Hi Everyone : )

I think it still looks too unclear whether we're for using "interspirit" to reference all non-material reality, as in the love that binds all beings together into one cosmic family, or whether it's to mean that followers of programs for living by this or that collection of beliefs about an Originator&Sustainer of all, is what we're making a gathering place for. Is it both?, and do we care if folks can tell which is which easily?

Maybe a poll to figure this out would be a good thing to do. CAN we poll our membership?

As for more-specified guidelines, if we go that route I hope they'll be kept short. My thinking is that the current agreement --to treat all members with respect-- is enough.

If we do get into specifics though, one guideline I think could help the general one take off is to inform members that as increasing good vibes in the world is a priority of ours, using gender-neutral and species-neutral language is advised whenever applicable.

More power to everyone here!

Love,

RhonnaLeigh

--- On Mon, Dec 16, 2013, Bruce Schuman wrote ---

Good morning. Thanks for everything. This has indeed been a powerful and vibrant creative process.

Maybe it's not quite clear yet what we have really done together -- but for me -- a lot has happened, and I am grateful the gifts everyone has brought here.

INTERFAITH OBSERVER

This morning, I received my copy of an electronic interfaith journal called The Interfaith Observer. It's published by a friend/co-worker, Dr. Paul Chaffee, who has been connected to Interspirit since we created this network in 2002. Paul is located in San Francisco, where the United Religions Initiative is also centered.

If you have a little time, take a look at this. It's a very articulate and informed overview of what is actually going in interfaith today.

http://theinterfaithobserver.org/

Here's an article by Dr. Marcus Braybooke, on the work of the Peace Council.

http://theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2013/12/15/the-work-of-the-peace-council.html

Here's Paul's lead editorial -- "The Toughest Goal of All" -- which has to do with peacebuilding.

http://theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2013/12/15/the-toughest-goal-of-all.html

AGREEMENT / SOCIAL CHANGE ACTIVISM

For me -- this Inspirit Alliance is now and has always been about social change activism led by the spirit. It says that on the home page, and twenty other places on this site. It basically says the same thing on the UCS site. The question is -- how do we do that? In a divided world, how is this possible?

Through our discussions here in the Alliance -- thanks to Starr* and Ram and S'ace and others -- we have emerged with a powerful model of how this can happen. This model does need some refinement and some further detail -- but we're on the right track, and that will happen, given enough time and steady presence.

I would say that for me -- the next step involves creating a simple clear statement of what this is about -- and then building agreement around that statement. Who knows if everybody here would actually agree to that statement -- even though this conversation has led to its formation. We're doing all of this in writing, over the internet. All kinds of confusion is possible. Do we "agree" -- or not? I don't know yet. We need some kind of formal statement, and some kind of formal agreement process. We're just not there yet.

One thing I think I will do today -- is begin drawing up that statement. Something very simple -- and people are either in, or not. Maybe we continue to wok on it together. It's probably going to take some time, and this is not really a task for one person. We should do this together. But we do need to focus and get it done.

OPT IN / OPT OUT

Another task for today, I think -- is to send out a generic broadcast to everybody in this system -- many of whom I have subscribed simply by importing email addresses from a couple of different sources -- the Global Resonance Network for one. Do those people want to be subscribed to this process? If not, I am just spamming them. I want to make it easy for them to quit if they are not interested. That will make it possible to then approach them with more energy in the future. I might get that done today.

MANY / ONE

One additional little thing -- just one connection among possibly thousands. I did a little google search for "interfaith circle" -- looking for images we could use -- and found this group -- that also happens to be in the San Francisco Bay area.

After this "agreement" concept begins to come into clearer focus -- I might write to these guys and see if they want to be part of this alliance process. Their basic vision is so similar to everything emerging for me -- and, I think -- for "meus/weus". But I guess we can "vote" on whether that is really true...

I'm thinking I want to add a feature to our "axis" model -- our central alignment vector that descends from The One to the Individual -- a feature that shows how every particular religion in the world can enter this agreement process -- by interpreting their own teachings in the right way -- such that they, too, become a "branch" in the integral sacred spirit-tree of community -- whether "Christian" or "Buddhist" or "Hindu" or "New Age" or "Tahirih" -- any of them -- "Truth is One, Paths are Many".

Here's a little image from the web site at http://theinterfaithcircle.org/yantra.htm

I'll spend a little time staring at this, thinking about how this center-point of the Yantra is the intersection of all these different religious paths, that come together at this one center point -- which is actually an axis connecting the Universal One to the Individual One

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