"If you stay where you are, you're going backwards."
My friend Doug Krug, co-author of the book Enlightened Leadership, shared those words with me when I was the CEO of Unity Worldwide Ministries. His main point was that, as individuals and organizations, we must continuously be in the mindset of evolving the ways we operate. We ought to be open to releasing how we've always done something, even if what we are doing is working well. That is due to the fact that even what's working will eventually reach the end of its life cycle.
Heeding Doug's words, with the help of our Communications Director, Becca Costello, I've decided to take this weekly message to the next level of its development. This Tuesday, March 21, we're going to begin sharing my weekly message by video. We will not only send our newly redesigned, mobile-responsive message to the Spiritual Life Center community every Tuesday, we will be making it available to any of the 3.2 billion people (almost half of the world's population) who have access to the internet.
More and more folks are getting their information through the internet. A lot of that content is video. More than 5 billion YouTube videos are viewed daily and people watch over 100 million hours of videos on Facebook every 24 hours. Of course, most of the videos are not related to spirituality or enlightened topics and it is likely that will always be the case. But there is potential for this medium to be a major communication tool to help foster transformation on the planet. The internet is equivalent to the global brain. It is just waiting for the infusion of the global heart. We can be part of that infusion.
All the challenges we face in our world - adversity in politics and increased alienation between countries, cultures, ethnicities, economic classes and religions - represent raw material seeking spiritual solutions.
I got an idea about where we are heading in this era of rapid technological change from a conversation I had with a fellow minister. He shared that his son, who was 3 or 4 years old at the time, had gotten hold of his smartphone. Without any instructions from anyone, his son was able unlock his phone and look at videos. My colleague said it appeared as natural as breathing for his son to do this.
As part of the weekly message, I will still do written blogs from time to time, but we're going to mix it up. Not only will there be videos, eventually we will record interviews with spiritual luminaries and have podcasts on provocative topics.
We're getting on board, not by doing what we've always done, but by embracing continuous renewal and exploring new ways to promote the New Thought/Ancient Wisdom message. So be on the lookout. The videos are coming with a message of oneness, transformation and the possibilities of the human spirit. We're moving onward and upward.
Peace and Blessings,
James