Invitation & Guidebook: Managing the Spiritual Neighborhood

	Managing the Spiritual Neighborhood
			Published by
			Tinker's Creek Press

	*How to Restore the Conscience of America's Communities; A Grass Roots Approach*

Leadership at the Grass-
Roots

Self-Sufficiency

Connecting to the
Universe

Prevention Instead of
Reaction

Develop Community in the
Place Where
You Live

Courtesy is a Dance

Government Without
Force

Create a New World

Grow the Good

Elevate Community
Service

Getting Back to the
Earth

Practical Philosophy

Establishing Trust

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Invitation ... The world needs Garden Zone Managers. That much is clear. What's not so clear is who might be able to step up and fill the job. There are thousands of communities with a grass roots leadership vacuum; thousands of individual neighborhoods where

residents carry on an anonymous, isolated, disconnected existence, and very few where there is coherence, and shared community spirit. Many astute observers have commented on the decline in real community in modern society, but there aren't a whole lot of solutions offered. You could move to an existing residential arrangement; become a member of a planned, "intentional" community. That works quite well for some folks, but it usually requires money, and also a certain amount of flexibility that not everyone has.

There is another alternative, however. What about building the community where you already live? How about plunking yourself down anywhere that happens to be convenient, and working on that community, in whatever state it happens to be?

What does working on community mean? Basically it means service: Outreach, volunteering, civic involvement, taking an interest in the health and welfare of your neighbors, and the health of your physical, geographical environment. There is also a spiritual angle to community development. The spiritual component is a bit more difficult to pin down, but it is nevertheless important. Indeed, it is essential; more important in fact than everything else (see The Spiritual Connection ).

Potential Garden Zone Managers ...

Among the few folks who concern themselves with the spiritual landscape at the grass roots of society are the church leaders. Pastors, priests, ministers, rabbis, etc. Setting aside the legal complications, the church-state thing, Garden Zone Management seems ideally suited for local clerics to participate in. The idea is to extend the courtesy, hospitality and positive influence of your religion outside the church walls. Not to evangelize folks, but to simply connect with and serve the people of the surrounding community, regardless of which religion they profess. Serve the community, and also lead it. Lead in the sense of setting the example for others to follow, with perhaps some friendly advice or a quiet suggestion thrown in from time to time. It's an educational sort of leadership. Community education, you might call it.

Fill the leadership vacuum in neighbor- hoods and grass-roots communities.

Overcome isolation and the anonymity of modern life ... create coherence among community members.

Service equates to civic involvement ... taking an interest in the welfare of your fellow citizens.

Spirituality is the missing ingredient in community service ... civic leaders must be grounded in pure awareness.

Garden zone mana- gers are educators ... elders ... advocates ... peace makers.

Coaches, counselors, teachers, clergy ... responsible individuals committed to the community where they live.

MSN the book: a street-wise guide; a check on the reality of modern urban/suburban life; a philisophical treatise; a practical plan of action.

Apart from the clergy, other potential managers that come to mind are folks who grew up in an area, and whose occupation involves some sort of community outreach, particularly people who work with kids. They could be school teachers who live locally, for example, or perhaps recreation department folks – Boys & Girls Clubs, park service employees, coaches and so forth. Every community has such people, and you occasionally discover some highly enlightened individuals among them. People who may not admit to any sort of spiritual practice at all, but who are nevertheless operating from a softer, finer level of existence.

Guidebook ... It's one thing to have a vision, but quite another to accomplish it. You're looking to create a new world, but you have to start with the world that exists now. So how do we get there from here? What exactly does one do to get the ball rolling? This manager has put together a lengthy treatise that reports the results of several years of Garden Zone Management in his own neighborhood of Westchester Estates in suburban Camp Springs, Maryland. Called Managing the Spiritual Neighborhood, it describes the philosophy behind the program, and presents a substantial amount of anecdotal material documenting my own experience. More importantly, the book offers some real world, down-to-earth guidelines for putting the GZM philosophy into practice. It describes specific things that you can do to institute an alternative, complimentary grass-roots government, to build a true community, and to improve the quality of life not just for your own neighborhood, but for the world.

The entire book, including appendix is available for downloading, either a chapter at a time, or in its entirety. The book is offered as shareware. What that means is that you can download it, and look it over, but if you decide to keep it, you're expected to remit a payment to the author. The Preface, Introduction and Chapter 1 are free. To read other other parts of the book the price is $5.00.

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