Be Love

Be Love & Be Honest

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As a part of the initiative of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative, founder Rev. Sage Cole interviews fellow workers in the field of love to ask "How does love flourish? What get's in the way?" A mix of one-one personal interviews, topical conversations and direct sharing we aim to get honest about love! worshipislife.substack.com

3d ago

Episode 1: The New Jerusalem

Join us this summer for a 12 part series on my experience with doctrinal pillars of the New Church. In the fall I’ll host larger Be Honest Livestream conversations on each topic, so if one resonates in particular let me know and join the conversation! The New Jerusalem encapsulates the hopes for our human species — that we were not created to live in competition and suffering, but that we were created to live in community, in connection, in a diverse unity. This is the image of the holy city with its twelve gates that are always open, its constant daytime where all is transparent and true, where honesty reigns, and where the tree of life lives, bringing healing to the nations. Many of the world’s spiritual and religious traditions speak of such a time of unity and cooperation. Within Christianity — and made even more explicit in the vision of the New Church that Emanuel Swedenborg proclaimed — we hold the New Jerusalem as the image of humanity’s fulfillment. That our fulfillment will come, and is coming into the world, insofar as we bring our full selves to the table. Insofar as we grow in our understanding that we are one family made of many diverse parts. That has been the intention all along, and it is a beautiful and glorious thing. Now, to be honest — as I believe we all must be — it can be hard to hold the belief that that is where we’re headed. When we look around at all of the suffering in the world, all of the conflict, and even when we feel into the suffering and conflict that exists in our own hearts, in our own families, in our own relationships, and in our relationship to this earth and all of its resources — to hold on to the hope that we are moving toward peace, fulfillment, connection, and unity can feel like a huge stretch. There was a time, certainly in our more recent history, when we carried a bit more optimism, a bit more hope in progress and perfection. Over the last hundred years or so, with two world wars and all that continues to transpire now, we have seen the limits of those visions. And yet, even in facing those limits, even in facing the great conflicts that persist all over this planet and throughout our species, I can’t help but continue to have hope in this vision of the New Jerusalem. Part of what is occurring is a continual revealing of the limitations we have placed upon ourselves — the old tribal identities that are having trouble loosening, the old prejudices that have lived within our human family for so long. As painful as these last hundred years have been, they have also been incredibly revealing. And at the same time that great harm continues in many places, there are many humans who are waking up to their divine origins, to their connection to all that is, to the many parts of their own selves — going through journeys of healing and transformation that are making this New Jerusalem experience possible. I know I have begun to taste that, particularly over these last six years since the global trauma of the pandemic. Many false assumptions and false separations are falling away for so many of us. And it is my best hope and belief that this is part of the emergence of the New Jerusalem. Other words we might use to describe the New Jerusalem: the invitation of a new heaven and a new earth — a new way of understanding who and what we are, and bringing that understanding into being in the world. It is also tied to the Christian belief in the Second Coming of Christ: that Christ is coming again through us, through our transformation as a world and as a species. And that is a hopeful prospect. So my first Note from the New Heaven lifts up this doctrine of the New Jerusalem — this foundational understanding that we are a people of hope, moving toward an era of peace and connection within ourselves and with each other. Even when that is hard to hold, I hope you can feel the utility of holding that hope. It is the belief that something is possible that will make it possible. Whether you resonate with the image of the New Jerusalem or carry your own image of a renewed society of unity and diversity, we are on the same team. And if you are feeling this transformation happening inside of you, then you too are being invited into this life of the New Jerusalem. Over these next twelve weeks, as I explore other topics, I hope you will begin to feel and hear how each one is part of this new way of being — this new understanding of who we are and what we are that makes peace possible. Many blessings, friends. If any of these truths speak to you, I hope you’ll join us this fall for some larger conversations. These truths are only real insofar as we live them — and I would love to hear your experience. 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

8 min
5d ago

A Be Honest Update

In this heartfelt message, Rev. Sage Cole shares her reflections on the legacy of going one’s own way, the tension between independence and connection, and her exciting vision for the future of spiritual community. As she steps into new territory with the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative, she offers insights on authenticity, apostolic heritage, and the power of community in the evolving church landscape. Rev. Sage also announces her new series “Notes from the New Heaven,” which will premiere on New Church Day, Friday June 19th 2026. Main Topics: * The legacy of independence and personal freedom within family and spiritual history * The importance and challenges of going one’s own way while maintaining meaningful connection * The vision for building innovative, inclusive spiritual communities like the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative * The significance of spiritual freedom, diversity, and authentic belonging in the modern church * Launching “Notes from the New Heaven” a doctrinal series to connect theology with daily life Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: Celebrating New Church Day Week and the significance of spiritual journey00:30 - Reflection on family legacy of leaving and going one’s own way01:07 - Celebrating the adventurous life of Sage’s grandfather and his impact01:34 - The concept of legacy as a journey of independence and new possibilities02:05 - Personal orientation towards authenticity and adventure in spiritual calling02:34 - The Swedenborgian Church as a community of spiritual freedom and uniqueness03:04 - The inclusive and diverse nature of the Swedenborgian community03:33 - The idea of being “all distinguishably one” 04:02 - Embracing the beauty of different beings unified in love and truth04:17 - Navigating the hurt that can come from choosing independence04:47 - The loneliness and the need to find community when going one’s own way05:16 - Envy and admiration for families carrying legacy generation to generation05:42 - The importance of supportive spaces that align with individual gifts06:10 - The tension between independence and connection in familial and spiritual life06:39 - Loss of shared purpose and community within the journey of going one’s own way06:51 - The new vision: building the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative07:16 - The call for a community that embraces both independence and connection07:44 - Wrestling with sadness and broken relationships in forging a new path08:13 - Finding fulfillment in creating spaces where full self-expression is possible08:26 - Emerging excitement from reconciling the desire for both independence and community08:57 - The role of Swedenborgian community as a nurturing space09:26 - Launching “Notes from the New Heaven” doctrinal series for spiritual reflection09:55 - Intentions to foster discussions on theological doctrines and personal embodied faith10:24 - The vision for fall gatherings to share and learn from diverse spiritual experiences10:53 - Building a community rooted in love, belonging, and diversity11:20 - Encouragement to explore and embody the life of the new church11:50 - The importance of celebrating differences and coexistence in church life 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

13 min
Jun 14

A New Church is Descending: Embracing Transformation and Regeneration

There is something happening in me. My suspicion is it’s happening in you, and all over this planet right now. My best understanding of what is happening is that a new church is emerging, coming into being. That this vision of the New Jerusalem from Revelation — the one so many of us have been reading and holding for so many generations — is manifesting in a more real way, perhaps, than ever before. If I had grown up in a different religious tradition, perhaps I would have a different image to explain what is occurring right now. But this is mine. This is the tradition I have received. It best reflects the experience I’m having right now and that I’m witnessing in others. If you’re reading this, if you’re tuning in to what I’m sharing, chances are pretty high that this is an image that resonates with you as well — and perhaps an experience you are also having. I want to name that this Sunday morning. I just got off a call with the community in Kenya that I collaborate with. We had our global New Church prayer circle and our celebration of June 19th, which comes this Friday — which marks for us in the New Church tradition the beginning emergence of this new church back in the 1700s. Over these last few hundred years, my take is that that emergence has been picking up speed, and is perhaps at the fastest, most fever-pitched moment it has ever been — right now, inside of us and throughout our communities. Let me try to articulate the evidence for this, as I’m experiencing it. My sense of who I am is quickly shifting. The identity I’ve carried for 49 years, the ego structure I have carried, is being revealed to me. The limiting ideas and perspectives about who I can be, about what I believe is possible — the limitations I have carried for much of my life — are being exposed. They’re being lifted up and put in my face for me to feel and experience. And I am moving through deep waves of grief, rage, and fear. All of these feelings are moving through me. My best sense is that they have been trapped, over the decades of my life, within this ego structure that is now showing itself, revealing itself — perhaps hopefully to be dissolved and transformed. And this process of dissolution and transformation is what this new church is all about. This idea that we are here to be reborn spiritually, to be changed, to be transformed. That transformation includes a healing process — the process of moving through and transforming our egoic structures so that something new can open up. Possibilities of actual heavenly experiences here on earth. Experiences of community and flow and connection that are not possible when we only live within that older egoic structure. I must confess: this dissolution process is not fun at all. And I see so many humans all around the planet going through it — seeing themselves, seeing their habits, and starting to suspect that there might be something beyond a constricted identity. Something beyond what they have always known. Many people, through many different modalities and processes and experiences, are going through this dissolution and recreation. I am right in the thick of it. I have been in the thick of it. To be alive right now, I think, is to be in the thick of it. And to be okay with that. To be okay with being in process. That is, in my sense, part of what it is to step into the new church — to honor and recognize that we are in process, that we are being grown by God, that we are being changed and transformed. And that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to be in this flow of love and transformation and messiness. There is something sacred in that. When I look out at the world, I see many people in the same place I am: being dissolved, being reformed, seeing themselves more deeply, in the thick and the mess of it. Sometimes despairing, sometimes full of ecstasy. Being humbled, while also coming to recognize their divinity and their gifts and their callings. And then there is a certain portion of the population that is doubling down on that egoic structure. My sense is that they are terrified to step into that messy place, and so they are standing firm in the ego they have inherited, come hell or high water — and parading around in those egos in a way that, for the rest of us, appears more ridiculous than ever before. For those of us in the mess, in the reality of this humbling process, we can see right through them. It’s like the emperor with no clothes. Because those of us who have stepped into this ego dissolution are seeing beyond our own egos — and so it becomes quite easy to see beyond the egos of others. It’s scary sometimes. We’re still in process, still caught in fear and survival. Many of those who are holding tightly to their egoic structures are doing so because they occupy positions of power, and they have money and resources on this material plane. They see the benefit of holding on. And so we can find it ridiculous and still feel the fear — because in many ways they do continue to hold power and authority over this material plane. And yet on a spiritual level — and when I say spiritual, I am not talking about wispy powerlessness — on the most real level, on the actual ground of our being, the power really lies with those of us who are in this process of transformation. Because we’re getting down to what is real. And what is real is not this material plane. It’s not this egoic plane. It’s not this long history of stories that have set us apart from one another and caused so much harm, so much violence and disparity and cruelty. Those of us in this process of dissolution are getting back to what is real. We’re getting back to the truth that is so apparent — and yet all of these systems of separation have been shielding us from it, holding back this truth, trying to hold the power. And the truth is this: we are all beloved children of God, of divinity. We all come from one source of life. And that source of life is in each of us equally. We all have a kingdom within — a connection to this source of love and truth and life. That is where the real joy of life comes from. And that connection has power. It has power to change us. It is what is doing this transformation that so many of us are experiencing. This powerful force, this divine source, is living through all of us. And it is orchestrating this grand, disillusioning time that we’re in. Those who are parading around with their big egos and their power and their money, their prestige, their privilege — eventually, and it’s not going to take very long — we’re going to start to see through that. We are seeing through that. More and more of us are going to see through that, and we’re going to start to look to new forms of leadership, new forms of life, fueled by reality, fueled by this real love that is pouring through every single person on this planet right now. En masse. I gathered this morning with the people of the New Church in Kenya, and there were many more gathered this June 19th than last year. There’s something moving all over this globe. And as every single person wakes up to their divine birthright and starts to recognize that this is where true power lives — not in these parading egoic forms, not outside of ourselves, but inside of us and between us — the new church is descending. It is coming into being. This New Jerusalem that we were promised so many thousands of years ago has been coming — and it is coming. It is coming in this inner experience and process of transformation and regeneration. If you are going through it, friend, we are one. It feels like a very individual journey. I have certainly felt, over these last five years, that I am so different from most other people, and that it is so hard to talk about and so hard to find community — because it is this internal process that we do have to go through largely on our own. But at the same time, I’m quite certain I am not the only one going through it. Many of us are. And I believe we are starting to come to a place of being able to find each other again, and to speak to this process. For me, as a minister in the New Church, as a member of a community that has for many decades been proclaiming that this New Jerusalem is coming into being — that this promise of life that Jesus showed us so many thousands of years ago, this divine human life that he walked and witnessed to, is an invitation for us to follow — I receive that as a calling. To bring the divinity of our own lives out into the world and to live from there: fully, completely, devotedly. That is what is going to bring power and transformation into this world. That is what is going to knit new communities of peace and connection. And it’s happening, friends. I witnessed it this morning with my friends in Kenya. I’m witnessing it in relationships and conversations and connections happening within the New Church community and with new people I am meeting and connecting with. And if you’re reading this and feeling this transformation in you — just know that I’m with you. I pray and hope that my work with the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative can help make more room in the world for us to be on this regenerative journey together, and to knit new forms of New Church life that can nurture new generations of beings on this planet to live in a new way. More than the words here, I hope you are receiving the feeling beneath them. Something in me, deep within, connects to something in you. I am learning to trust that. The source of these words is that. Words can mix things up, can get us off track. But this heart of being — I don’t think it can be misinterpreted. So from my heart to yours, friends: happy Sunday, happy June 19th. May you continue to trust this new life that is emerging — inside, through us, together. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with othe

16 min
Jun 2

A Be Honest Conversation: LGBTQIA Identity Love, Gender, Marriage & Sexuality

Today’s podcast is a recording of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative’s third Live Streamed Be Honest Conversation, LGBTQIA Identity: Love, Gender, Marriage & Sexuality featuring Rev. Colin Amato, Tirah Keal & Alex Gayheart. The conversation was cosponsored by the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative and The Rainbow Church. Rev. Colin Amato is the minister of The Rainbow Church of The New Jerusalem, a virtual church community for queer spiritual seekers and allies and the clinical director at Solano Pride Center. Tirah Keale is in the final phase of her seminary work and actively working to bring into being Bloomhaven Spiritual Community Center in Bryn Athyn, PA. Alex Gayheart (they/them) is the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative Executive Assistant, Digital Support person for The Rainbow Church of the New Jerusalem, and an active participant in community and justice efforts in their lifelong hometown on the shores of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana. Summary This panel explores the intersection of LGBTQIA identity and faith within the context of the Swedenborgian tradition. Participants discuss creating inclusive communities, reimagining sacred texts, and fostering safety and authenticity for queer individuals in spiritual spaces. Keywords LGBTQIA, faith, inclusive church, Swedenborgian, sacred texts, community, diversity, spirituality, gender, sexuality Key Topics * The role of the church in supporting LGBTQIA identities * Rewriting liturgy to center queer experiences * Building safe and inclusive spiritual communities * The intersection of sacred texts and queer theology * The importance of diversity and authenticity in faith Guest Names: Rev. Sage Cole, Tirah Keal, Rev. Colin Amato, Alex Gayheart Key Frameworks * Rewriting liturgy * Centering marginalized voices * The divine energies of masculine and feminine * The process of unmaking societal boxes Action Items * Create inclusive liturgies that acknowledge queer experiences * Build safe spaces for open conversations about sexuality * Practice regular self-examination and community reflection * Reimagine sacred texts to include diverse perspectives * Foster community dialogues on love, gender, and identity Titles * Reimagining Faith: Building Inclusive Churches for LGBTQIA+ * The Future of the Church: Embracing Queer Diversity Sound Bites * “Rewriting liturgy to center queer experiences is vital” * “Talking about sexuality openly is essential for safety” * “We need to unmake the boxes we’ve created” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to LGBTQIA Conversations 02:05 The Role of the Church in LGBTQIA Acceptance 04:09 Creating Safe Spaces for Queer Individuals 06:28 The Importance of Language and Liturgy 08:38 Navigating Community Dynamics 11:12 Sexuality and Its Place in Religious Discourse 13:31 The Intersection of Marriage and LGBTQIA Rights 25:16 Exploring Diverse Relationships and Marriage 27:57 The Importance of Non-Romantic Relationships 30:29 Decoupling Marriage from Societal Norms 30:58 The Sacredness of Friendship 33:21 Challenging Traditional Views on Relationships 34:45 Masculine and Feminine Energies in Relationships 37:31 Reinterpreting Historical Texts for Modern Contexts 42:23 The Essence of Love Beyond Labels 45:04 Embracing Diversity in the LGBTQIA Community 47:28 The Role of Faith in Navigating Change 52:30 Confrontation and Growth in Community 54:52 The Balance of Safety and Discomfort 56:54 Humanizing and Divinizing Our Stories 58:33 Reimagining the New Church 01:00:58 Navigating Change and Belonging 01:05:06 Imagining a Queer Future 01:07:09 Repentance as a Gift 01:08:51 Embracing Authenticity and Breaking Expectations Our Theme Music is “I Love it,” by Luke Concannon www.lukeconcannon.com Our Live Streamed Be Honest Conversation Series will resume this fall, with conversations on Disability, Peace, Economics and more! 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

1h 13m
May 31

"Curating myself to be consumable is creating more chaos,"

Greetings, friends. Happy Sunday. I hope this message finds you well — at least in a place where you are safe and resourced enough to sit and watch a video on Substack or YouTube or wherever you find this. I want to share this morning about a recent awareness that has come into my consciousness, one that is shining a very big light on my experiences of this past year. It’s a personal sharing that I hope will be useful to others — understood by others — and maybe actually similar to what some of you are experiencing right now. As many of you know, who’ve been following me and my work, I am on a mission. I’ve been on a mission for some time, actively and creatively since around 2022, to bring about something new in the world. To consider this invitation of life anew on a personal and collective level — specifically inside this frame of understanding that we are here to be made new as individuals and as a world, that we are here to spiritually evolve. The frame of that evolution that I have been taught, the school of thought that I have been formed in, is the school of the new church that Immanuel Swedenborg declared was on its way, ready to descend into the world to bring about a new era of life on this planet. After 20 years of serving an institution dedicated to that mission — serving within the forms and frames that had been established — in 2022 I started to make the turn, to suggest we really need not be bound by these forms. It was time to think more deeply, more intentionally, more creatively and exuberantly about what this invitation is, and to really start to embody it. What was really happening for me was a new embodiment. I was beginning to embody the life of the new church in a simple way, a direct way, in a way that was really changing me — changing my reactions, my habits, my assumptions — helping me to shed so many of the beliefs and habits that had been perpetuating suffering throughout my life. So I have every confidence that this path is good, because it feels good to me, because it is creating good for me in my life, in my direct relationships, in my moment-to-moment experience of being human on the planet. And I am seeking to bring that goodness into community with others through what I call the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative — through Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful as a frame for inhabiting and understanding this new way of living that I’m starting to experience, and that I want to experience with others, for the joy of it, for the pleasure of it, for the love of it. So, the discovery I want to share this morning — after that long preamble, thank you for being patient with me; I like words and I maybe use more than are necessary, quite regularly — what has come into my awareness very strongly, in that way that makes you laugh... I wonder if you have that experience, when you really see something about yourself, it brings laughter, it brings bemusement. What I’ve seen is this: everything I’ve created this last year — this creation series, very particularly, that I’ve been taking part in, that I organized and brought leaders into and invited people to join through this Substack; these Be Honest conversations; these retreats; all these things that have come into creation through this new energy that is emerging in me — it’s all beautiful and good and I’m deeply grateful for all of it. And what I’m becoming aware of is that in the midst of all of this, it’s become obvious that it’s a little too much. That I’m being pulled in a lot of directions. That more has been created than I can really hold. Specifically what I’ve realized is that I have still been preoccupied with how what I am offering is being received by the people I feel a responsibility to serve. I have been preoccupied by this question: How am I being received? I’ve felt myself wondering about that — considering that question even over these last several minutes recording this video. There’s still a part of me preoccupied with: Am I speaking in a way that my fellow humans can understand and be served by? Am I recording in a way, publishing in a way, making offerings in a way that can be received by my fellow human beings? This question of how I am received has been locked in my consciousness since quite early on. This is an early formation, formed in me as a small child looking to survive my life — being tuned in to what other people around me need, how they need me to behave, so that I can be received, so that I can be heard and my needs can be met, and vice versa. This is baked into my personality structure. And I’m guessing it’s baked into a lot of our personality structures — perhaps it’s baked into yours. It’s funny to me, it’s humorous to me, to notice how that aspect of my personality — that I have been working on for years, long before 2022 — that aspect I thought, in 2022, I had really just let go of. I did not set off on this journey worrying too much about how I was going to be received. I declared a new church jubilee. I made some dramatic moves and shifts and really did not spend a whole lot of time being concerned about how others would respond. I felt deeply that God was calling me to be faithful — to be deeply faithful to my own experience, to what I was seeing, to what I was hearing, to what was possible — and to not temper that experience by trying to be palatable, trying to get along, or trying to fulfill the expectations of the people around me. So I thought I had abandoned this aspect of myself. I thought I had grown past it. And yet what I’ve discovered is that over this last year, it has still been at work — quite under the radar, in ways that were unconscious to me until now. My choice, very specifically, to produce this Worship is Life Substack, to put on a creation series that was entirely separate from this Substack, to invite a different group of humans to go on that journey — I think was really motivated by a fear in me, or an expectation I held, that I should be able to create things for people where they don’t have to listen to all the things I do. I wanted people to be able to join the creation series, join these offerings by other human beings, and not have to come and listen to what I have to say every Sunday. I felt the need to curate that — to curate what I do here versus what I do there, what’s part of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative and what’s something I just do for myself here on the Substack. I’m really becoming aware of just all the ways that thinking about how I am being received was still playing into view. I’ve been very preoccupied with: Am I putting out too much content? Is it overwhelming people? Is it too inconsistent? Too limited? I’ve hosted gatherings specifically for people to talk about Emmanuel Swedenborg’s vision, and gatherings specifically to talk about Helen Keller’s vision, and made sure these experiences were really set apart from each other, differentiated — and in so doing, just kind of created all these different windows of experience, somewhat cordoned off from each other, to please others, to help other people feel safe, to invite people into this creative conversation in ways that would be comfortable to them — not really thinking much about what’s comfortable to me, not owning, not resting in, not claiming the way I want to move in the world. Instead I have continued to prioritize the comfort and the needs of others. And it’s okay. I trust that this process has been unfolding as it needs to. This certain mix of energies has needed to play out in the way that it did. And as I sit here today in my corner, recording this offering on May 31st — this threshold of a new month, the second half of this year, in the midst of day six of this creation journey — I am happy to be having this awareness and making this confession to you. Because it’s going to be so useful. I feel so ready, right now, over these next weeks, to clarify what forms really speak to me and how I can allow myself to bring all of my interests, all of my creative pursuits, into a unified way of being. Because the reality is, that’s what I’m ready for. That’s what Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful is all about — this is a way of living, all the time, in every moment. I don’t care so much about creating curated spaces where we just do one thing or another thing. I want to meet people from this way of being, exactly as they are, and trust that God is doing something in that meeting. I don’t want to keep curating myself to be consumable. And I think the truth is, the efforts I’m making to do that are probably not working. They’re probably creating more chaos in the system. I get the sense that I’m working hard at considering this — feeling this fear about how I am being received — and it’s actually just creating interference and resistance, and making it harder for people to actually hear the message I have to share. Making it harder for me to bring the offering that I’m called to bring. And this, friends — this is what I’ve been saying all along. It’s the heart of the Swedenborgian tradition, and it’s exciting to see it playing out in my own life. This is what I believe the new heaven and new earth is calling us to: to step into the holy city, to step into a life of regeneration and peace and health and wellness on this planet with each other. This is what it requires. It requires that we are faithful to our particular calling, to our particular understanding of the divine call, the divine voice — not using our big brains to filter out the needs of all of the institutions and people around us and doing what’s required. That stance is not going to take us into the new earth. It is not going to bring us peace. It is not going to bring us fulfillment. It’s just not. As much as we may love those institutions, as much as we may love th

27 min
May 24

It's good to appreciate the paths that got us here.

Greetings, friends. The message I want to bring today — the one I’m sitting with — is that it’s good to appreciate where we’ve been and all of the people and energy that has sustained us thus far. I’m out in one of my favorite little patches of woods near my house, and I’m appreciating the efforts of others that have created these pathways. Right behind me is a little stone bridge that somebody put together that helped me cross the little creek. All of these little paths that exist are because of the efforts of other beings like myself, and I’m grateful for that. Otherwise it would be hard to find my way into the woods. I had an experience a few weeks ago. My husband and I were walking out here and I encouraged us to go on one of the less traveled paths, and we ended up off the path and finding our way through some briar bushes. I ended up contracting some poison ivy and having a bit of an existential meltdown as we were making our way out, saying to him, “You know, this is why you don’t leave the beaten path — because you end up in the briar bushes.” And that’s often true. As someone forging a new kind of ministry in the world, I can relate. Forging the path is often very challenging. And really — I’d be curious about other people’s insights — I don’t know that any of us ever forge entirely our own path, right? We make our way along the paths others have created, and then we move in a slightly new direction, and that’s how the system of pathways expands and grows. Of course, this metaphor works in all kinds of areas of life, and especially, I think, in the way we form church and community. This last weekend I got to spend time with people in the Bryn Athyn community who are part of different pathways — different branches of this Swedenborgian New Church movement — that have been walking together in different ways. It was so enlivening to connect and to learn from them, from the pathways that they had created, and to come to this new intersection of community and life. There’s just so much to be grateful for in all of the ways that they have walked their paths and the ways that I’ve walked mine. I’m coming to see and sense how important it is to give thanks for that walking. This effort of mine to create a new kind of ministry — this “be love, be honest, be useful” effort — has been motivated by some dissatisfaction, by a need to tell the truth about challenges and hard, painful things that have occurred along these paths we’ve trod. There was a feeling that there wasn’t space within the form or the path that I was on to really name these things and tell the truth. And the further I walk this path, the more free I feel to name the challenges, name the hard things, name the limitations of the path I had been on. What’s really interesting is that the more I do that, the more appreciation actually starts to arise. In some ways, I have a sense that it’s hard to appreciate what we’ve experienced in our lives when there isn’t space to tell the whole truth about it — to also tell the things that were hard or painful, that we grieve. Once there’s space to really be honest, to flesh it out fully, then there’s space to also be in appreciation. I see that playing out in my experience of church and how I’ve been formed in church — that as I can name the things that haven’t gone well, I’m also coming into awareness of all of the beautiful things that have gone swimmingly well, things that empower me to be the person I am today. I also see that playing out in my understanding of my family. As I come to understand some of the ways that my early family experiences conditioned me to be codependent and hyper-vigilant of the emotions in my family, and a caretaker of others — as I’m able to tell the truth about that — I’m also remembering and appreciating all of the beautiful things I was formed in as a young child. Just the other day I was listening to some great music and dancing in my kitchen, and just having so much appreciation for all of the ways my parents showed me how to dance and how to have fun and how to take pleasure in life. Some of that had been suppressed for a little while when I wasn’t able to also share and feel and sense the difficult things. Because they’re all connected. They’re all one. It’s all our experience. There’s something so profound that can happen when we can just be honest about it. When we can be honest about it, we can appreciate the paths that have made our life possible. We can search out where maybe those paths have limited us, or given us a sense that there’s only one way to be. But we can also appreciate that they gave us the possibility to get to where we are. We’re not all starting from scratch. We carry the wisdom of our ancestors — in our familial lines, in our cultural lines, in our religious communities. There’s pain there, and there are gifts, and there’s wisdom, and all of it is rich terrain. If we block out one side of that equation, it just stifles life. It stifles and dampens and numbs possibilities. This last weekend down at the Lord’s New Church was a rich, creative time in community, and I could feel the energy moving in our midst in a palpable way — and I think others could feel it too. There’s a lot of aliveness in this human condition of ours. There’s aliveness that wants to be free. It wants to live, it wants to create, it wants to love, it wants to be in relationship. And it needs to be held — beheld. It needs us to be present to it. I think honesty is that path — to be present to that aliveness. What is that aliveness bringing? Because it’s probably bringing both creative new possibilities and healing. Healing that will potentially uncover pain that will be hard to see, but that will bring about the possibilities that are longing to emerge next. So let’s appreciate where we’ve been. Let’s appreciate all the paths that have been trod before us, and the path we find ourselves on. Maybe it’s the merging of many different paths. One of the themes of our retreat was the labyrinth. Maybe we’re walking a path that is taking us to our center, and yet it gets confusing and it wanders. Maybe we’re invited to walk off the path a little bit and even risk getting a little poison ivy, because God is calling us in a direction that will be good. The communities of people I was interacting with this weekend were from two other branches of the Swedenborgian church. We’re like the smallest church movement on the planet, and yet we have three different branches, three different denominational bodies, with different legal entities and processes and liturgies. And I didn’t show up in Bryn Athyn suggesting we should create a fourth. It feels to me like this moment in our history isn’t really calling for another break. We don’t have to walk off the path and reject the path we’ve come from — say, “You’re no longer in relationship to me, I’m going to go over this way and do everything I can to separate myself from you.” That’s an old way of thinking. We can go on different paths and still be in community. That would be really useful, because our paths might intersect again in the future, and we’re all walking the same earth. While we gathered together this weekend with these different paths and these different denominational bodies, I don’t even know that it was in any way divisive. Perhaps others had that experience, but I felt a deep unity with all the people that we connected to, and something moving in our midst that was very alive. I get the sense that there may be a new way to do this church thing — one that doesn’t require rejection, that doesn’t require us to abandon our history or the past. It just requires us to be a little softer, a little more open: to appreciate the paths that have brought us to where we are, to be honest about the ways we’ve been formed that we may be ready to release and let go of, and then from this place, from this point we’ve been brought to, take those next steps that feel right and feel good and feel alive and growing. So it’s a good moment, friends. I appreciate every single person who has stepped into this enterprise of being loving and being honest and seeing how we may be called to be useful. I’m very excited. Today begins a series of incubation sessions that Alex and I are going to do from 11 to 1 on Fridays, now through June 19th — New Church Day — to just sit with each other and with anyone who wants to come and show up. To appreciate what new things have emerged in this effort of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative, to appreciate what we’ve done together, to feel into that appreciation, and to name what we’ve experienced — both the good, and maybe the ways that we weren’t so good, or that we want to do differently — and to till the soil to see what may be longing to emerge next in our work. So if you’re listening to this video, if you’re on this journey with us, if you have a window on a Friday to join us, I welcome you to pop in. I’ll put the link in the description for this video. And if you can’t come on a Friday but you have some thoughts or appreciations to share, I encourage you to comment or email. You know how to find us. And in your own life, in your own walk, I invite you to be honest with the good and the bad — with where you are in life, what has brought you there, and what is calling you next. 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

14 min
May 19

Helen Keller: Becoming the Holy City Inside & Out

Ah what a beautiful weekend I am returning from at the Lord’s New Church in Bryn Athyn, PA where I got to speak about Helen, collaborate on a retreat with Deborah’s Tree and many others, and preach on Sunday morning. I got to share a lot about Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful and I received so much and I am tired and grateful. I huge thank you to all the people who showed up to all the things, and if you didn’t get a chance to join you can listen in here to my Friday night talk about Helen Keller and how she became the holy city inside and out by being loving, honest and useful and how we might too ❤️ I’ve been invited back to put on another retreat next year in Bryn Athyn and I look forward to taking these offerings on the road many more places in the weeks and months and years ahead. If you’d like to collaborate on something in your community do get in touch or pop into one of our upcoming Incubation Sessions, Fridays from 11-1 pm on ZOOM May 22nd - June 19th. Summary Rev. Sage Cole’s talk explores the spiritual journey inspired by Helen Keller’s life and teachings. She emphasizes the importance of love, change, and community in spiritual growth. Rev. Cole reflects on Helen Keller’s transformation from a deaf-blind girl to a global advocate for various social causes, highlighting her commitment to love, regeneration, and interconnectedness. The talk encourages embracing change and finding stability in divine love, aligning with the vision of the new church. Sound Bites “Love is the foundation.” Rev. Cole emphasizes that understanding and embodying love is central to spiritual growth. “We are here to grow and change.” She highlights the importance of embracing change as a spiritual journey. “We live by each other.” The interconnectedness of humanity is crucial for personal and communal spiritual development. Timestamp Chapters 0:00 - Introduction to Rev. Sage Cole 1:41 - Helen Keller and the New Church 3:34 - Vision and Transformation 5:19 - Helen Keller’s 1928 Speech 8:13 - Helen Keller’s Early Life 10:14 - Spiritual Foundations 14:18 - Transformations and Growth 18:24 - Advocacy and Social Justice 24:37 - Embracing Change and Community 28:58 - Becoming the Holy City 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

37 min
May 12

Be Love: "I'm not afraid of being taught, in fact I love it."

Rev. Robert McCluskey holds a B.A. and M.A. in philosophy, with a focus on Greek philosophy, modern idealism, existentialism, and hermeneutics. He is a graduate of the Swedenborg School of Religion, and was ordained into the Swedenborgian Church of North America in 1984. He has pastored churches in Portland, ME and New York City, and served on the denomination’s Social Justice Committee. He also served for 18 years as representative to the National Council of Churches, with specific attention to the work of social justice and religious freedom. Until recently, he administered rites and sacraments at Wayfarers Chapel near Los Angeles. Summary Join Rev. Sage Cole and Rev. Robert McCluskey as they explore the spiritual journey through Swedenborgian theology, the influence of music and philosophy, and the role of church in personal and social transformation. Discover insights on faith, community, and the ongoing quest for truth. Keywords Swedenborgian, spiritual growth, church community, philosophy, music, social justice, faith journey, inner sense, divine love, religious transformation Key Topics * Swedenborgian theology and personal faith * The influence of music, especially the Grateful Dead, on spirituality * The importance of community and church as a space for growth * The concept of heaven on earth and divine presence in daily life * The challenges and opportunities of modern spiritual practice Key Frameworks * Inner sense as a spiritual tool * The treasure and vessel metaphor in spiritual growth * The both-and approach to truth and understanding Sound Bites * “I’m the first Swedenborgian you ever met.” * “I’m not afraid of being taught, in fact I love it.” * “People are the only real things in life.” * “Every new life is a world of potential.” Chapters 00:00 The Journey of Faith and Love 02:25 Philosophy, Music, and Spiritual Awakening 04:32 The Influence of Community and Creativity 07:12 Navigating Life’s Displacements 09:40 Understanding Providence and Suffering 12:04 Truth, Perspective, and Spiritual Growth 24:30 Finding Unity in Diversity 26:15 Exploring the Mind and Spiritual Psychology 27:21 The Role of Doctrine in Spiritual Growth 28:10 The Treasure Within the Church 29:24 The Proprium and Its Challenges 29:51 Heaven on Earth: A Realistic Perspective 31:11 Honoring the Human Experience 32:11 The Yearning for Realness in Community 33:13 Reflections on Ministry and Retirement 34:20 Addressing Social Justice and Church Issues 36:21 The Treasure of Swedenborgian Ideas 38:40 The Importance of Personal Growth 41:23 Emerging New Church Dynamics 43:34 Utilizing Technology for Spiritual Connection 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

45 min

As a part of the initiative of the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Collaborative, founder Rev. Sage Cole interviews fellow workers in the field of love to ask "How does love flourish? What get's in the way?" A mix of one-one personal interviews, topical conversations and direct sharing we aim to get honest about love! worshipislife.substack.com

Creator

Be Love & Be Honest
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

89
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Sage Cole
Show Website

Be Love