Unwritten Code Of Culture

There is an unwritten code in Western culture that prohibits aloneness. In doing so it imposes an onus that prevents personal reflection.

Even in monasteries - buttressed walls against cultural conformism - evading identity can become a serious problem when enthusiasm for collective activity becomes a priority.

***Togetherness is not community, nor is it a reflection of genuine friendship.

Authentic love of others only arises when we first respect others in their own authentic identity. And there is no way to do this if we have not ourselves attained some basic level of our own true self and started on our way to a more mature identity as a result of this.

Congregations mostly are made up of efforts to submerge-and-absorb congregants, new and old. Every effort is made to disallow people from entering the deserts of questioning and paradox that reflect the reality of the presence of God in one's life, and which, of course, will throw complacency into a whirlwind.