Posts in Practice
Living in Our Communal Body

The Body of Christ Becoming
Practicing Community – Part Ten

As we begin to awaken to the experience of our shared interiors, of the we-space that constitutes communal energy, mutual knowing, and interbeing on a mystical and very real level—that which is “in here” together—we expand beyond this limited story of individualism. We come into the experience of our intersubjective reality. This is where the subject of the sentence becomes plural: from I to We. Not just as a collection of separate parts, but a real and dynamic collective. How do we experience this?

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Community, PracticeLuke HealyMystical Community, WeSpace, EmbodimentComment
Bearing Forth a New World

Becoming Mystical Mothers this Advent Season

We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I also do not give birth to him in my time and my culture? This, then, is the fullness of time. When the Son of God is begotten in us.
—Meister Eckhart

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Mysticism, PracticeLuke HealyAdvent, Womb, Cocreation Comments
Community as Symphony

Understanding and Appreciating Types of Personalities
Practicing Community – Part Eight

While we love a great solo, the best music comes from an assembly of instruments playing together. There is just something to the joining of different sounds in resonance that creates something truly special. As is often said, the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts, and it is through playing together that we create beautiful music.

This is the symphony of community which is made up many different types of instruments, each playing with their particular pitch and tenor but into a harmonic wholeness that co-creates the collective song.

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Community, PracticeLuke HealyMystical Community, Types, EnneagramComment
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?

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Practice, CommunityLuke HealyPractice, Mystical Community 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.

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Community, PracticeLuke HealyMystical 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.

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Community, PracticeLuke HealyMystical Community, practice Comments