Find a Community
A spiritual or religious community can provide help and support in times of difficulty. Communities can help people ask the right questions, and provide guidance and encouragement.
In addition, scientists at Johns Hopkins University researched the relationship between social support, as it relates to religious participation and health in an epidemiological study of 90,000 persons. They found that less-than-monthly religious attendance doubled and even tripled the risk of death due to arteriosclerotic heart disease, pulmonary emphysema, cirrhosis of the liver, suicide, and cancers of the rectum and colon (Levin, 2001).
Basically a spiritual community can be any group that has some continuity, provides a sense of freedom to express one's true self in good times and in bad, and is concerned about meaning and the big questions in life. The group needs to keep confidences and support the whole person.
Groups that have a we/they or an in/out group philosophy will not be good groups. Disagreement with the group will mean either leaving or compromising one's integrity to stay, and there are losses in each.
Some potential spiritual communities are church groups, support groups, spiritual or religious book groups, meditation centers, and yoga classes.
