Last night a group of us got together and had a wonderful conversation. One topic we ended up focusing on was Spiritual Evolution. My friend Cari Huston had some really great points that I want to share. Several of us have experienced the problems with dysfunctional (church/association/camp/center) boards. This can also be taken out of Spiritualism, but it is a particular problem that seems to plague the Religion of Spiritualism as a whole.
Why is that? Well Spiritualism draws broken people who feel immediately connected with like minded people. They come for healing of one sort or another. Many find that healing and go on with their lives. Others get excited and start to participate.
Their excitement gets them involved and soon they are running things, ministering to others and developing mediumship/psychic skills. The organization is strapped. Too much to do, so few to do it all. The group is just happy to have assistance. Often financial resources are limited and anything to bring more money in is a welcomed relief.
Suddenly broken people are in a position that they should not be in. Why not? Because they need to do some deep spiritual healing before they can minister to others. Before you blame them, perhaps we need to understand that mediumship and psychic skills are separate from spiritual evolution.
Spiritual Evolution is Not Skill Development
I have had an issue in my Development Circles. Lesson after lesson I teach I see those that just want to build the skills. I have been hesitant to start back up because so many do not do the spiritual evolution work. That will change. I have ideas and will be writing more later about that.
Cari went on to say “some people have great psychic/mediumship skills and no spiritual connection holding positions of power and creating chaos in their wake.” We all groaned as she said it. Everyone one of us had a story of this, some had two or three. Things like spiritual jealousy, infighting, intolerance, and factions are all signs that people have not done the work.
The bottom line is that skill (psychic/mediumship) development and spiritual evolution are different things. They often walk side by side. Yet they go in wildly different directions many times. The Mediums that I admire are the ones that have done the work on both levels. I was taught to build my spiritual connection prior to skill development. There was a natural course of things that developed me into the Medium that I am.
Why is Spiritual Evolution so Difficult?
Well it means we have to take a closer look at ourselves. This means we have to confront our pain head on. Heal it and grow from it. Fear often stops us from doing the work. Trust me it is not fun or easy. This is why so many people in Spiritual churches try to side step the work.
I will admit that it is uncomfortable hard work. Rewarding but only if you do the work. Only then can we minister to others without doing harm. As I write this, I am reminded of a conversation I had with an early teacher of mine. We clashed because I had work to do and I was impatient. Now that I have done the work, I see it.
If you are experiencing this trauma within an organization, perhaps it is time to work on the Spiritual Development of your group. It isn’t as sexy as the skill development, yet it is a valuable part of the process. As you begin to heal the congregation, you will resolve a lot of the issues of control and jealousy that plague your organization.
