Unity

In California, we met some like minded folks with whom we shared a meaning-filled evening round the campfire with. These two shared their own lives turning points with us, their goals for self improvement and understanding, and tidbits of wisdom they had picked up, learned from experience or were in the process of uncovering.

Not considering themselves to be religious people per say, they shared with us how they were surprised to find a spiritual organization that they felt reflected all that they believed in and were working towards.

Being respectful of the responses that talking about organized religion/spirituality can bring up they didn't say much more than that.

Being deeply curious people we were keen to know more though.

They generously shared their experiences with us, and after that we were curious to find out even more. A little internet research revealed their organization in Reno and provided further links that led to the ultimate discovery that, right here in London, Ontario existed an organization under the same umbrella.

We had to check it out.

On a Sunday morning at the beginning of November we joined in a gathering out of sheer interest.

And???

It was a mixed bag.

The space and people were extremely welcoming and the discussion topic for the morning was interesting, touching and relevant to our spiritual pursuits. We felt as though we were off to a promising start, however...

when all was said and done, it just didn't feel like the right fit for us.

"Too much singing maybe?" Keir wondered

"The focus on donations at the end?" I considered

We both struggle with that aspect of "church" and were particularly turned off by the power point slide put up at the end of the service to show how much money is needed to "make the church thrive" compared to how much has been collected over the past month.

Why, we wondered, can't the gathering of like minded people coming together regularly to discuss, share and do/be/build goodness be considered "thriving" already? Why does the focus so often fall on the perceived "needed money" and not the grounding principles?

This seems to be true for many organizations - not just organized religion. From all the reading, researching, talking to people that we've done over these past few years, the overwhelming message has consistently been to "do what you do best - do what you love most - find that and the money that is needed will follow."

So, in the example of the "church" gathering we attended it seemed clear to us that the priorities were wrong. Why is a fancy building, a live band, and a marketing budget ("to tell the community about all the good that we do") considered essential to "thriving"? Isn't the good that the group does done because they believe that it is the right thing/the most helpful way to be present, and be authentic in the world?

If it is truly felt by that community that all those "extras" are needed then there needs to be a rethink, as the focus clearly seems to have shifted from building spirituality to building ego.

The problem however is that if an organization is going to have a "spiritual leader" then, in a first world nation, it goes without saying that the leader will need some sort of payment. That then begets that there will need to be a certain kind of place will need to be built/found, and so on and so forth until the focus becomes money, money and more money.

We wonder: Won't people naturally want to donate money (or time or committment - those should be seen as equally valuable) if it is something they believe deeply in for the good of the universe?

Now, we need to say that we've only visited this organization once and that it may not be a fair representation of that which they hold dear. We also understand that this organization may not be anything like the other organizations that belong to the international association. We will consider returning for another gathering to challenge our perceptions. We also understand that the traditional model for "church" may work well for many people and for many religious organizations. We remain unconvinced as to if it works for us. Still, we continue to be open to the possibility that there is a spiritual organization with which we do fit.

The best spiritual fit we've found so far has come to us in the form of a health/wellness/fitness class - called Conscious Movement. Unfortunately, that class was in Toronto and so we no longer participate in the collective classes. Fortunately, we can still (and do!) practice the teachings in our everyday life! That said, going to the classes is the thing we miss the most about Toronto.

With regards to that Sunday venture though, in the very end the deciding factor for the lack of fit may have been the kids group that finished the gathering. "They way they called them 'unitics'" said Keir, "it just sounds too much like lunatics"