This is my full time work and primary source of income. Thank you for sharing your good with me. Together, we can demonstrate that abundance is the nature of reality.
We do not practice spirituality merely to feel better. We practice so that we can become available to the healing of the world.
Wholeness has always been central to the New Thought tradition in which I was raised and which has shaped my lifelong spiritual practice. The philosopher and psychologist William James famously described New Thought as a “religion of healthy-mindedness.”
Today, the pursuit of healthy-mindedness extends far beyond religion. It has become a highly marketable promise, a multibillion-dollar wellness industry selling everything from supplements and yoga pants to miracle pills and specially engineered pillows.
We do not practice spirituality merely to feel better. We practice so that we can become available to the healing of the world.
There is much that could be said about that industry, about what it offers, what it exploits, and whom it leaves out. But the desire at its heart is deeply human. We want to be well. We want our lives to feel whole. We want to experience the fullest possible expression of who we are.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to feel better.
Yet, as my spiritual practice has deepened, I have come to understand that I am here for more, not more comfort, more certainty, or more possessions, but more freedom.
I am not here merely to manage my discomfort.
I am not here to insulate myself from the suffering of the world.
I am not here to perfect myself through an endless series of purchases, practices, and improvements.
I am here to get free.
I am here to become free enough to participate fully in the healing of my life, my community, and our world.
That freedom begins with the revelation of wholeness, not a wholeness we must achieve, but the wholeness we already are.
You see, I believe there is a Divine spark at the center of every soul. It does not belong to one religion, race, gender, nationality, political party, or social class. No person possesses more of it than another. No institution has the authority to bestow it, and no injustice has the power to extinguish it or control it.
Our spiritual work is to recognize that spark within ourselves, nurture it, and express it. But our work cannot end there. We must also recognize it in one another.
That means including those who are historically left on the margins or explicitly drawn out of our societal or collective wholeness.
If there is only one Life, one Presence, and one indivisible Spirit expressing through the magnificent diversity of creation, then no one exists outside the Whole. Exclusion begins with the mistaken belief that some people belong more completely than others, that some lives are more sacred, more worthy, or more welcome than others.
“If every act of inclusion is a spiritual practice, then every act of exclusion is a spiritual misunderstanding of truth.” - Rev. Lisa Davis, Unity of Portland
Inclusion, then, is more than a social courtesy. It is the practice of aligning our choices with spiritual truth; Wholeness.
In recent years this has felt like a new revelation within the New Thought tradition. Authors like Robert Brzezinski and Michael Corthell have documented the “new wave” of prophetic and justice oriented focus within the movement. I concur with them both that it is good to see such a renewed interest in applying spiritual practice to the gritty work of making the world a better place.
However, as I mentioned in my book, Freedom from Discord: The Promise of New Thought Liberation Theology - a justice oriented focus has always been a part of the movement. New Thought suffragist, unitarian abolitionist, and pro-union activist filled new thought journals with their practical and activist wisdom in the early 1900’s.
Take this excerpt from the second edition of the new though periodical Practical Ideals - Jan. 1901.
“THE New Thought movement in its early years, was largely concerned with methods of realizing health in the individual. W e aimed at establishing habits of thought which should bring as their fruit, relief of pain and of physical disability. W e learned to use our energies in building up conditions of health, instead of wasting them in fighting disease; we recognize the dynamic power contained in thought, and saw the body take on new life and vigor with the adoption of new ideals of conduct.
One might call this holding the individualistic or personal ideal, for the object to be attained was a betterment of the individual’s own condition. And the holding of the personal ideal is and always will be, most necessary and important. But those who have by experience come to realize the transforming power of right ideals when applied to their own lives, should go on to enlarge the field of operation of these ideals and should endeavor to apply these principles in the life of the community in general.
No personal ideal of health and happiness can be complete, nor can it be effectual for even the welfare of the individual, unless it have reference to that larger whole to which we are so intimately related. Society is like an organism, and as the welfare of each part contributes to the welfare of the whole, so the condition of the whole affects that of every unit in it.”
source: https://iapsop.com/archive/materials/practical_ideals/practical_ideals_v1_n2_jan_1901.pdf
Here we can see that in the earliest days of the movement there was a deep understanding of the interconnection between personal and collective wholeness. If everything exists within the One then every body, every identity, every history, and every life is an expression of the same ultimate Reality, which includes our collective experience as society.
Imagine all creation as the living skin of God. Nothing exists beyond it. Nothing can be cut away from it. There is no forgotten corner of creation where the Divine is absent. To perceive this truth is to realize that wholeness and justice cannot be separated.
Wholeness is personal justice.
Justice is collective wholeness.
We think of justice as that which restores right relationship, often in the context of community. It brings what has been denied, rejected, silenced, or pushed to the margins back into the circle of our concern. It insists that the dignity we claim for ourselves must also be recognized in others.
Whenever a person is treated as disposable, the Whole is dishonored. Whenever a community is excluded from safety, opportunity, dignity, or belonging, our shared life is diminished. Whenever we widen the circle, repair a relationship, confront an injustice, or make room for a voice that has been ignored, we participate in the restoration of wholeness.
The challenges we face in pursuing justice as a society are the same ones we face in pursuing wholeness as individuals. Which is to say that the real work lies in looking at the hard stuff. Too often we use spirituality to escape what hurts rather than transform or heal it. We look away from that which provokes discomfort, whether its from with ourselves or from society. We cover pain with platitudes. We tell ourselves to remain positive when truth requires us to grieve, speak, protest, or change. We become so focused on our individual peace that we forget our infinite connection to one another.
When we dress up avoidance in spiritual language we don’t get closer to wholeness, we get further from the work that is inevitable.
Yes, inner peace is important and we all seek it, but peace is not passivity. Affirmative prayer is powerful, but prayer was never intended to protect us from responsibility. We do not cultivate consciousness so that we can remain untouched by the world. Rather, we cultivate consciousness so that we can meet the world with clarity, courage, and love.
Our spiritual practice should make us more available:
Available to truth.
Available to discomfort.
Available to compassion.
Available to courage.
Available to the work that is ours to do.
The ego wants us to be safe, but the soul wants us to be free. And freedom sometimes asks us to enter the very places we would rather avoid.
In order to be in integrity with the principle of wholeness as well as the principle of justice - we have to face the uncomfortable. It’s part of the process, to pretend otherwise is to be out of integrity with the evolution of our soul. In other words there is a divine discontent that we must embrace.
Divine discontent is the friction we feel when something is no longer aligned with what we know to be true. That friction is not always evidence that something has gone wrong. Sometimes it is evidence that something new is trying to emerge.
Or as blues artist Keb’Mo would say it “Maybe its just news on your television, or maybe its God trying to get your attention.” (Listen here)
Look, it easy to forget in a society that is driven by consumerism and a global wellness industry worth 7 trillion dollars annually, that discomfort, breakdown actually facing the crisis is necessary, rather than just covering it up.
But part of our spiritual practice must be remembering that a seed must break open before it can reach the sun. A chick must become dissatisfied with the shrinking world inside its shell before it can peck its way into a larger one. Birth itself is a passage through pressure, pain, and uncertainty into new life.
We were made to grow.
We were made to emerge.
We were made to break free.
The discomfort we feel in the presence of injustice is not necessarily a distraction from our spiritual path. It may be the path calling us forward. It may be the soul refusing to make peace with what contradicts the truth of our shared being.
So what do we do? How do we face the many injustices that plague our cities, neighborhoods and communities?
In Exodus, God tells Moses:
“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.… So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
God sees.
God hears.
God is concerned.
And then God sends someone.
Moses responds as so many of us do: “Who am I?”
Who am I to confront the injustices of the world?
Who am I to speak?
Who am I to imagine that my presence could make a difference?
But God does not ask Moses to go in armed just with the strength of his personality. God sends him in the authority of the I AM, the living Presence of Wholeness at the center of his being.
The same Presence of Wholeness lives in You!
When the noise of division becomes too loud, when the pain of injustice becomes too great, and when the cry of the world keeps us awake, we must not confuse spiritual centeredness with spiritual silence.
The reason we learn to hold consciousness is so that, when we hear the cry, we possess the inner strength and moral courage to respond.
Our spirituality must become embodied.
Our prayer must grow feet.
Our compassion must become courage.
Our inner knowing must become right action.
God did not send Moses to Pharaoh with a vague hope that Pharaoh might eventually experience a change of consciousness.
God sent Moses to say, “Let my people go.”
The story is less about the defeating of Pharaoh, and more about getting out of Egypt. It is about spiritual liberation. It is about refusing to remain within conditions that deny the truth of who we are.
Justice does not ask us to save the world by ourselves. It asks us to become available to the part of its healing that is ours to embody.
Sometimes that means speaking. Sometimes it means listening. Sometimes it means relinquishing power, sharing resources, repairing harm, challenging a policy, changing a habit, or welcoming someone whom our community has learned not to see.
For some of you that means putting yourself in positions of learning and supporting those who have been in the trenches for a long time. You might consider supporting (financially) the work of my mentors and teachers here on substack:
Miysha T Hill who publishes Heal Your Way Forward
Desireé B Stephens who publishes the Liberation Education Newsletter
Years ago when I sat in Bishop Yvette Flunder’s office in Oakland, CA - pledging my support as an ally for the justice and liberation work she represents, she stopped me cold with one question. I had asked her what I could do to be in alignment and support her work. Her response was quick, “You are asking the wrong question baby….The question you need to ask is; what will this work cost you, because I can assure you, it will cost you something.”
The work will ask something of us. It may disturb our comfort, disrupt familiar arrangements, and reveal misunderstandings we did not know we carried. But comfort is not the measure of spiritual maturity, availability is.
Are you available to revealing wholeness?
Are you available to revealing justice?
The world is crying.
Spirit is listening.
And now, Spirit is sending us.
(all books posted are available at the Liberation Library for purchase)
Decolonizing Wellness: A QTBIPOC-Centered Guide to Escape the Diet Trap, Heal Your Self-Image, and Achieve Body Liberation by Dalia Kinsey
The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness by Rhonda V. Magee
Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation by Rev. angel Kyodo Williams
What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World by Prentis Hemphill
The Conscious Activist: Where Activism Meets Mysticism by James O’Dea
recent posts that are worth checking out (and the subscribing and following the authors):
Rev. Dr. David Alexander D.D., is a public theologian and spiritual writer exploring the intersection of spirituality, justice, and moral imagination in public life. Bringing 20 plus years of pulpit ministry with Centers for Spiritual Living, into everyday life and the call for a better world. He is the author of Freedom from Discord: The Promise of New Thought Liberation Theology and the visionary behind Recovery from the Lie of Whiteness. David also writes the monthly column Philosophy in Action for Science of Mind magazine. Visit www.revdavidalexander.com to learn more.
This is my full time work and primary source of income. Thank you for sharing your good with me. Together, we can demonstrate that abundance is the nature of reality.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.