Feb 6, 2010
We need to pause and take a look at groups. A group may be in your future. Perhaps more than one group might be in your future.
I help preside over at least one such group, and two if you count the place in cyberspace. And I like to think that they are good groups which benefit all of their members.
I also recall the groups that I've walked away from, and one group that I ran away from!
In the right group, you will learn more, and you will learn more quickly than you ever could learn alone. In the wrong group, you'll learn the "party line" and little else.
In the right group, you can agree that you disagree within very reasonable limits. In the wrong group, sometimes even agreeing can get you shunned.
In the right group, you can have friends and confidantes to share life's burdens. In the wrong group, pseudo-human vipers can gossip your family, your career and even your life into oblivion.
In the right group, you will find fellowship and affirmation. In the wrong group, you might be manipulated into saying and doing things which you regret later.
That's one of the reasons for Isaac Bonewits' "Cult Evaluation Frame" which I will recommend to any and all. And there are a few more signs to watch out for.
It is important to know what to beware of. And there are some signs which you might be able to see.
Some faith is not supposed to be blind. Sometimes faith requires your eyes to be open.
Blessed Be!