May/June 2003 Editor's Viewpoint
Editorial: Turning Inward, Reaching Out

Miriam Knight

As I write this, the azaleas and rhododendrons are bursting into bloom, the tulips are in full brilliance; the buds on fruit trees and early vegetables pushing through the soil offer promise of the bounty ahead. It is a time of growth, renewal and spring cleaning!

This past winter, many of us closed down, feeling depressed and impotent in the face of world events. But an interesting thing has happened. Many people I've talked with have coped with these feelings by turning inward and examining their own attitudes about war and violence. Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." And, like Gandhi, people are concluding that to have peace they must be peace; that "peace or kindness begins with me."

This attitude of personal responsibility seems to be restoring a sense of purpose and bringing the focus closer to home. People are looking for what they can do to make a difference, and it is spawning a new kind of service-oriented spiritual activism that Neale Donald Walsch has tapped into with Humanity's Team (see my interview with him).

This activism will harvest some of the energy generated by our collective in personal spiritual growth and turn it towards a broader goal-the spiritual growth of human society-through the actions we take in our everyday lives.

At our last Third Thursday gathering for the community, we heard how one woman-Lindy Clark-used the painful experiences in her personal and business life as the drive to create a non-profit to help other women to economic independence. As the discussion progressed the energy and excitement in the room grew. We discovered many complementary skills and experience in the group that could help in creating a cooperative incubator for fledgling companies, and even a micro-lending plan! (If you would like to be a part of creating this, call me at 503-892-3300.)

This experience epitomized for me the mission of New Connexion:

  • facilitating a connection among people on a path of spiritual exploration
  • creating a safe space in which to share ideas · expanding awareness of what we can and are doing to help ourselves and others
  • promoting conscious evolution towards a kinder world

Let me review for you some of the things we offer the community in support of this mission, and invite any of you who have not been taking advantage of them to do so:

Community Calendar of Events: I think this is one of the most important services we provide, and hey people, it is FREE for free events, and almost free for the rest. The more you get in the habit of using it, the more valuable it will be to the community.

Third Thursday: This has been a tremendous success-stimulating, delicious and a great way to make new connections.

Invited Speakers: We have just sponsored Brian O'Leary and are looking for more suggestions.

www.NewConnexion.net: Our online database is another FREE community service, so listing on it using it for quick searches is a no-brainer; again, you only pay if you want your listing printed in the paper. Our article archive is on the web, and our authors report contacts from all over the world as a result. We are getting over a quarter of a million hits a month!

And last, but not least,

Articles & Ads in New Connexion: Phonebooks and directories are fine, but get your message across in a paper that people really read. Besides, we really need your support.

So, back to the theme of nature-after this very dark winter, let's all do a bit of internal spring cleaning and throw open the windows of our minds and hearts and let the perfume of the spring air refresh our souls.