spiritual growth and freedom

Spiritual growth is merely the learning and experiencing ways, methods, tools, habits that improve your spiritual life, which animates all you are and all you do. Spiritual growth changes and improves you. We suppose there is spiritual shrinkage, as opposed to growth, but we are seeking to prevent that!

Advancing education, improving social skills, prayer or meditation, singing, dancing, playing, family and community activity - all can be enlarging - all are aspects of spiritual growth. These affect many areas of the continuum of who we are - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, and since they are all inter-related, we enjoy them all and all the way through ourselves - spiritual growth is fun, not morbid, morose, super-serious and boring.

Many times our spirit is affected by those around us, depending on how susceptible we are and on how heavily external pressure is applied. Totalitarian states send their goons out to "break the spirit" of their subjects to make them compliant like robots. This is why the word freedom creeps in here. Freedom to laugh, love and express the spirit implies an environment which doesn't restrain that ebulience in us. Freedom is essentially necessary for us to "be all that we can be." If an external force is limiting us or requiring us to be a certain way, our spirit isn't free, and, as long as it retains hope and belief in our own greatness and worth, it fights to become and remain free.

This explains the reactions of people to restrictive family systems (kids rebel or move away to escape the stifling influence), to boring jobs (people go to happy hour at the bar after work in the hope of liberating the bound and chained creativity they are barred from expressing), or over-restrictive bureaucrats (who hasn't argued and sworn at the postal, city or court clerks who was "just doing their job and enforcing the rules?").

Seekers develop their spirit to better create ways in their world to be free to develop their spirit to...experience the joys of life, of love, of artistic expression...and shy away from and avoid those people, agencies, organizations who try to chain that spirit down.

Does spiritual growth lead to freedom? Does freedom allow spiritual growth? -- Yes to both questions!

Do you see now why we want to join in community after our long quest?