Originally sent on 10/31/25 to the Sacred Community Project Email list as part of the Fall Newsletter. To receive emails like this, sign up here.
Today I sit between two fundamental views: the world is deeply broken, and the world is fundamentally good. I crave a heart that has room for both. Either perspective alone limits the ability to engage in the Great Work: dedicating our actions, our lives, and the development of our characters to creating and tending to a world of Sacred Community.
If I rest only in the world is good, I naively assume noble intentions in the face of cruelty or mistake my own privilege as a sign that this collective human experiment is working. If I rest only in the world is broken, objectivity dries to cynicism, helplessness works to destroy rather than create, and resentment hinders the artistic spirit that loves this world into existence.
I also crave a heart whose love is both deep and expansive. Depth sees another being as a soul and opens to the currents of ecstasy, joy, grief, unbearable pain, and unfathomable compassion. An expansive heart sees souls everywhere, allowing that same oceanic love to engulf strangers on the other side of the planet.
I love our human family, and that has to mean all of us. Love cannot wait for us to be better. Love means right now. Just as we are. But this love also carries the seeds of a deep longing: that we can repair our relationships, see each other as we really are — inherently lovable beings — and act towards each other as if this were true.
Much is being said right now about the need for us to expand our empathy to those that disagree with us. I wholeheartedly agree with this, but this does not mean I will soften my views so that oppression and inaction can feel comfortable. The world is burning, genocide is always wrong, trans rights are human rights, and everyone deserves food.
Today, SCP is relaunching our “How to be a Loving Rock” training, and in it we explore questions like:
What does it mean to be a loving rock? How do we open our hearts to suffering? How do we support our communities on their spiritual paths? How do we show up for the world? How do we tell the truth with love?
This course is for hearts that crave both depth and expansion and who are committed to cultivating the skills of a loving rock, “So another person can push against you and pull against you, and you stay rooted in love” (Ram Dass).
If you feel the call, read more below, and maybe come join me.
7 MONTH ONLINE COURSE
March-Sept 2026
This 70-hour introductory course is designed for compassionate beings who see service as a core element of their spiritual path and feel called to deepen their ability to be a “loving rock” for themselves and others on their spiritual journeys.
