Human Development
Communal spirituality
Description:
As has been demonstrated through such organizations as Alcoholics Anonymous and Weight Watchers, what seems an overwhelmingly difficult path to the lone individual can become possible when shared with sympathetic fellow sufferers/seekers, those seeking the same spiritual reality. Here it is not so much that one needs a soul guide or a therapist in whom to confide or to assist in a path, whether spiritual or mundane - although this is also a powerful aid - but the two-way interaction between equals. As Alcoholics Anonymous demonstrates, it is not sufficient to want to change and to work to change, there is the group interest, mutual encouragement and common spirituality that helps the follower of a path over the obstacles in his or her path. Even the most ascetic of hermits, discovering spirituality in solitude, can only fulfil this spirituality in community. Thus it is by giving - attention, encouragement, support, time - that the very gift returns to the giver. Pride and resentment are overcome when the giver acknowledges the same difficulties as experienced by the receiver.Many charismatic religious movements also base their success, at least partially, in the giving of testimony by an individual who has experienced many of life's difficulties but who has progressed or come to terms with them and can share the ups and downs of his or her spiritual path with those listening. It is when one can identify with another's experience that one feels a sense of direction, a sense of where one belongs, of what is the next step, and can make positive progress in one's own life. The need for an external model which can be translated into an internal guide is satisfied. At the same time the person giving the testimony is enriched by the attention of those listening, a giving of the most precious thing he or she has, his or her life story.