One notion of being spiritual is to be other-worldly. This has been the predominant philosophy of our world, and the results have been predictably dysfunctional. When it is done in the name of religion, it can be disastrous.

It's risky, this faith thing...

At its worst, the Church acts like any other institution that thinks its first priority is to conserve and perpetuate itself. When survival is the primary concern, all other activities serve that concern. Serving others becomes secondary to serving itself.

Christ’s peace comes not by avoiding our enemies, but by loving them while they are enemies still.

There is nothing more destructive to real love than ideal love. It is easy to love a sentimental version of humanity, or the people around us, but that is just a distraction, a projection of our own ego.