceral means of conspiracy held or hidden within the breathing techniques: such as Buddhist Tantra, and the healing practice of Tonglon, or recommending Holotropic exercises, Centering prayers, or Kundalini training… And so on… Simply put, I affirm that we all can learn how to breathe together…
What I will say today is that any genuine community that shares principles and a commitment to common ideals, needs to aspire to becoming a benevolent conspiracy… The purpose of coming together is to inspire one another, to work and breath together to accomplish an important public mission and to energize crucial goals… In short, a conspiracy is as good or as bad as the intentions and motivations that inspire its actions.
One of the visions I have for this or any liberal religious community is to become a benevolent conspiracy; not just to rail against oppressive religious beliefs, or restrictive, exclusionary dogmas, not just be smug intellectuals who enjoy a good debate, but to be an energetic, positive and dynamic conspiracy where we come together to celebrate life; to offer one another hope, healing, courage, and love….

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Then, once that is truly known and experienced, as a church, we can conspire to take public stands that promote greater justice and wider compassion in our world!
Now, what about this new idea for our lives called Pronoia? Pronoia is the assertion that the universe itself is a gracious conspiracy working on your behalf, that among the foundational purposes for human life is to teach us and to bless us, and provide us with tools and experiences for our happiness and well being… So Pronoia functions as the polar opposite to our socially popular and pervasive sense of psychological paranoia.
Paranoia? Since I no longer, with any assurance, call myself a clinician, I will gladly defer any definitions of paranoia to those who can define it with exactness or clinical confidence.
Instead, I will employ the linguistic approach, by looking at its Greek origins… The combination of two words, para and noia or nous…
Para refers to many prepositions- in, with, among, and beyond starts the list… And noia and it linguistic cousin, nous refers to the nature of human mind, and to the expanse of our intellect… When linked together, these Greek words refer to how we comprehend or understand the inner workings of our thoughts and the expansive effects of our feelings. I prefer, then, to define our social and popular concept of paranoia as being… All in one’s mind, or if I am referring to the Bible, it is being beside yourself;
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or its all within your own fantasies, mental perceptions, and it is tragically promoted by our willing and ready sharing of our irrational fears… You know, when I look around, all through our media, it seems that our culture truly enjoys contaminating the social awareness, and promoting all the ways and events that cause us to become afraid… And conversely, then we tell each other to quickly dismiss all that irrational thinking… when people glibly say to you- Oh, you are just being paranoid about this!
So, in this same context of root words and possible definitions, Pronoia is the affirmative- that it is for the pro or positive side of our thoughts and our feelings- being pronoid is for the sake of one’s affirmative comprehension of any ideas, issues, thoughts, and feelings we might have or entertain.
Let’s continue… with this national or cultural observation: Many of our society’s “way out” ideas seem to begin or start in the fertile imagination and soil on the West or the Left Coast… And then a few of these ideas do eventually trickle or reluctantly migrate over here, to the less fertile, and more staid and traditional East or Right Coast… Where they are more critically tested or quickly rejected. (The social legacy of TV/Film/Media? So much of our popular media is all about fantasy, or it emphasizes banal forms of reality, etc…)

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So let’s examine some of what Pronoia teaches, and then allow each person to make up their minds for themselves whether this approach merits the word conspiracy, or whether its is just another culturally outrageous, socially irrational notion such as each person will have 15 minutes of fame. (Worhol, and it seems what is behind the craze of all those trying out for talent shows such as American Idol)
The origins of this word can seem dubious, like many other words in our English language- it takes on adaptations and easily promoted definitions…
As a word and as a concept, it seems to have been invented by the sociologist Fred Goldner in an article in Social Problems in 1982, in which he defined it pessimistically as “the delusion that others will think well of you”, or referring to the unreasoned belief that your superiors think you are indispensable, or that your colleagues adore you, and that you are doing brilliantly in your work. … Boy, with that attitude, he must have really been fun to be around! So dour! His faculty meetings had to be awful!
The next definition, far more optimistic, comes from Industrial psychology and research writings in the field of Organizational Development:
“[When addressing the qualities of leadership, Pronoia is the idea that everyone is not out to get you; instead, people are out to love you, or at the least to appreciate you, if you reciprocate.
y
According to the best insights from Social Darwinism, only the pronoid will positively adapt, will survive — in fact, only the pronoid truly understand the survival value of mutual affirmation, appreciation, and affection- Because of this, they can endure and flourish. [Fast Company, Nov. 1999]”
In a similar way, the harsh competitiveness of our lives does little to access the sharing, the support, and the relational equality needed to resolve most, if not all of our social problems.
Carl Jung once observed this:
“Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there is where love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.” Psychological Reflections-Anthology.
In the newly published, whimsical, irreverent, blasphemous, ribald, yet, remarkable and insightful book called Pronoia, by poet, mystic, and philosopher Rob Brezsny, he offers us the most widely considered, newly formed definition of pronoia that has now caught on across Western European cultures:
PRONOIA:
The philosophical and spiritual outlook that contends or that affirms that the universe, and life itself, has conspired to give us blessings; that we were born to express bliss, empathy, and happiness. Rather than seeing life as some sour experience to be tasted then endured, or that we are here living out some desperately chaotic incomprehensible existence!
8
Pronoia exclaims that life is beautiful- it is filled with blessings, opportunities, exhalted moments; Life offers us many cooperative expressions of love and caring, happiness, and a multitude of experiences and connections that can promote well being…. Wow! What if life were truly like this? Maybe it is!

The largest question that a world view or a life philosophy such as Pronoia tries to tackle is this: “Is the world a dangerous, chaotic place with no inherent value or worth, running on crazed automatic like a malfunctioning machine, and is our culture functioning in ways that are really inhospitable to our happiness? OR we can ask:
Are you surrounded by caring helpers in a friendly universe that gives you challenges in order to make you wiser, smarter, and kinder? Ah, those are all trick questions, right?
It all depends on what you believe to be true, for you will experience your life based on how you approach the experiences of your life, and more importantly, how you respond to them!
Remember this perspective: While both pessimism and paranoia are self promoting and self affirming, pronoia seeks to cooperatively affirm and promote the positive outlook and the healthy, receptive open state of mind and heart that releases you from any self imposed prisons, negativity, emotional ruts…
9 No matter how enticing pronoia and its positive benevolent message may be, you should expect a lot of people to resist this notion of pronoia… Why? As novelist Tom Robbins points out:
“The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer them up. … Because then they have to stop dwelling on themselves, and start paying attention to the universe.
You see, unhappiness is the ultimate state of self indulgence. When you are unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself oh so seriously…” Pronoia declares, ” Lighten up!” “Get A Life!”
One of the finest advocates of pronoia, Albert Einstein, was reported to state this: There are two essential questions in life: The first question, and most important question you can ask yourself each day is this: Is the universe a friendly place?
The second is this: We have two ways to approach living our lives; The first is as if nothing is miraculous, and the other is as if everything is a miracle… That choice is up to you…
Another advocate… since Pronoia believes deeply in the grace of change and in the fact of physical and spiritual evolution… Pronoia quotes Darwin in his famous Origin of The Species, when he observed: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent, but it is the ones who are the most responsive to change.”

10
Ah, but here is the catch about Pronoia: Life always gives you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it, but it doesn’t give you exactly what you want, when you want it!
Our task in a pronoic outlook is to be willing to have faith in yourself and to trust in ultimate outcomes- that there is a lesson to be learned in every one of life’s experiences that will make us more happy, wise, or more kind.”
Pronoia is inspired by a desire to promote, expand, and cultivate dignity, hope, and a sense of worth in all people. It is an assertive form of gratitude that prefers to count one’s blessings in life, rather than dwell on one’s defects or defeats for a sense of life’s meaning… .
What it not is a “Pollyanna” rose colored glasses approach to life- it recognizes and appreciates the fact that it takes a lot of courage to look at things optimistically; to look for silver linings, to wait for one’s answers under stress, and to work thorough your personal difficulties, and then join together in healthy groups to work through the world’s injustices by first be willing not to deny or avoid them.
We are to become more personally pronoic and then we are to conspire benevolently with others to engage our human challenges vigorously, open-heartedly, without pessimism or the limiting programming of premature possibilities of self defeat.

11
One pronoic therapist, Jennifer Welwood, creates this statement of intention:
[She is willing to experience aloneness; and discover my connections; That I will turn toward life and face my fears, and meet the spiritual warrior that lives within me;
I open to what has been lost, and know that I have also been given unimaginable gifts;
Each condition I flee from, pursues and follows me;
Each condition I welcome, transforms me, and what or who it is also becomes transformed. Who or whatever crafted this Master Game of life, I promise to play it with delight, and to honor its lessons as my true devotion.]”
Admittedly, this is a rambling, impossibly complex topic that I have tried to summarize, and I fully realize that my words are inadequate because this book declares itself to be a radical notion- a book written in a very unique, colorful, and amusing style, so I hesitate to ask you to take it seriously… so you might want to skip it, that is, except for the anecdotes, quotes, and pondering… Except for the optimistic values it upholds…  So, Caveat Emptor! Or Enjoy it! Its your choice; its your life!
Now, let me complete my thoughts today by returning to the concept of a conspiracy… And how this church or any spiritual community can foster or affirm either a paranoid or a pronoic approach to being together…
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As a church consultant, and experienced minister, I find that it is clear and obvious what kinds of systemic ineffectiveness results if a church is only comprised of a bunch of self interested individuals, who were parsimonious about sharing their talents, skills, and their resources with one another…  While all too common, we need not accept this as inevitable!
What I would recommend is to discover ways that your membership can become more pronoic; that is, find ways to celebrate life and work together! Ready and willing to place common interests and shared ideals before any individual wants or needs… It becomes crucial that members give generously, and be willing to serve on committees, etc., however, we cannot lose sight of the other requirement we have as a community- to laugh with one another, to console one another, to inspire each other, and to join together to identify and then value our mission in the world.
In short, this morning, I ask you to consider how your ideas and your behavior can bless, uphold, value, and care for this community, and how best to celebrate all that it does, all that it gives, and lastly… To seriously consider how best to you can conspire together to become all that this church can be! … AMEN ; Blessed Be; So Be It!

Closing Words:
Through your active and committed participation, your church life teaches you How; How to be courageous and trusting when facing life’s uncertainties, How to conspire against our fears or worries and How to become a more open, aspiring,
Compassionate and a joyous church together! SO BE IT

From My book: Spirit, Time and The Future

Since most of us can agree to the fact that nothing in our lives is completely fail safe; without risk, and that few, if any, parts of our lives are as secure, as safe, or as easy as either we think or we hope that they might be. Life when lived fully, is lived without certainty, and since we lived in the questions of our hearts, it can compell us towards facing the the “what ifs” and the “not yets” with a greater sense of trust aor faith. We have to accept that without risk, life in its fullest sense, ceases… That within every desire, and in every decision there is a paradox we are to embrace, know, trust, and respect. There is always the potential for a hidden flaw, an unintended outcome, an unplanned event, a quirk, a boomerang, or some other experience unforeseen…. We can protest this fact but we also have to admit that it sure keeps life interesting, doesn’t it?!?

However disconcerting, or dissatisfying this admission might sound to us, I have not found that such an admission to life’s complexity and perplexity should not limit our willingness to explore, experiment, or try for new conclusions, and then to make steps inward in order to venture toward new spiritual horizons..
Borrowing from the poet, Browning, a person who seeks out a full, complete, and creative life is someone whose reach, whose vision, and whose sense of purpose extends beyond their grasp. One’s sense of heaven is always a little further from the place where it is safe and secure- and the reward is always a little sweeter because it involved the risk in overcoming some level of fear, some uncertainty, and that the goal of attaining any sense of a heavenly peace requires us to have a little more faith, a little more trust in a beneficial outcome, and not be weighed down or stifled by what the voices of unnecessary caution around us decry, or what those fearful voices of inadequacy will try to publish and declare…
An inclusive, creative, and Spirit-filled approach towards the future centers us on this two fold human truth; that we are prophetically called and that we are mystically invited to the fullness of life. We are prophetically called by our outer ethical concern and our humane principles that encourage our compassionate witness, and we are called mystically invited.by our courageous, inner, seeking aspirations to live fully inLight of God and in the face of uncertainty- for no one can know for sure how anything will turn out; none of us can be completely assured of any outcome of any action or any choice.
We live by faith; and it is often a faith that is against the odds, and forces us to live near the margins of our understanding, close to the bone when it comes to any sense of security. Only a sense of compelling guiding vision and having vital mission that that can be shared and celebrated brings any person, family, or community through to the other side of any dilemma, any risk, or trial in life.
The purpose of religion or any spiritual gathering is to unify all the broken and split parts of humanity, and to listen, as Spirit educates and moves us… when we take the time and have the fortitude to listen to our hearts, we humans can come together to build a better world.
At the last, I believe that there is planted in every human soul an urgency to live- to build character, to forge, and then to refine our relationships, to reach beyond previously held limits of comfort, and to face the asking years of our uncertainties with faith and courage. The quality and importance of our futures rests in the assurance that we have reached out, that we were willing to risk, and when looking back, we can say that we have done our best….

God Is Friendship
Spiritual relationships have a long history in religious tradition–it’s no surprise they can
help us on our own journeys.
By Brother Wayne Teasdale

Excerpted from “A Monk in the World” by Wayne Teasdale.
Reprinted with permission of New World Library.

Ananda, the beloved disciple of the Buddha, once asked his teacher and friend about the place of friendship in the spiritual journey. “Master, is friendship half of the spiritual life?” he asked. The Enlightened One responded: “Nay, Ananda, friendship is the whole of the spiritual life.” Jesus had his beloved friend, John; King David had Jonathan; St. Francis enjoyed the constant companionship of Brother Leo and his special friendship with St. Clare, who led the Poor Clares, the Second Order of St. Francis. Aristotle regarded friendship, along with contemplation, as one of the highest goals of ethics. Cicero, the Roman writer, showed in his treatise on the nature of friendship that the Romans valued it as much as the Greeks. Plato discoursed on friendship in his dialogue the Lysis.

Monasticism in Europe in the twelfth century witnessed the explosion of spiritual friendship
under the inspiration of the Cistercians, or Trappists, whose monastic observance, reflection,
and contemplation favored the flowering of insight on the practice of spiritual friendship. These
monks knew more about the nature and value of friendship in their day than we do in ours. And
in India, a friend is cherished more than anything else. The reason is simple: While marriages on
the subcontinent are arranged, friendships are chosen, like they are everywhere else, and so
they are regarded as precious, lifelong commitments.
We may sometimes think of the spiritual life as being austere and lonely. But the truth is that building bonds between people is just as important as cultivating a practice and often the two go hand in hand.

Spiritual Friendship
An orientation to the Sacred makes a foundation on which lasting friendship can be built. Interest in, seeking of, and commitment to the Sacred, the Divine, in whatever form it may assume, provides the ultimate measure of growth in the lives of friends and within friendship itself.
Orientation to the Divine, to God and the spiritual journey, opens up an eternal dimension to the
friendship and permits a depth of sharing that doesn’t happen at sports events, the theater,
concerts, dances, or bars, where conversations tend to be limited to the popular culture of
games, politics, or the movies. The spiritual journey, the mystical life, presents an ultimate
context for the guidance of our friends and all our relationships to occur. It grants us a focus, a
destiny, and a container for our personal spiritual evolution that is lacking in many other spheres
of life, such as business, school, and recreation.
Having said all this, I have dozens of friendships with people who don’t share my Catholic
tradition, who often are not religious, though they are indeed spiritual, simply meaning they are
open to the depth of meaning in their lives. This is certainly true of my countless Tibetan friends,
who of course are all Buddhists. We don’t have God in common — at least not in the
conventional Christian sense — but we have the dimension of spirituality, the practice of
compassion and love. These friendships are deep and lasting.

Christ’s Example
Jesus clearly emphasized friendship with his disciples. The New Testament writers tell us of the great lengths he would go to stress a relationship with them based on love, or agape, as the Gospel calls it. This agapic love — friendship — is the key to grasping the message of Christ. In a very real sense, love is the message Jesus came into the world to teach; he came to impart this extraordinary knowledge and to transmit this capacity to us.

The Gospel proclaims, “God is love.” We might just as easily say, “God is friendship,” and St. Bernard of Clairvaux actually makes this claim. Near the end of his life and ministry on earth,
Jesus tells his followers: “I shall no longer call you servants….I call you friends.”

And as the Gospel of Matthew tells us, love, or charity, is the criterion for salvation. Agapic love is a friendship that responds to everyone we meet, spreading the Kingdom of Heaven on earth
through our openness to and care for others. Jesus invites us to extend our friendship not simply
to those with whom we feel a certain affinity, but to all. He teaches us that no merit exists in
loving those who love us and challenges us to love those we wouldn’t ordinarily include.

Spiritual friendship, based on agape, or selfless love, is universal. It is not limited to the personal preferences that often determine friendships. These preferences often lack the universal
availability to others required of spiritual friendship. Christ understood friendship on a much
higher level. He saw it as the bond connecting his community of followers, a bond characterized
by his selfless and self-giving sacrifice of himself. He defines love and friendship in these terms:
“Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love than this no man has, that he would lay
down his life for his friends.” It is this spirit, in my understanding, that characterizes the nature of genuine friendship, and even more so, its spiritual form. As a Christian monk, it is this ideal that inspires me in all my friendships. It is certainly true that I frequently fall short of this ideal, but I do keep it before me, and I take it very seriously. Friendship represents a dimension of deep
experience that, like a marriage, requires a steadfast commitment and a considerable amount of
work. It is not easy, and it must never be taken for granted.

Tools of Spiritual Friendship
The skills of friendship are many: other-centeredness, honesty, availability, willingness to listen,
sensitivity, generosity with time, helpfulness, the capacity to be completely yourself, and the
willingness to place friendship at the service of the community. These capacities, like so many
threads, weave friendship into a beautiful fabric, precious to those so blessed. All these skills
work together and are interdependent. To take one out is to unravel the whole fabric.
All friendship requires other-centeredness. A friend does not focus on self.

This other-centeredness must be based on honesty and a mutual caring. A deep trust must exist between friends that they are telling the truth. Honesty also extends to emotions. True friends do not suppress their feelings for each other, but often express them, when appropriate, and they are always willing to challenge each other when either perceives that something’s wrong. In this way, friends are vehicles for each other’s growth.
To develop true friendship, we have to actually be a friend to others. We cannot simply desire
friendship; we must live it. A true friend is always available; availability is a sign of a friendship’s authenticity. Friendship demands a willingness to listen, and this quality is closely aligned with availability; it is a listening with the intensity of the heart, not just to words, but to feelings as well. Such a listening is a form of sensitivity, allowing ourselves to feel and care, to be aware beyond our self-interest. This sensitivity is awareness itself, which is always growing in its capacity to understand and respond.
Friendship needs time, not simply in terms of its development, but in terms of its existential
reality. Friends simply have to commit to spend time together. Then time itself, as the friendship
matures, allows it to deepen and realization reveals to us how much of a treasure it actually is
for us. A true friend is always willing to help and never counts the cost of time or resources. This
skill for generosity is often tested, as are all the other skills. A spiritual friendship is predicated
on being a soul friend, a companion along the inner way, relating the relationship to its center in
the mystical life. Most of all, friendship means being totally yourself with your friend, and this
requires relaxation, being at home with friends, not somewhere else, and not tense. When I’m
with my friends, we are relaxed and we laugh with vigor and gusto. Spontaneity is expressed in
banter, teasing, and endless humor.

Finally, spiritual friendship serves the community; it has value not only for those involved in it but also for the wider circle of humanity that benefits from the fruits of the friendship. Everything we do or accomplish of a moral, psychological, and spiritual nature has an impact on others. We are here not simply for ourselves; we are part of a much larger fabric of being and life. This beneficial relationship to community is another expression of the other-centeredness so
essential in spiritual friendships.

Each skill is a tangible manifestation of love, and each requires its guidance. All these skills
work together in weaving that majestic tapestry of divine friendship enfleshed in human beings
here and now. No life is complete without this dimension of human association bridging the gap
between earth and heaven. As a monk living in the world, I have found it to be my greatest
human support.

Brother Wayne Teasdale is a lay monk who combines the traditions of Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism in the way of Christian sannyasa. He is an adjunct professor at DePaul University, Columbia College, and the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he lives.

God Is Friendship or Spiritual Friendship
Spiritual relationships have a long history in religious tradition– it’s no surprise they can
help us on our own journeys.
By Brother Wayne Teasdale (Adapted as a Homily for Friendship Sunday)

Brother Wayne Teasdale was a lay monk who combined the traditions of Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism in the way of Christian sannyasin, or simple holy man. He is an adjunct professor at DePaul University, Columbia College, and the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he lived in a monastic style until 2003.
I met him while he was lecturing in Florida, and we made an instant bond of recognition, as fellow spiritual travelers, and a friendship soon developed. ( knowing that person would be meaningful to you- no matter how long or short the time might be) We began a heartfelt correspondence- he was in Chicago, and I was in Florida and then Connecticut. However, he became suddenly ill, and his cancer was a fast, invasive one, so I never had the chance to see my new friend again. Nevertheless, he had quite a positive and inspiring impact on me- one I will never forget.

The spiritual journey, with all of its directives towards inner exploration presents an ultimate interpersonal context for the guidance of our friends and all our relationships to occur. It grants us a relational focus for our personal evolution that is lacking in many other spheres of life, such as business, school, and recreation. Orientation to life’s spiritual journey, opens up an eternal dimension to the friendship and permits a depth of sharing that doesn’t happen at sports events, concerts, dances, or bars, where conversations tend to be limited to the popular culture of games, politics, or the movies.
Having said all this, I have dozens of friendships with people who don’t share my Catholic Tradition. I have friends who are not religious, though they are indeed spiritual, which simply means to me that they are open to finding the depth of meaning and a lasting purpose in their lives.

2
What we do share is the heart centered dimension of spirituality, best expressed through the practice of compassion and love. These friendships are deep and lasting.
Ananda, the beloved disciple of the Buddha, once asked his teacher and friend about the place of friendship in the spiritual journey. “Master, is friendship half of the spiritual life?” he asked. The Enlightened One responded: “No, Ananda, friendship is the whole of the spiritual life.”
King David had Jonathan; St. Francis enjoyed the constant companionship of Brother Leo and his special friendship with St. Clare, Aristotle regarded friendship, along with contemplation, as one of the highest goals of ethics.
Cicero, the Roman writer, showed in his treatise on the nature of friendship that the Romans valued it as much as the Greeks. Plato discoursed on friendship in his dialogue, the Lysis.
Christ’s Example
Jesus clearly emphasized friendship with his disciples. The New Testament writers tell us of the great lengths he would go to stress a relationship with them based on love, or agape, as the Gospel calls it. He taught that “God is love.” We might just as easily can say, “God is friendship,” Near the end of his life and ministry on earth, Jesus tells his followers: “I shall no longer call you servants….
(or students) I call you friends.” (John 17)
Spiritual friendship, based on agape, or selfless love, is universal. It is not limited to the personal preferences that often determine other forms of friendships. These preferences often lack the universal availability to others required of spiritual friendship. Jesus understood friendship on a much higher level.

3
He saw it as the bond connecting his community of followers, a bond characterized by his selfless and self-giving sacrifice of himself. He defines love and friendship in these terms: “Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love than this no man has, that he would lay down his life for his friends.”
3
Friendship represents a dimension of deep experience that, like a marriage, requires a steadfast commitment and a considerable amount of work. It is not easy, and it must never be taken for granted. The skills of friendship are many: other-centeredness, honesty, availability, willingness to listen, sensitivity, generosity with time, helpfulness, the capacity to be completely yourself, and the willingness to place friendship at the service of the community.
These capacities, like so many threads, weave friendship into a beautiful fabric, precious to those so blessed. All these skills work together and are interdependent. All friendship requires other-centeredness. A friend does not focus on themselves. To develop true friendship, we have to actually be a friend to others. We cannot simply desire friendship; we must live it. A true friend is always available; availability is a sign of a friendship’s authenticity. Friendship demands a willingness to listen, and this quality is closely aligned with availability; it is a listening with the intensity of the heart, not just to words, but to feelings as well. Such a listening is a form of sensitivity, allowing ourselves to feel and care, to be aware beyond our self-interest. This sensitivity is awareness itself, which is always growing in its capacity to understand and respond.
Friendship needs time, not simply in terms of its development, but in terms of its existential reality. Friends simply have to commit to spending time together. A true friend is always willing to help, and never counts the cost of time.
4
A spiritual friendship is predicated on being a soul friend, a companion along the inner way.
Most of all, friendship means being totally yourself with your friend, and this requires relaxation, being at home with friends, not somewhere else, and not tense. When I’m with my friends, we are relaxed and we laugh with vigor and gusto. Spontaneity is expressed in banter, teasing, and endless humor.
Finally, spiritual friendship serves the community; it has a important value not only for those involved in it but also for the wider circle of humanity that benefits from the fruits of the friendship. Everything we do or accomplish of a moral, psychological, and spiritual nature has an lasting impact on others. We are here not here on this earth simply for ourselves; we are part of a much larger fabric of being, relationship, and life. This beneficial relationship to community is another expression of the other-centeredness so essential in spiritual friendships.
Each skill we develop extends our ability to care and to serve. Those talents, when expressed through friendship and community sharing act as a tangible manifestation of love. All these skills work together in weaving that majestic tapestry of divine friendship enfleshed in human beings and to be expressed in the here and now. No life is complete without this dimension of human association, without the opportunity to share oneself, and to honor the gift of friendship.

Sharing Our Joys & Sorrows:

We have but one sacred duty in this life, and that is to make ourselves available to others.
You do this by sharing what you already are in this and in every moment.
If you are loving, then share your loving, thereby multiplying its good effects.
If you are suffering, then share your suffering, thereby dividing sorrow into manageable bits.
If you are healing, then share your healing, thereby healing broken places in yourself and in others.
Why waste a precious moment arguing or worry if what you have or who you are is not enough, or if you are useful… The world has need of your pieces of love, caring and healing…
Trust, that however unlikely it might seem, without your personal piece, without your sharing, the universe as we know it, would be incomplete.

Adapted From The Poem ” Leave Nothing Unsaid” by Carol Orsborn

Closing Words: By William Penn, the founder of the American Friends or The Quakers

Friendship: There can be no friendship where there is no freedom. Friendship loves a free air, and will not be couped up in straight and narrow enclosures. It will speak freely and take no ill where no ill is meant; Friendship will easily forgive and forget …
A true friend unburdens freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes in all patiently, defends courageously, and continues in friendship unchangably. These being the qualities of friendship, we are to find them before we choose someone as our friend.