Spiritual Practice for a New World (Part II):
Beloved Community and Sacred Activism
If you haven’t read Part I in this series — exploring Expanded Vision and Embodied Prayer — you’ll benefit from starting here. These pieces build on each other as we move from personal principle to collective expression.
In Part I, we laid the groundwork: affirming that personal transformation must lead to systemic awareness, and that prayer must move us into action. Now we turn to two more essential expressions of spiritual maturity: building Beloved Community and practicing Sacred Activism.
These are not just responses to the moment. They are the natural progression of New Thought in motion — faith translated into structure, into solidarity, into systems that reflect spiritual Truth.
Beloved Community
The phrase "Beloved Community" is most often associated with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who envisioned a world not just free of violence, but knit together by love, mutual respect, and shared power. But the roots of this idea stretch deep into spiritual soil.
In New Thought, we teach that we are each expressions of the One Life. That Life is whole, perfect, and individualized through each of us. This teaching is beautiful — and it demands real-world reflection.
To create Beloved Community is to embody that truth. Not just on paper. Not just in theory. But in policy, culture, and daily practice.
We ask: Who feels truly welcome in our spiritual spaces? Who is missing? Whose voices shape our rituals, our budgets, our leadership? Who gets to lead? Who gets to stay when it gets hard?
Beloved Community requires us to move from comfort to covenant. It asks us to center those who have been historically excluded. It calls us to celebrate difference rather than merely tolerate it. And it requires more than warm intentions. It calls for design.
We build Beloved Community through:
Shared leadership models that distribute power and responsibility.
Inclusive programming that reflects diverse lived experiences.
Cultural humility that listens before speaking and learns before assuming.
Restorative practices that repair harm and deepen trust.
This work is not an "add-on" to spiritual practice. It is spiritual practice. As Rev. angel Kyodo williams says, "Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters."¹
When we create spaces of radical welcome and principled accountability, we give form to the Truth we already affirm.
Sacred Activism
If Beloved Community is the container, Sacred Activism is the expression. It is how our spiritual principles meet the urgent needs of the world. It is not about being reactive. It is about being rooted.
Sacred Activism asks: What does love look like in public? What does principle demand in the face of injustice? Where does Spirit call us to show up?
New Thought has long emphasized the creative power of mind and the infinite capacity of the soul. Sacred Activism simply invites us to apply those truths to social transformation. It’s where prayer becomes protest, where affirmation becomes advocacy, where consciousness moves from "me and mine" to "we and ours."
This form of activism is not fueled by fear. It is grounded in clarity, centered in compassion, and animated by vision. It is not attached to outcomes but aligned with truth.
As theologian and mystic Howard Thurman wrote, “Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”²
Sacred Activism comes alive in many forms:
Speaking out when silence is complicit.
Organizing with movements that align with spiritual values.
Voting and civic engagement as spiritual disciplines.
Showing up in times of crisis with presence, not just opinion.
It does not mean every spiritual community must become an activist hub. But it does mean we can no longer pretend that our spirituality is neutral.
If we affirm Oneness, we must live it where it is most threatened.
If we teach that thought is creative, then we must take responsibility for the thoughts that shape policies, systems, and norms.
If we say "all are welcome," then we must go where those who’ve never been welcomed live, struggle, and lead.
In Part III of this series, we’ll conclude with a look at Healing Historical Wounds and nurturing Universal Compassion — essential elements in sustaining spiritual practice that is both transformative and restorative.
We are not just trying to change minds. We are co-creating a new world.
The journey is ongoing. The practice is the path.
Sources:
Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation (2016).
Howard Thurman, The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman (1996).