Coming into Citizenship in a Heavenly Kingdom
“What we try to mend depends a good deal on what we perceive to be torn. The search for religious experience often originates in a sense of being alienated, separated, torn from the divine, the truth, the great community of the universe to which we yearn to belong. The religious experience itself often begins with a conversion (literally a ‘turning towards’), an experience of what might be called ‘disalienation,’ a coming into citizenship in a heavenly kingdom, an acceptance of membership in a divine community. Disillusionment with the hypocrisies and inadequacies of the existing order, whether political or religious, often turns people to seek for something within themselves.”
— Kenneth E. Boulding, 1986 (source)
Quaker economist, academic, and poet
Today’s Invitation
Seek something within yourself as a balm for the ways you are disillusioned with the existing order.
This Week’s Query
What have you or those you admire sacrificed for a better world?
What is your duty to Spirit, others, and yourself?
Banner art by Maggie Fiori
Author
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Kenneth Ewart Boulding (January 18, 1910 – March 18, 1993) was an English-born American Quaker economist, educator, peace activist, and interdisciplinary philosopher. He was married to Quaker sociologist Elise M. Boulding.
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