Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful

A Podcast of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative

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As a part of the initiative of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative, founder Rev. Sage Cole hosts Be Love interviews, Be Honest conversations on faith and justice and Be Useful Community Spotlights, as well as sharing her own Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful reflections and meditations. worshipislife.substack.com

5d ago

A Room of One's Own

*Full confession, I use the free version of Claude AI to suggest the titles for videos, edit the transcripts that I include here, and create the social media posts that I share in the Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful Facebook Group. I am conflicted about this AND amazed and appreciative of what AI can do. Well, it finally happened. It’s my Sabbath day, and I am alone in my house. Can you hear the quiet? It’s a gift to be alone, I think especially for women. I’ve been thinking a lot about Virginia Woolf and A Room of One’s Own: what it is to have space and autonomy, to fill a space with only our own thoughts, our own energy, our own preferences, our own curiosities and whims. I loved having my own room when I was a teenager. It was a sanctuary. I often retreated there and spent many hours in my own company. Since becoming a mother and a wife, with a family of my own, it has sometimes been harder to take that space. I recognize that I have fallen into patterns of enmeshment and hypervigilance, a constant sense of responsibility for all of the people in my space (my children, my husband) and I’ve been noticing how that affects me day to day. I’ve become aware of the effort it takes to claim that time and space, to make aloneness a priority. I wonder if you struggle with that too. What I sense is that at the core of this challenge is a spiritual wound of sorts. From what I have come to understand, it sits at the heart of my regeneration, the heart of my joy, my opportunity to be renewed and to be free. All the conditioning in me that would keep me from choosing aloneness, claiming it, prioritizing time with myself: all of that conditioning is part of my alienation from life, from the Divine, from God, from myself. It is a kind of spiritual sickness that, as best I can tell, we are all suffering from. It keeps me in a state of needing to be vigilant, to be attuned, to be on call, to be prepared to respond. It keeps me constantly looking for something I need in order to be fulfilled, or safe, or worthy, or okay. All of that seeking, all of that striving, all of that being on duty and actively working. But when I finally take the time to claim that space for myself, something changes. Sometimes it’s the physical space of being in my house alone while my husband takes one son out and the other is at school. Sometimes it’s just a moment to close my eyes in the middle of a difficult interaction, or to go sit in my car. (I think it’s interesting that so many women YouTubers film in their car. Perhaps that’s the place you have to claim your aloneness.) When I allow myself that aloneness, I touch into what is just fine right now. And not only what is just fine right now, but what is longing to emerge in and through me. That coming home to myself, making space for myself, is what empowers me to be a more effective, capable, loving, creative, useful human in the world. When I don’t take that time, and I’m constantly responding to other people’s needs, I wonder how useful that really is. From one perspective, it’s very useful, because I am constantly needed. That part of me, infused with a sense of responsibility for everyone and hypervigilant, can always come up with something to do. She’s cleaning, she’s cooking, she’s responding to her kids’ needs, checking in on her husband and how he’s feeling, checking email, taking phone calls. She’s so busy, and from one perspective she certainly feels she is being incredibly useful. She’s taking care of so much. But it’s never done. She’s never finished. The need is endless, and the frenzy often builds. It’s hard not to see the same pattern at this moment in history: the amount of stuff being created on this planet, the waste that has no place to go, the energy and resources we are gobbling up, the noise, the stress and strain, the mental illness, the addiction. There is so much to do. When we’re in that phase of doing, and especially if we’re on the side of helping, it can feel as though we’re helping with all of it, and perhaps on some level we are. But I’m coming to believe that a more effective path, a Divine path laid out for us through sacred scriptures and stories, is a path of healing this alienation from our aloneness. It means coming back to ourselves, back to the quietness and the joy and the bliss of life that’s simply here without our having to do anything. And then living from here, moment to moment, step by step, following whatever longing we touch when we get still with ourselves. This, I believe, is a path to rebuilding our world: not from a place of constant fixing and frenzy, but from small, subtle, joyful, present steps. I’m really grateful for this moment of aloneness, and for my growing capacity to claim this sacred time with myself. I’m glad to be sharing it, because the longing I am coming to know inside is a longing for a world, for a community of fellow humans who are also making the time to be alone. To be still, to come to know themselves, to listen to themselves. A community where we’re not constantly looking outside for solutions or trying to fix all the problems of the world, but are building something new from this steady, slow, quiet, sacred place within. So I share my journey, and this growing understanding and orientation toward life, in the hope of connecting with others. And I am connecting with you. I’m so grateful to those of you who reached out after last week’s video, offering help, or just a word to say that you share this inner longing. It is my faith that life moves through us from the inside out, from what we call the spiritual realm, whatever life and beingness is in its totality. The only place we have any real power to affect our reality is on the inside: in how we see, perceive, and receive this life. So to take time alone and check in on how that’s going is, I think, the most useful thing we can do. And I think it becomes even more useful when we share what we’re learning and experiencing with other people in living relationships. Living, growing, real relationships, with the potential of co-creating new things: new opportunities, new networks, new ways of worshiping, new ways of learning, new ways of caring for our children. Not through frenzy, not through overwork, but through still, small steps, one quiet moment at a time. Thank you for joining me in this quiet moment. I look forward to all the quiet moments to come, and to the different configurations of human community I might get to co-create with. Many blessings, friends. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit worshipislife.substack.com
6d ago

The New Jerusalem: Truth, hope and the spiritual journey

Rev. Sage Cole is joined by Rev. Catherine Lauber and Rev. David Moffat, fellow New Church ministers, for an honest conversation about the New Jerusalem and how its teachings shape everyday life. They explore it as more than a biblical image: a hopeful vision of inner change, community, and unity amid diversity. The discussion makes room for both conviction and uncertainty—considering how questioning, prayer, surrender, and service can help people stay open to spiritual growth. In this episode * Why The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine feels accessible and centered on inner life * Catherine’s first encounter with the New Church and the shift it brought to her beliefs * Why questioning can be part of faith—and why truth does not need defending * The New Jerusalem as a vision of unity that makes room for difference * How surrender, obedience, and spiritual disciplines can support inner change * Why the spiritual journey continues, with glimpses of hope along the way * How to hold a universal spiritual vision while honoring distinct religious traditions * What it looks like to live these teachings through service, neighborliness, and care Timestamps 00:00 Going live and getting set up01:21 Introducing the conversation and its “be loved, be honest, be useful” frame02:24 What the New Jerusalem means in lived faith03:21 Why The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine feels accessible04:29 The New Jerusalem as an inner reality06:49 Catherine’s first encounter with the New Church08:45 Moving from uncertainty toward inner expansion11:40 The value of questioning in faith13:04 Truth does not need defending14:13 Unity in diversity and speaking without defensiveness16:08 The open gates of the holy city20:23 Surrender, prayer, and inner peace22:27 Humility and glimpses of the New Jerusalem25:20 The spiritual life as a dance with the Lord27:31 Obedience and responding to what is difficult29:36 Prayer, reading, and reflection as spiritual disciplines33:44 The New Jerusalem as a journey, not a finish line37:27 The twelve gates as aspects of inner life39:30 Influencing others without controlling them43:39 The seed of goodness the Lord protects44:59 Holding hope amid hardship50:20 Seeing one’s own darkness while resting in divine love55:21 How the teachings shape daily life57:07 Making room for the Lord to lead65:23 Universalism, uniqueness, and religious difference67:24 Translating Swedenborg’s ideas for wider understanding74:16 Preserving a tradition’s uniqueness while staying in conversation78:00 Accommodation and how people hear spiritual truth80:55 Selfhood, identity, and the challenge of community83:20 Putting faith into practice through service84:14 Closing reflections on food, care, and community Our next Be Honest Conversation on Faith will take place on Tuesday October 13th at 8 pm on the topic of God as Love, Wisdom & Use. I will be joined by Tirah Keal, Rev. Clark Echols and Rev. Solomon Keal. Join us in the chat live by registering @ https://helenkellercollaborative.org/event/love_wisdom_use/ We have postponed our Be Honest Conversation on Disability Justice Unmasked with April Alario, stay tuned for a new date. Our Theme Music is “I Love it,” by Luke Concannon www.lukeconcannon.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit worshipislife.substack.com
Sep 23

The Longing That Doesn’t Go Away

Friends, I am feeling weary today. I wonder about you. I don’t have a lot of words. I don’t have a lot of energy. I don’t have a lot of knowing. What I seem to have at the moment is a lot of unknowing. Uncertainty. A host of problems circling around, needing to be solved. And a longing for that release, peace, presence, and nurturing, supportive, loving, alive community that could hold this moment with me. They could hold this uncertainty. They could sit still with me and bring me soup. Offer me an embrace. Play with my children. And assure us that it’s going to be okay. Through the Substack and all the work I’ve been doing, I have spent so much time articulating and casting a vision of the future, and imagining new ways of living and being in the world. New spaces where we might nurture new church life. A new life where we are invited to be fully ourselves, and where we can receive this nurturance that I long for. And right now, on the path as I walk it, I’m feeling more deeply where this longing comes from. That it’s a calling, yes. That it’s a vision, yes. But that, on a deep, vulnerable, personal level, it’s really just a need that has yet to be met fully. And so I have to keep working towards it, making room for it, longing for it. There’s so much freedom in the world right now — freedom to record videos and put them out on the internet, freedom to make new agreements in our relationships, to experiment with the roles that we play, to go our own way. And yet, seemingly simultaneous with that freedom, there’s a loss, it feels like, of connection, of community, of embodied human beings showing up for other embodied human beings in care and connection. I state that with confidence, trusting that others will hear me and relate. While I also carry a deep insecurity that this sense that I have — of a lack of community and connection — is just me. That everyone else has their communities, everyone else has their supportive networks, and it’s all kind of going swimmingly for most everyone, and I’m the odd one out. That I’ve slipped through the cracks, and because of my quirks or my insecurities or my fault, I’ve been left alone. I’m tempted to believe that more often than I’d like to admit. But what I also believe, and I have a deep commitment to believe, and that I have experienced, is: at the same time, I’m just here, just like you, just like the trees outside. And that my experience of life is just as valid, just as holy, just as true as all other life that is living right now. And so, whatever is going on in me, whatever I am feeling and experiencing and longing for has value. It’s meant to be here. I am not an abomination or an aberration. I am a conduit of divine life, just like everybody else. And that, perhaps, it’s actually this longing in me that has the most potential to make room for the divine life to flow more fully in the world than the parts of me that have it together, or that feel confident and strong. Longing and desire have often been kind of denigrated in the spiritual life, or the spiritual communities. We certainly learn from the Buddha the challenge of longing or desire — the way in which desire can leave us in a loop of always wanting something we don’t have, always grasping. And so we’re taught to release desires. To be non-attached. To be present. And accepting of what is. To go with the flow of life. And there’s wisdom in that. And believe me, I am on that journey. And when I show up to myself in these moments, when I show up to all of the problems I perceive around me, when I show up to the experience of what it is to be inside and in relationship with the people that I meet — this longing is present. It’s one of the things that I continually return to when I show up in the present moment. And it doesn’t feel like I’m attached to it. It just feels like it’s here. Like it’s part of the truth of this moment. I wonder what longings you perceive in your environment that persist, right? That don’t go away. I think we’re missing something when we think of non-attachment as being about letting go of our desires. I wonder if sometimes we confuse letting go of our desires with squashing them or ignoring them. Certainly, when I think of the Buddha laughing, and I think of his big belly, I see someone who allowed the flow of longing to move through him, to eat and to drink and to be merry, and perhaps was able to flow even more fully because he was not attached. It feels to me like this desire in me, this longing in me, is connected to the flow of life. It’s connected to where I am being called to open up and to make room. And I cannot squash this longing, no matter how hard I try. So, if you’re listening to this — if you are a part of whatever this longing is calling out for, if you feel connected to this message, to what I’m bringing — thanks for being here. Thanks for sitting with me in this longing. I do believe it is leading me, and us, somewhere. I’m ready for more connection. For more unity with diversity. For more living, embodied care and relationship. For a new way of being, where all of us are held and nurtured in a way that maybe we’ve never received before. It’s not here yet — at least not in its manifest fullness. But the seed is here. And I trust it. And it is good. I can feel that it is good. Alright. Blessings, friends. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit worshipislife.substack.com
Sep 16

The big exhale we all need.

Big exhale. I wonder if you could use a big exhale at this moment right now. I’m taking a little bit of a risk with this video today, because there’s a lot going on — in my household, in my heart, in my nervous system. My husband and I are struggling with our oldest son and the transition to seventh grade, and the struggle just continues. It ramps up, it quiets down, and the resolution is not yet in sight. That’s a really difficult place to be. And yet I wonder how many of us are in similar situations, where there is uncertainty about how things are going to play out. I wanted to record today because I’ve made a commitment to myself to record on Wednesdays, and a commitment to myself to honor all the moments of life as sacred, as holy, as containing the divine life — not just the high moments, when the choir is in tune and the preacher is sharing a great word. Not just a peak moment of bliss or ecstasy, but even these really challenging moments of uncertainty and fear and anger and confusion and being at odds in relationship. So I’m risking recording this video right in the midst of that confusion and uncertainty, with the intention of sitting with the moment and considering what it might contain of truth and love and goodness, usefulness, possibility. And when I sit still, as I started with, all I want is a big exhale. I think there’s meaning in that exhale, because what this moment feels like it is calling for is release. Elimination. So much of the stress of this moment in our family life seems to be caused by this swirl of commitments and expectations and demands and requirements, all at the same time — almost a crushing load of them, which is often how I perceive the material world. It’s the email to answer and the laundry to do and the meal to prepare, the kid to get off to school and the kid to pick up from school and the soccer game to attend — just an unending number of choices to make. Just yesterday I had quite a little meltdown of my own, after listening to my children argue about where to eat, and then settle on a decision to go to one restaurant that was next to another restaurant, where one person wanted something and someone else wanted something from the other place, and they were content to have this — I don’t know — a compromise, which to me just felt totally overwhelming. I’m someone who struggles to figure out what I want at onerestaurant, and now you’re introducing me to two restaurants I have to choose from. I ended up just sitting in the midst of it, not eating anything, because my stomach was so tied up in knots. And I’m coming to recognize that as I mature, as I continue to integrate my own experience of oneness that is rising in me as the truth of my being — this experience of love, this experience of oneness, this experience of the truth of things — as I integrate that more and more into my heart and my life, much of what happens is that I’m unable to make sense of this crazy life that we live with all of its crazy expectations. And so, facing this moment with my son — now refusing, or really feeling himself unable, to cross the threshold into school — is his experience any different from mine? Is he also overwhelmed and overloaded by this modern life? And is the limit he is reaching part of the journey we’re on together as a family, to find a way through — a way through all of this insanity that actually leads to well-being, that actually leads to love and to truth? And to real usefulness — not the usefulness of accomplishment and performance and getting along and proving, but the usefulness of being nurtured, being seen, being cultivated to become who we truly are. And growing in our ability to be present to ourselves. My growing in my ability to be present to myself, my son growing in his ability to be present to himself, and then somehow finding a way to be present to each other, in ways that are alive and good and whole. It would be much easier if he would just attend school. I want community for him, and support, and I certainly don’t want him to hide away forever. And this is what is happening now. I wonder what things are happening now in your life that perhaps you feel infuriated by, or overwhelmed by, or terrified by. And how much of you is resisting — wishing they weren’t happening, wanting them to stop or improve or change quickly, fast, so that you can get over this challenging moment, through it, beyond it, past it. And what it might feel like for you to make the difficult choice to be present to it. To accept what is happening right now — that it is what is happening right now. And that perhaps in the midst of it, there is something really true and really good seeking to be experienced and expressed. Showing up in a really inconvenient way, because that’s the way for change to occur. All of this is so much at the heart, the foundation, of what I call Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful. And it’s very much at the heart of what I perceive happening in so many circles. So many of us are trying to rush past the problems at hand. So many church societies are trying to ignore, and jump ahead to growth and change and transformation and all the goodness we want, right? To skip over what’s on the ground right now. What’s really happening, and where is there real suffering and challenge that we are skirting around and trying desperately to ignore, because it’s so uncomfortable. And what would it be instead to really sit with it? Show up to it. Show up to each other, and to ourselves, in the experience of what really is right now — even in all of the discomfort. I appreciate having this opportunity to record this message, so that I can sit with all the discomfort in my own experience right now. And I hope that somehow me making this space here makes possible space in other little pockets of life, for others of you who might take the time to listen. And I pray that we together can find more ways to show up to exactly what is, with one another, with a sacred intention — in ways that help us, ways that help each other not to get over the challenges, not to get past them or to disassociate from them, but to alchemize them. To show up to them so fully that they begin to change and transform right in our midst. I had the opportunity last night to speak with someone — to do my first Be Love podcast interview of the fall. I didn’t hit record, for whatever reason — another mishap along my journey — but we had the most fulfilling conversation. Part of it was hearing from him his deep faith in divine providence. He was sharing with me his wish that he could touch someone and transmit his faith in providence to them, because it’s so vital to us — being able to really be present to life, to believe in this flow of providence, to believe that there is something moving, and to trust the moments we are in, that that’s where the providence flows. And I’ll tell you — as he was speaking, he transmitted that to me. I too, of course, have faith in providence; that’s at the heart of my ministry. And I’m a human being, and when faced with incredible challenges and struggles, like I’m in right now with my son, it’s hard to trust that I’m doing it enough — that this moment that feels impossible actually will lead to another moment where possibility will unfold. I was filled with gratitude for him and for that connection, and it encouraged me, and reminded me again of why I do what I do, and why I want to make the space that I want to make, and why I’m sitting here right now sharing the truth of what’s unfolding for me at the moment. Because this is life. This is the sacred human life that I’ve been given, and that you’ve been given, and that we’ve been given. And it is hard right now. I don’t know that I know anyone who is thriving at the moment. We’re all walking through really difficult waters, with a lot of uncertainty about where we’re headed. And... it is good. It is sacred. And I continue to believe that it’s finding that core sacred center of life, and then showing up with each other from those cores, that’s going to help us walk through what we’re walking through right now — create something new that will actually support our common thriving. I don’t think my son’s struggles are isolated, and that he’s the only one. I think there are so many children who are struggling right now, and adults and elders too. So many of us feel out of place in this world we’ve created, that seems to almost be the antithesis of what we really need. So it’s a tricky time to be a human. And yet, here we are. And what might we be able to make possible together, as we navigate this difficult time? How might we be able to find and create new bonds of love and connection that can nurture us, that can awaken us, that can encourage us and help us remember who we really are when we forget? I feel those bonds starting to form. I experienced it last night. I’ve experienced it with so many of you who have stepped into this work. What might those next steps be — to bring us closer together, closer to ourselves, closer to our children, and closer to God? I pray you are finding those steps, taking those steps, and trusting in those steps — this moment into the next. All right. Many blessings, friends. Please note that because of our current family challenges our Monday Morning 7:30 am BE Love Devotion Meeting is delayed until the first Monday in October. Stay tuned! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit worshipislife.substack.com
Sep 9

Choosing from a deeper place.

Hi, welcome. I welcome you, I welcome myself, and I welcome this moment. And I invite you to join me for a short, less than 12 minute meditation time of being present in this moment where we find ourselves. You might want to take a deep breath. Even if you’re in the middle of activity or driving your car, you can breathe. You should be breathing. And you might want to take notice of how that breath is moving. Maybe even find in that noticing a little bit of gratitude for the fact of breath, for the fact of your aliveness, and your ability to receive and be present to that life. As I sit here and breathe and come into the present moment, I’m aware of so many sensations in my body. I’m aware of feelings of stress and overwhelm. I’m aware of feelings of nervousness and fear. I’m aware of real overstimulation, where my nerves feel a little bit on edge. It’s been a very challenging end of summer, beginning of the new school year. We’re still not out of the woods yet, as my oldest son makes a transition to a new school. And as I make a transition into a new season of work, where I can really feel myself being called to clarity, to choosing, to decision-making that is grounded in my most clear and loving and true self. And when I name this anxiety and this fear that I can sense, I can tell that my body, which has been conditioned to choose from all kinds of different criteria than love and truth, still — it’s really rebelling and resisting clarity and decision-making. And so in this time of meditation, I am just noticing that tension. The presence of that discomfort, and the presence of this clarity that is ready, is kind of seeking to burst forth from me. And if you’ve been following me for a while, you might hear that and go, “What? The clarity is still trying to burst forth?” I mean, I’ve certainly for several years now been putting myself out there on YouTube and Substack and into the virtual world. I’ve been naming things and creating things. And so clarity has been coming. And yet I recognize that even as the clarity has been coming, and as truth has been emerging through me, and I’ve been facing my fears enough to bring it forth, I feel like I’m at another threshold — a new threshold. And this should not surprise me, because what we learn from Emanuel Swedenborg, and from so many spiritual teachers, is that this journey of regeneration, of coming to new life, is continual. It’s a spiral. And so we’re always revisiting, at new levels, similar experiences. And so this threshold that I’m at now — I’ve been thinking a bit about when I recorded my first podcast. I have to look back at when that was, but it was while I was still working at the Swedenborg Chapel in Cambridge, several years ago now. And I was so nervous. And of course, my first podcast guest was my husband. And he was so patient with me. And so I know that this fear is just part of a threshold, and that it doesn’t last forever. But it shows us where we’ve been, right? Fear says, stay with what’s familiar, stay where you’ve been. And so anytime we want to go anywhere new, anytime we want to grow or expand or regenerate beyond what has been — at least in my experience — fear is inevitable. And I believe I even recorded a video, maybe a year ago, where I boldly proclaimed to stop being limited by fear, right? To stop being afraid, right? Sometimes we make such declarations. But who am I to stop the experience of fear? Is that even possible? Would I still be a human being if I didn’t experience fear? What I’m beginning to realize and wake up to, the longer I’m on this path, is that all of these emotions continue, right? They morph and they shift and they flow in seasons, and fear keeps showing up every time I take another step. It’s not that I can stop being afraid, but I can stop choosing to let that fear have the final say. I can stop believing the messages and the stories that the fear tells me. I can stop trying to fix the fear, or run from the fear, or hide from it. And I can act anyway. I can choose, I can decide, from a place that is deeper than emotional experiences. And so when I sit in a Be Love Meditation, when I sit with the intention of being with myself and noticing all that is here, I’m so grateful to be able to notice that there is a part of me bound to the Divine — beyond fear, beyond emotional experience in general, beyond thought — and that from this place I am being held, cared for, infused with life, guided, loved. And from this place, I can decide. I can choose. I can choose to put messages out on the internet. I can choose to create new things. I can choose to sit still and be present. And so can you. And there is something about choosing that with others. Even doing this — sitting here in this meditation and taking the time to speak intentionally to others — while you’re not here in the room, I sense that this is for others. And so in that sensing, I can actually almost feel your presence. And that helps me. The truth is, it helps me. It helps me to trust what is unfolding inside of me when I’m with others in that unfolding — when I’m not convinced that it’s just about me figuring it all out alone. Because it’s that aloneness and that separateness, that separation, that so often breeds all of these fear stories: of limitation and mistrust and overwhelm, and this belief that we can’t choose. That we don’t have the right to choose. That we don’t have the power to choose. That our lives are totally shaped and formed and affected by just everything around us, and that we are not, in fact, free. That’s a story that I am ready to step out of. And as I record this video and reflect on this, I’m ready to step out of it, and my conditioned self — the one that believes all those things I just named I’m done believing — is pretty scared. And if you’re feeling any of that fear for yourself as you go along your path, just know you’re not alone. And it’s another reason that I’m building this Collaborative and this shared space, so that we can be together and give each other confidence. Because things are less scary when we’re not alone. So that’s been my 12-minute Be Love Meditation. I can see the timer. You might want to stop here and get on with your day, and I really appreciate you joining me. But if you want to just stick around for a couple more minutes, I do want to share what I am choosing, what I am deciding to do next on this journey — for myself, as much as for you. We’re beginning a new rhythm as September arrives. And one of the things that’s become very clear to me is that publishing a Substack on Sundays is really not a good rhythm for me. What the weekends are going to become, moving forward throughout the year, are going to be either family time — which I really need, and the weekends are the time when my kids are home — or they’re going to be retreat weekends, times away. Already some retreats are being formed. I’ll be traveling to Florida in October, Michigan in November. Some other retreats are coming into shape in the new year. So my intention is at least once a month to have a retreat experience. So I’ll just be present with other people. And I hope I’ll get the chance to share that experience with some of you who are watching. Or I’ll be with my family. But I’m not going to be reflecting on what to share on Substack, because that is not a good use of my energy and my time. My intention is to publish something on Wednesdays, because Wednesdays are my Sabbath day. They’re the day that I take time to be alone with myself, with God, with my creativity. And it feels meaningful to offer up a video or a reflection on Wednesdays, when I’m in that space. I’m in that space right now. And so it’ll be a little bit of work to get it online, but I hope it will feel really like a Sabbath experience. That’s what ministers do, right? They work on the Sabbath. So it makes sense for me to do that as well. So Wednesdays I will put up a video — a Be Love Meditation of some kind, a reflection of some kind. Monday morning, 7:30 a.m., I’ll be hosting a Be Love Liturgy, a Be Love Devotion time — a short 20 minutes tops gathering on Zoom before work. (This link isn’t live yet, reply to this email if you’d like this ZOOM link.) A good friend and collaborator who’s on the board will be joining me from Maryland, and we’re going to do a classic, traditional Swedenborgian liturgy on Mondays at 7:30 a.m. So if you’re unfamiliar with traditional Swedenborgian liturgy, maybe you’ll be curious to join. If you’re familiar with traditional Swedenborgian liturgy and you love it, please join. And we’ll see if there’s an appetite for that. So that’ll be happening on Mondays, and it’d be awesome if you felt called to join in that free offering. It’d be great to have a real regular group come together at that time. And then Fridays from 11 to 1 p.m., Alex Gayheart and I are going to be hosting Be Useful Office Hours. We’ll be working together during those two hours, and we invite you to pop in, to drop in with your questions, with your ideas. We’ll be developing a shared to-do list that we can hold together, and maybe you have some time to volunteer and help out. We’ll see where those office hours morph to, but for now they’re just going to be wide open. You can get the link at our website. And then one of my big endeavors in the new year is going to be Tuesday evening. It won’t be every Tuesday evening — probably twice a month, maybe three times — I will be hosting Be Honest Conversations, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesdays. Once a month, that conversation will be on a faith topic. This month, we’ll be exploring the New Jerusalem with two great colleagues: Catherine Lauber from Fryeburg, Maine, pastor of the Fryeburg New Church, and David Moffett from Australia, w
Sep 6

Altar Space: Helen Keller

Greetings, friends, and welcome back to my altar. This morning I want to share this picture, which some of you probably recognize — a picture of the great Helen Keller, namesake of the new collaborative I’m in the process of forming and bringing into being. She’s a really important person to me, and to so many — not because she was a saint, perfect in every way, but because she was who she was. She accepted her limitations, she expressed her strengths, and she shared her inner experience, both in the many books she wrote and in the relationships and friendships she made. Helen Keller was a global celebrity in her time. People all around the planet knew her story. A big part of why that story was so remarkable is that most people believed someone who was deaf and blind couldn’t have a robust inner life — couldn’t build relationships, couldn’t travel, couldn’t hold perspectives on geopolitics, religion, faith, and what it means to be a human being. She dashed all of those expectations by having and living all of those things. Another reason Helen is so important to me is that, as a Swedenborgian minister seeking to live into the life of the new church, I am deeply inspired by how she embraced that vision. Helen was sixteen when she was introduced to the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg through a friend and mentor named John Hitz, and she would say she was a devotee of Swedenborg’s writings for the rest of her life. That devotion didn’t manifest the way it might for the rest of us. She didn’t join a church. She didn’t direct the choir or teach Sunday school. She lived the vision of the new church through her political action, through her embrace of relationship and connection and love, and through her following of her own unique calling. She understood that vision to be connected to a larger vision of a new world — a new paradigm of life in which we could be in relationship and connection with people incredibly different from ourselves. It seems quite likely that Swedenborg’s vision of heaven — of the diversity of the heavenly community — helped Helen move through so many diverse circles and stay in deep relationship with people of different cultures, different religions, different perspectives. She walked, almost seamlessly, through these different scopes of humanity. It’s interesting to be speaking of her at a time when many of us are grieving the loss of Dolly Parton. It might seem strange to compare the two, but I think in similar ways, much of what’s being said about Dolly as we bid her farewell and she makes her transition into the spiritual world is that she walked between the worlds. She was loved by people on both sides of the political aisle, by people of low economic status and people wealthy beyond measure. She bridged divides we sometimes believe separate us, and showed there was no real separation there. Helen did the same. She walked between many different worlds. And this work I’m doing right now — inviting in a new community of people who are also seeking to live into the vision of the new church in their own unique way, finding ways to coexist and support and nurture one another — is all about walking between the worlds. It’s about looking for the divine center that exists in each of us, so that we can feel our unity, and then honor and stay curious about our diversity. For all of these reasons, I keep Helen on my altar — not because I worship her, or want to mimic her life, but because I see her as an example of a full, vibrant, creative life that informs my own. She’s part of this new church collaborative life I’m bringing into being. It’s so helpful to have Helen on my altar, especially in moments of challenge, confusion, or feeling misunderstood and alone. She reminds me that she’s on my team, even though she’s no longer here in the flesh. One of the things Helen remarked on before she died was a belief that after death, she would actually be more effective in helping to bring new church life into the world than she had even been during her lifetime. I find that incredibly moving, because obviously she was quite effective during her lifetime. So how might she be affecting us now, if that effect is even greater? I have a feeling she’s part of the shift happening on our planet right now — a movement to really grow up, to remember our divine core, to let go of the childish assumptions that we’re not worthy, or that we need to compete or earn our worth. To let go of the distractions that have kept us from living into the life of the new church, so that we can embrace who we are just as she embraced who she was — and in that embrace, discover what in our inner life wants to step forward, just as she did. I’m so grateful for Helen, and for all that she’s calling into being through me and through so many others. This is going to be a year of thinking about and celebrating her. Our exhibition team is gathering in September to begin the practical work of developing a vision we’ve held for a long time: building an exhibit in Helen Keller’s name that can travel around the globe, bringing people together to celebrate her spiritual life — and to reflect on and consider their own. I’m excited to bring together many people who might also have Helen on their altar, who look to her as an example in their own way, and to find ways to work together in love, in honesty, and in usefulness. So there’s my offering from the altar this morning. I wonder — what are you discovering on your altar? What people, images, pictures, and words are grounding you as you discover your divine nature and become more grounded in it? Blessings, friends. Share images and stories from your altar in the comments! I’d love to see what spaces you are creating ❤️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit worshipislife.substack.com
Aug 30

Altar Space: The Painting from Holy Hill

For my altar space offering today, I want to speak a bit about this painting right here behind my chair. This was painted by a seminary classmate of mine, a longtime friend of mine from my teenage years in the Swedenborgian Church Youth League who’s taken a different direction. This is a beautiful scene of what it looks like from Holy Hill in Berkeley, California, where the Pacific School of Religion lives. This is where I went to seminary, where we went to seminary together. And it just has the most beautiful views of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and these really incredible sunsets, which I think she did just such a great job of depicting here. She painted this and gave it to me for my 40th birthday. I’ll be 50 next year. So I’ve had it for a while, and I like having it on my wall for several reasons. First, of course, it’s what I saw when I was in seminary, during those really special years where I got to steep in theology and questions of what it takes to build spiritual community, what it is to be a spiritual leader, what it is to understand these spiritual traditions that have been passed down to us. Seminary was a rich time for me of reflection and learning and growing in my understanding of faith and myself. And it was a bit set apart, right? We were up on Holy Hill. I didn’t have children and a husband and all of the stuff of life that I currently am navigating and moving through. I was able to really just devote my time to these considerations, to these deeper ideas about things. It feels fitting that this altarpiece reminds me of that. And then it also brings up this hurt of this broken relationship that I’ve had to release and let go of. It feels fitting that this painting kind of brings up these two dimensions of our human experience. One, that experience of really being set apart, of, you know, steeping in these beautiful high ideals, these beautiful sunsets atop Holy Hill, outside of the bounds of actual, you know, rubber-meets-the-road life. And that this painting represents and reminds me of that time, but it also reminds me of this hurt that I carry about this ended relationship, and the inability to kind of navigate the changes of life and navigate different courses and still maintain care and connection. That tension between those two realities is so much at the heart of this work that I’m seeking to do — this work of making all of life an act of worship, and holding space for love and honesty and usefulness. Because it’s just true that these higher ideals that we steep in, the purpose of them is that they might come into the world. And part of coming into the world is coming into heartbreak, to brokenness, to broken relationships, to paths that are not what we would wish and what we would expect. It’s not about higher ideals coming in and then demanding and forcing their will upon us so that we won’t experience heartbreak and broken relationships and hurt. It’s that these higher ideals might come in and infuse the ups and downs of life with sacred meaning and sacred possibility. It’s taken me some time, but as I’ve sat with this hurt and the sadness about this ended relationship, as I’ve sat with the hurt and sadness I carry about other relationships that have come and then had to pass — people have had to make different choices — I’ve come to recognize more of the season of things, right? That everything ends. And what’s more important is how we allow those endings and beginnings. Can I come to a sense of appreciation for the time I did get to have with this person, and then let them go on their way, right? I think Sting says it best, right? If you love someone, set them free, right? Set them free. We need to be free on this path. And it’s very interesting, being a part of a spiritual tradition, or a community, a church community. Sometimes you feel like you’re always going to have those people, right? That’s sort of part of why we join churches or we join communities — we have this sense of maybe an illusion of stability. And a higher truth is that people are going to come and go as they need to, right? And sometimes that’s going to mean leaving those spiritual communities to step into other spiritual communities or other work. And we’ve got to allow that flow. Ultimately, church shouldn’t be about keeping everybody together so that we’re always together, so we always have that expectation filled. But instead, it should be a place where love lives, right? And love sets everybody free. And I think the mystery and the question I’m holding is: can we be a spiritual community that sets people free and also kind of bids them farewell with love and with care, with appreciation, and maybe even with continued communication? What is it that causes us to have to shut doors so tightly and so completely? It feels like when that’s happening, when it is either “I’m with you” or “I’m not with you,” that there’s something else going on that’s maybe not the most healthy way to live. Because truthfully, all of us humans on this planet are all together. We’re all one family, right? One life, one community of beingness that has to get along together, right? And it doesn’t mean we have to always be together in every instance. It doesn’t mean that friendships have to always last forever, right? There are times and there are seasons for connection. And how can we more graciously enter into those connections and exit them? This is one of my really big questions that I’m holding as I form this new community. I really want to encourage people to come in and also leave honestly, with blessing as we receive them and blessing as we say goodbye, and then an open door for people to return. I would like to live in a community where there was more of that energy, and less of a feeling of “I love everything you’re doing and so I’m gonna come in,” and then “I reject everything you’re doing, and so I’m gonna leave.” It seems like we function that way a lot in our human family. We like something for a time, and then we become hurt or harmed by it, and then we reject it completely. And I don’t judge that — I think that’s what people have to do sometimes. I’m not saying it’s a bad choice for those who are making it. I’m just saying I would love to see possibilities for other ways of entering and exiting relationships that are more honest and that are more real, and that maybe continue to allow love and care to flow, with respecting of the boundaries that people need. So I’m reflecting on that right now as my vacation time comes to an end. I am recording this on August 30th ahead of posting it, so it’ll probably get posted a little bit late. I’m getting ready to open up my email again and look at my calendar and step back into all of the exciting programming that I have ahead of me this September and October and November — exciting opportunities to be in conversation with people, to be in community with people, and to be practicing this Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful way of being. I’m really excited, and I’m excited for all the people who’ve said yes to stepping into this. And I’m hopeful over this next year that if people feel the need to step out, they’ll be honest about it. And that we can grow together and move together, and not everyone has to always stay, but maybe we can leave with a little more grace and a little more freedom. Because I am excited to bring all of these ideals that I learned in seminary into being. I’m excited to explore this arena of truth and community and connection. I love doing that. And I love expanding all of the ways that I can do that. And that does require opening up to new relationships. And sometimes it requires a stepping away from others, right? This is definitely a time of choosing for me. In our third year of being the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative, in this continued work of discerning who we are and what we’re doing, there will be things I’ll have to step away from, right? And I guess I speak this aloud for myself as much as for anyone else. I pray that I’ll be able to do that with grace and with love and with blessing and with honesty. That doesn’t have to mean rejection or broken relationships, but just further movement along the path, and gratitude for what has been, as we step into what is coming. So this is my other piece of my altar — this lovely little painting that I’m so grateful for, this friendship and collegial relationship that I’m so grateful for having had. And who knows, maybe it will have a new life in the future. I’m going to stay open to that possibility. And also allow for the grief that is there too, because God is in all of it, and it is holy. All right, friends, I’m looking forward to getting back to my email in a couple of days and hearing what’s been emerging with all of you. And I hope you’ll join me this fall for some of what is coming into being — for some of our Be Honest conversations about topics of faith and justice, and for some of the other cohorts that are starting to gather and emerge around creativity, around leadership, around the feminine. There’s a lot in the works right now, and I’m excited about all of it. And I hope you are too. All right, blessings friends. Share images and stories from your altar in the comments! I’d love to see what spaces you are creating ❤️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit worshipislife.substack.com
Aug 23

Altar Space: Carrying the flame of Rev. Dorothea Harvey.

Continuing this series on what's on my altar and why: this week, a candle handed down to me by a lineage of women leaders. Welcome to my altar space. This morning I’m going to share with you a little bit of the backstory of this angel — the one you see situated at the center of my altar. It’s actually a candle, and it was given to me by the Reverend Renee Machiniak, who received it from the Reverend Dorothea Harvey. Within my denominational body, Dorothea Harvey was the first woman ordained into the ministry of the Swedenborgian Church of North America. She holds a very distinguished position within our tradition as the first woman to inhabit this ministerial role. Receiving this candle from Renee was really special. She gave it to me during a worship service she was leading at the end of one of the first Be Love retreats I facilitated out at the Almont New Church Assembly in Michigan. So there I was, embodying this new ministry — this new way of being church that I call Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful. We’d had a great retreat together, and then she led this worship service and gave me the candle as a gift. Renee has given me a lot of gifts in my life. I shared last week about the wood carving of the Ascension, which was also from Renee. She was my first mentor as a new seminary student. For her to honor this legacy of women in the church — to name that I’m part of this lineage — is deeply healing and deeply meaningful to me. I am doing things differently than those who came before me, and that doesn’t mean I’m disconnected from them. It’s quite possible that if Dorothea were alive today, she’d have different ideas about how to be church than I do. And we’re still connected. I find it really important to honor lineage — to honor the past, to honor what has formed me and how I’ve come into being — and to recognize that choosing to do things differently, seeking to be different from the ones who came before me, doesn’t mean I’m rejecting them. It doesn’t mean I’m severing ties or cutting off a relationship. It’s actually my attempt to be faithful to what they gave me: to receive it, and then to live it in my own way. That’s one of my deep hopes — for my life, and for the world in general. There’s often a habit of believing that to be different from our forebearers is to reject who they were, to discount or disparage their legacy or their name. But my suggestion is that the healthiest lineages, the healthiest transmissions of life, are ones that change and grow. Our forebearers don’t want us to do it exactly as they did. They want us to do it our way, but to continue carrying the legacy — the tradition, the treasure — which I believe, in the New Church, is beyond form. It’s beyond form, and so it can inhabit many forms. It inhabits my life today. So I share this piece of my altar to share that legacy, to celebrate Dorothea. And I wonder: when you look at the things in your space, what items remind you of your legacy — of the people who nurtured you into being, the traditions you carry and hold? How are you carrying that tradition in a way that honors those who came before you, and honors who you are and what you’re calling into being — something that will serve those who have yet to come? I hope that’s useful to reflect on. Thank you, Renee. Thank you, Dorothea. And thank you all for listening. Share images and stories from your altar in the comments! I’d love to see what spaces you are creating ❤️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit worshipislife.substack.com

As a part of the initiative of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative, founder Rev. Sage Cole hosts Be Love interviews, Be Honest conversations on faith and justice and Be Useful Community Spotlights, as well as sharing her own Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful reflections and meditations. worshipislife.substack.com

Creator

A Podcast of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

110
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Sage Cole
Show Website

Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful