Inviting
Spirit
“Enlightened
leadership is spiritual if we understand spirituality not as some
kind of religious dogma or ideology, but as the domain of awareness
where we experience values like truth, goodness, beauty, love and
compassion, and also intuition, creativity, insight and focused
attention.”
Deepak
Chopra
A
couple of years ago, my friend, Harry, and I decided we were tired of
book studies as Sunday School. We enjoyed book studies as much as
anyone in the class—who doesn't like to sit in a roomful of smart
people exchanging ideas and opinions. But we felt something was
missing. The study of a book, or anything else, is all left-brain
activity—thinking and talking. Missing were the mystical aspects of
spirituality. We tried studying books about the mystical parts of various religions, but we were still engaged in thinking and talking, and not in
experiencing. Even prayer, especially silent prayer, seemed
uncomfortable for some.
So
we decided to start a spirituality group on Sunday morning and even
timed it to start half an hour earlier than the usual Sunday School
so there would be time for silent prayer and meditation. And people
showed up! Especially young adults, who have too much experience with
studying things and not enough with experiencing them. They were
hungry for something different. What we found is that even though
Harry and I are more than twice the age of these young people,
there's no top-down leadership in a Spirituality group. It's not a
hierarchical structure, and Spirit doesn't care how old you are. She
speaks equally to any age—and enlightened leadership can come from any source because it comes from Spirit. And, while we are meeting in a mainstream Christian Church,
we could be anywhere. Whatever topic we bring turns into stories of personal experience with that topic. Something happens in that
circle of beanbag chairs and meditation stools that opens hearts and
is beautiful to behold.
If
you are interested in experiencing the holy, don't wait for someone
else to lead. Just jump in and do it. If Spirit is invited, she will
come and bring with her awareness, goodness, compassion and beauty.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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