Conflict and Creative Tension in Our Midst

Finding the Portal of Transformation in our Differences
Practicing Community – Part Five

In the dance of community, we’re bound to step on one another’s toes from time to time. Realistically, at times it will be more than just a hurting toe—we will see our egos bruised and challenged. We may see boundaries crossed, emotions projected, and issues avoided. Sometimes it gets messy!

There is no real community without problems, without conflict, without disagreements, and without wounding. Any time we seek meaningful relationship and connection with others, there are swells and storms to be navigated—it will not all be smooth sailing.

When we give ourselves to the practice of community, on some level we probably know this is part of the deal. But our individualism is strong, and if things get rough it’s easier than ever to jump ship and retreat back to the safety of ourselves. Or away to a different community.

How do we stay with and continue through? And when should we? Can conflict and creative tension become a portal of transformation? And how do we make our way through it?

Practice, CommunityLuke HealyAugust 27, 2022Practice, Mystical Community Comments

Discovering Holistic Trust in “The Other”

The Choice of Healthy Mutuality
Practicing Community – Part Four

Deep community cannot happen without trust. And trust is a tricky thing. How do we choose who to trust? How is trust built? What if we over-trust and naïvely subject ourselves to something harmful? What degree of trust is appropriate for relationships in spiritual community?

Practice, CommunityLuke HealyAugust 20, 2022practice, Mystical Community, trust Comments

Cultivating Our Capacity for Connectedness

Heart Consciousness Growth
Practicing Community – Part Three

Once we have been unbound by the illusion of our separateness and individualism, we begin to recognize more and more how we are interconnected. We see the myriad ways we are not islands of Self, but members of a collective, divine body of Christ. That is to say—not “members” of a church or religion—but co-participants in the body of God on earth today.

And yet, we may also experience difficulties in actually living into and operating from this place of deep mutuality. While we may feel deep longings and have sincere intentions to engage more directly in our communal nature, it perhaps doesn’t come easily to us. Or we may not quite know how to do it. Though it is natural—in our deepest nature—it may often feel foreign at first. Or we may simply have to pace ourselves to rebuild the atrophied muscles of this under-utilized capacity.

Community, PracticeLuke HealyAugust 13, 2022Mystical Community, practice, Heart PathComment

The Spiritual Practice of Community

Overcoming Individualism Together
Practicing Community – Part Two

In many religious traditions, the element of community has been seen as a byproduct of spirituality rather than a focus point. A result of a common interest or aim rather than a vital component of the spiritual work itself. There is the spiritual content and substance, and then there is the community that comes together around those focal points of teaching, learning, service, and spiritual practice. In most cases, community is just what happens along the way.

Community, PracticeLuke HealyAugust 6, 2022Mystical Community, practice Comments

Finding Mystical Community

My Story of Evolution with Spiritual Community
Practicing Community – Part One

We left the church on Easter Sunday. Standing on the stone steps out front, the tradition was for the congregation to release dozens of colored balloons after the service. Floating up into the sky, they reflected the sun in pastel hues, slowly spreading out across the bright blue expanse. Up from the grave and risen to life. Now free. Dressed in their finest, the high heels clicked and the dress shoes scuffed against the sidewalks as people headed back to their cars. And I knew I wouldn’t be coming back.

Community, WeSpaceLuke HealyJuly 30, 2022Mystical Community, WeSpace Comments

Spiritual Bypassing through Knowing and Unknowing

Part Three: Finding Reality through Knowing and Not Knowing

There are many promises out there that this path or practice will allow you to live in a perpetual state of bliss while achieving all of your goals and becoming rich and thin in the process. However, the spiritual path is not always pretty, especially when it comes to our shadow.

We all have a shadow self. By “shadow,” I simply mean that which we cannot see. That which is in the dark because we have unconsciously hidden it from ourselves.

It is generally made up of the parts of ourselves we believe are unacceptable. It is not that they are really unacceptable. We just think they are — and bury them. I did that with being

Paul SmithJuly 23, 2022Spiritual Bypassing, Unknowing, spiritual knowingComment

Holding Knowing with the Open Hands of Unknowing

Part Two: Finding Reality through Knowing and Not Knowing

Three Kinds of Knowing and Their Shadows

To become genuinely grown-up and mature on our spiritual journey, we need all three kinds of knowing — healthy ordinary knowing, mystical spiritual knowing, and deep unknowing in our lives. This is because each form is limited without the others. There is a shadow or limiting side to all three.

Paul SmithJuly 16, 2022Unknowing, spiritual knowing, Shadow, Construct Aware Comment

The Beauty of Unknowing