After 32 years as a priest , I think its fair to say that most institutional churches are very limited in addressing higher levels of spiritual consciousness.

Most women prefer circles of sharing to pyramids and hierarchies. They prefer conversation to construction. They will usually choose nurturance and empathy over competition and climbing. They will normally choose connection over simple performance games.

Religious belief has made me comfortable with ambiguity.

The journey to happiness involves finding the courage to go down into ourselves and take responsibility for what's there: all of it.

Those who are not true leaders will just affirm people at their own immature level.

G.K. Chesterton, who was part of a Catholic conservatism that was kind and loving, not reactionary or hateful, said "We're all in the same boat in a stormy sea and we owe each other a terrible loyalty." I think that's profoundly true, yet it's difficult to have civil dialogue right now with other Christians, so how can we possibly talk to "all the nations"?

Until we learn to love others as ourselves, it's difficult to blame broken people who desperately try to affirm themselves when no one else will.