I've been thinking a lot about my time in the Mississippi Jaycees - a civic service organization. I really enjoyed being a part of making a difference in my community. A lot of that 'urge' to do community service comes from my spirituality. "For the good of the wolf, the pack, for the good of the pack, the wolf." When the pack is the community, my local area, city, region, the need to improve conditions is obvious.
I see all of the murders (73 in 2008 just in Jackson alone) and shootings, stabbings, thefts and other violent crimes and I am appalled. I see the homeless rambling around my work in downtown Jackson. I see angry, unhappy people all over the place. I see all of this and I want to do something more than talk or write letters demanding action.
With all the "Indigo" children and "Star" children people talk about, being here for a purpose, to 'raise the vibration' and all - what are We, as Pagan members of our communities, actually DOING? Doing a Google search, I find quite a few Pagan organizations - mostly aimed at fighting discrimination and educating the public about 'nature religions.' I found, Red Hills Pagan Council that puts "goodwill" in their purpose statement and The Pagan Alliance that seeks to 'work for justice and connect our communities'. Fellowship of the Earth also seems fairly good and they list "Community Service" as part of their purpose.
"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." ~Khalil Gibran
If you know of a pagan or pagan-friendly group that is taking action to make a difference in the community, post it! Promote it. If not, what can we do to start that group?
Hi, I've been thinking about this too, and have concluded that I am sure there are lots of Pagans doing community work or contributing to charities and campaigns, but there are very few Pagan charities, partly because Paganism is still too small and stigmatised, and partly because Pagans don't feel the need to stick the label Pagan onto the work they are doing, because they're not trying to make converts and they see it as a necessary corollary of spirituality, not something for which they expect to get a pat on the back from a divine being or the wider community.
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