Joy is a matter of our soul, it runs deep into the core of us and radiates throughout all life.
Joy is the state of great delight or happiness through well-being.
When we feel joy, we don’t simply feel delight in one tiny piece of the world; we feel welcomed back in — connected once again to the whole.
In this sense, as many have said, the opposite of joy is not sadness, but isolation and disconnection. Joy doesn’t just make us feel happy; It restores relationship. And not just relationship to the world, but also to the Divine.
Theologian John Cobb describes God as “the all of everything.”
Joy places us within that whole not outside it. In this way, the experience of joy is very much also the experience of the Universal Spirit of Love.
“Like a stroke victim retraining new parts of the brain to grasp lost skills, I have taught myself joy, over and over again.” – Barbara Kingsolver
“Joy” is based on the permanent and unshakable knowledge that in the big picture…..all will be well with your soul.
“I have committed myself to joy. I have come to realize that those who make space for joy, those who prefer nothing to joy, those who desire the utter reality, will most assuredly have it. In this cynical and sophisticated age, believe in joy.”
Richard Rohr
The poet Mary Oliver writes, “Every day, I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It was what I was born for — to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world — to instruct myself over and over in joy and acclamation.”
“True joy is harder to access and even harder to hold onto than anger or fear. Once you know that life and death are not two but are part of a whole, you will begin to view reality in a holistic, nonsplit way, and that will be the change that changes everything. No one can teach you this.”
Richard Rohr
Happiness is not another place, but this place. Not for another hour, but for this hour – Walt Whitman
Here are some sites to inspire you to be happy and/or joyful:
On this day of your life I believe God wants you to know… that safety is not the thing you should look for in the future. Joy is what you should look for. Security and joy may not come in the same package. They can…but they also cannot. There is no guarantee. If your primary concern is a guarantee of security, you may never experience the truest joys of life. This is not a suggestion that you become reckless, but it is an invitation to at least become daring. Neale Donald Walsh
All around you, people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don’t tiptoe.” Shane Claiborne
Reincarnation as an ancient belief is based upon a living being having a soul, as the foundation of their being, which is eternal and/or a part of the universal spirit.
Click on this, enter the words you want to match, then press enter to start the search. THE RESULTS WILL BE SHOWN AS YOU TYPE, including matching member or group names. Part words will also be matched. Click on a result from the list to go to that page.
LISN Categories
The content of LISN is kept in pages of information, which are categorized according to content. You can find such pages filtered by category, by selecting the LISN category from the side bar drop-down list. You can find Interactive Question Surveys (IQS) is a category.
LISN Series
LISN series are ways of helping you keep track of, and process the interactive content of LISN. Each series contains logical steps. You can navigate forward and back through any series.
Glossary
Ever wanted to know what ‘bliss’ or ‘holy’ means? Such key spiritual words are commonly used but have many interpretations. LISN has created a glossary of such terms. These are bold and underlined with a dotted line, and you can see an excerpt appear with one click!
At the bottom of every page is a reaction feedback tool, containing four elements:
X – click to provide negativereaction to the current page with a single click.
tick – click to provide positivereaction to the current page with a single click.
heart- click to provide heart-felt resonance (positive) to the current page with a single click.
Add optional text – enter an optional explanation about one of the above, or just some feedbackto the site moderator, like ‘I was unable to access the help button on my cell phone’
You can choose one two or three of the above options, and when you do, a little black arrow will appear on the right of the feedback tool. Click this arrow button to submityour feedback!
Any and ALL feedback is appreciated. Don’t be concerned about swamping us!
The LISN Glossary offers a helpful and simple way to access spiritual terms. Click to a section heading below to open or close that section.
Introduction
An explanation of how words are used in LISN is accessible from the menu HELP/GLOSSARY INDEX
When you visit this page you will see a list of words and terms used in LISN. You can search by entering a part or whole word, or by clicking on the first letter of the word or phrase in the alphabet list:
These are mainly spirit based, or metaphysical metaphors. We have tried to make them interesting and fun!
So please, if you have not yet visited the glossary page, click on the above image, and you will be taken to that page.
Viewing an excerpt
As each word is used in each page of the LISN website, it will show as underlined with little dots, and when you click on the word or phrase the short version will appear on top!
So if you see a phrase underlined with dots like this:
then you can click on the underlined word or phrase (in this case the phrase “interactive question”) and you will see a popup glossary term short summary or excerpt:
(If you don’t try it, at least be aware that there is a lot of information available within the term details, including relevant quotes, and differing views on interpretation)
You can search for the full term page using the GLOBAL SEARCH also, whenever you want to look up a word or phrase.
LISN approach to words and meanings
Words can help or hinder understanding. The Ancient Greeks introduced the concept of dictionary, words that are defined, but prior cultures, such as Aramaic, did not have such a concept, preferring to allow the intent to flow through a conversation. Today we use both, dictionary and metaphor/body language, to present a message.
This Glossary is not intended to replace a formal dictionary. It is instead a way of looking at how we use language in spiritual conversation. LISN hopes this helps understand the different ways that we use very common words. The word “Love” for example is used so differently in the phrases ‘I Love that song’, ‘making Love’ and ‘God is Love’. On this site where words are commonly used, we want you to know what the intent is of that use, or at least to understand the differences in interpretation that can cause misunderstanding.
One of the LISN principles of love and compassion involves playfulness. That is the willingness to step into a place of wonder, and child-like receptiveness to new ideas.
For this reason sometimes LISN glossary definitions are playful and even humorous. We apologize if they may seem inappropriate to you, it is not intended to offend, but to offer new ways of viewing metaphor.
NOTE : If you want to see a word that needs defining added to the glossary dictionary, let LISN admin know on the contact page.
Finding spiritual friends
LISN can help you find friends and/or groups who may offer community for you, you may be looking for anything, sharing parental experiences, or support in the time of loss of a loved one, or you may want to find a group of musicians who just have fun sharing their love of life through music.
Or you can find a local group that offers friendship, teaching or meditation groups. Here is an example demonstrating how to find a LISN member located nearby to where you are…
1 Select menu option MEMBERS/MAP MEMBERS BY LOCATION
2 A map will appear. You can scroll zoom (or + -) to your country, or below the map, choose or enter your search address for where you are.
3 Press SUBMIT search button
4 The map will be updated to show you members nearby. If none are shown, you can list more on the list below (Prev <> Next), or widen the search area by selecting the range and Miles/Kilometers:
press SUBMIT to refresh the results.
FINDING LIKE SPIRITED PEOPLE
5 There is more than just finding members, you can filter the people you feel more likely to befriend. To do this, click on the “Show Options” button below the “Learn about Member search” button.
6 Now you can select from the available options to filter those who you feel more comfortable about contacting. This could be by selecting one or more Spiritual Interests, or other options:
Perhaps you just want to find neighbors who like you are seeking a forum for non-judgmental sharing of their own experience?
LISN_groups can satisfy this need. Select Menu GROUPS/MAP GROUPS BY LOCATION for a similar process.
LinkedInSpirit.Net provides the tools to find people with similar spirit, yet does not release ANY information about you unless you choose.
(Notes: This is an entirely confidential site, your own Secret Garden; though you may invite others to become friends with you, and chat with you, or join group forums. You can make friends mutually, but LISN only allows your views to be shared with friends, or groups that you belong to.)
My Search for a Circle Home
After a personal tragedy I was devastated and I found that the religious forum I had been attending for decades no longer served me. The people were nice, but I had many questions that a formal gathering of lots of people could not attend to. I needed a close small group where I could explore what was going on in my soul, in safety, without judgment.
Then I found a trustworthy circle appeared, mostly religious refugees, and others who were also looking for a safe forum to speak and be heard, also joined. We met in a different home each week, and it was a healing time for me.
When I moved I had to restart my search, and through LISN I found another small group who were prepared to sit in a circle and listen from the heart, without judgment.
With the help of LISN I found ‘Pebbles’, a LISN_circle, based on “Circles of Trust” which are the outcome of a lot of wisdom and experience from Parker J Palmer. I also found that there are other LISN_Circles that meet using video conferencing, yet still have the same caring approach. I have also joined one of these groups.
By you becoming a LISN member, and creating or joining a LISN_circle, we can all share in the benefits of a safe place to explore our inner world.
Navigation/Menu Hints
MENUS
The top menu is always available, but it may look different depending on the type of device (Phone, phablet, desktop etc) that you are using. Basically this is because LISN uses the screen area available to your advantage.
If you have the horizontal menu layout, this allows you to choose submenus by hovering over them, then click the one you want:
However if you are using a smaller device, like a mobile phone or tablet, you will see a menu bar instead, that operates when you click on the three horizontal bars:becomes:
Keep AutoLogin on?
Do you want to resume next time from this device without logging in again?
Note: If this is what you want, next time you do not have to log out!
Just close the window or tab.
If you do this, the next time you return you will go to the main page without logging in.
The benefits of becoming a LISN member include:
Inspiration
Inspiration to become aware of virtues you have and what you offer.
AND IT IS ALL WITHOUT ANY CHARGES – yes FREE to all members
NO costs to participate, NO spam, NO global emails sent to you, NO requests for credit card information, NO advertising, NO sales or promotion, NO public comments or opinion on content, NO scientific or religious dogma, NO pushing to believe, NO alignment with specific organizations, NO sharing of your email address, NO hidden or ongoing fees, NO popularity contest! We want you to enter here as a safe place without obligation or expectation. Our Terms are for your protection. Every participant benefits.
The buttons below each open an example of how LISN has been, or can be, used.
Dani's testimonial
Spiritual, not religious
‘RELIGIOUS REFUGEE’
Adam has been hurt from his experience of being suppressed in a fundamentalist religious environment. He wanted to find local friendship of people who, like him, care deeply about their souls, but do not want to be told by others how to do that.
When Adam found LISN as a guest, he was able to experiment, with the words and meaning for spirituality that worked for him individually. He found that defining his own terms and meanings was rewarding and encouraging and so he registered as a member of LISN, where he found a mapping feature. On the mapping he discovered people and groups who were at a similar season in their spiritual journey and
1 They were near where he lived (within a defined distance)
2 they had a similar outlook and background and were able to help him feel a sense of belonging.
As a result Adam is now part of a group of spiritual friends whose open conversations allow him to explore questions he always wanted to, and he is delighted with how freedom has allowed new explorations into relationship and his own sense of self-worth.
Emotional Needs
Connection and Support for the soul
Annabel has been through a stage of significant loss. A member of one of the ‘big 5’ religions, she and Joe, her husband, were staunch members of their congregation. However the death of both her mother and her daughter led her to look for a different level of connection to what she gained from her weekend religious activities. Through LISN membership Annabel found inspiration from others who have had similar losses, and who were nearby.
Some time later Annabel searched for spirit groups in her area and found to her delight that the ones which appeared offered grief support, one was government run, and one was based in a religious environment she felt comfortable with. After attending both groups she and Joe discovered that their experience had led them to pay forward the compassion they received, so they set up a group of their own and others soon joined them and were cared for by them.
Annabel still does not understand how LISN was able to filter people and groups to match her own personal needs, as she did not have to fill out a form describing what she wanted. All she did was respond to her own definitions of where she was at on the LISN website.
Family relationships
Connecting across the age gap
Steve and Karen have three kids who are teenagers. They want their children to think about more than social media but have had trouble connecting with language that unites them. After working through their own definitions using LISNlanguage, they shared their terms with their children.
The teenagers liked the interactive cellphone paths to understanding what they themselves believed – and the sharing of different viewpoints led to new communication paths between them and their parents.
As a result, Steve and Karen became more open to dialog with others, including their children’s friends. This expanded into an inter-faith dialogue after they changed their LISN definitions to reflect new preferences to be contacted by a wider range of people than their traditions would have allowed. One couple befriended through LISN are refugees recently arrived from Somalia. Other couples also became friends and Steve and Karen were encouraged to create a new group that reaches out to newcomers to their neighbourhood.
To their surprise, their own children resonated with their new found openness and joined their group. They have lots of laughter when they communicate in their own LISNlanguage of the spirit.
Lone Spirit
Longing for spiritual understanding
Ethelia is lonely, new to her new village, and with specific spiritual interests which could be called ‘mystic’. Her country does not permit views contrary to the national religion. Ethelia longs for people to explore questions and inspiration with, and finds LISN.
LISN offers Ethelia the chance to define her own spirit language, and in doing so she also discovered others in her country who are of a like heart. She is able to form friendships and starts to offer poetry to LISN from her own soul. After moderation her work is accepted and is part of LISN. Friendships blossom from this and soon she feels a freedom she wanted to chat with people across the world about her questions and experiences.
Ethelia’s poetry is safe on LISN, because no online commenting is allowed and she is able to remain anonymous. Still, people who like her work appear in the searches she does, and she likes that they have been encouraged by her art. Her spirit feels it now has connection and belonging across the world, and that she is ‘heard’
Ethelia then discovered that her contributions to LISN poetry can be ‘translated’ if she chooses, into the language of the reader, using the words and definitions that the reader has defined. She likes that idea, and gives LISN permission to publish her work in that form.
Dominated by belief
Wanting to be free to listen to inner voice
Frederick has been told what to believe his whole life. He found on LISN a place where he can define his own views without anyone else knowing what they are. He likes that.
After some months of following the inspiring learning tracks (which do not have religious teachings in them) Frederick finds the confidence to reach out to others. Whe he searches for friends he finds, to his amazement, that LISN has filtered possible friends who seem just like him, though he does not know how LISN did it, since his work on the site is confidential and not released.
Father Chris, a priest/imam/rabbi had a look at LISN and loved it. He joined LISN and then discovered he can also upload his entire cohort of parishioners as users, so that they are part of the membership of LISN, but specifically assigned to his care group.
Now his organization members can login and maintain their small groups online, while keeping informed and involved. New people from outside his groups are joining by resonating with people within his group and Father Chris is really pleased about that.
Spiritual not Religious
Forming a non-affiliated group
Catherine is one of the 25% of North Americans who categorize themselves as ‘spiritual not religious’.
She wants to expand her small group and found that LISN worked for her. After becoming a member and registering and profiling her small group, she was befriended by two local families who were searching for what she offered. All love the ability to find local resonance. Catherine loves that without cost she is able to have a group forum online for her group members.
Interested in knowing more about how spiritual people gather in today’s fast paced world? how-we-gather is a PDF that describes millennials deepening community in new ways across America.
Religious structure
saving money and improving services
Archbishop Clancy wanted some way of knowing who was in his diocese, and how they were grouped. He had recently found a number of small groups existed that he did not know about. His attempts to get people to let him know had not worked, probably because things were constantly changing and there was no online method for people to update their own connections.
Then Clancy found LISN, and by asking each congregation to upload and involve their members to update their own profiles and association with small groups he is now able to see growth in spiritual development he had not even been aware of.
Then new people started to come out of the blue from outside his religious boundaries!!
Corporate membership
Value for those organizations who want to move to membership empowerment
Beth wanted to find a spiritual director. She looked online and found lots of offerings but no indication if they would match what she was looking for. By registering and defining membership with LISN she was able to define her own spiritual expectations in a fun way, and in doing so the list of local Spiritual Directors was somehow narrowed down to those who matched her needs and style. She loved not having to research a whole lot of options and found it easy to choose one that works well with her spirit.
Every organization offering spiritual services can benefit from the LISN front end.
LISN allows organizational control to remain with the organization, yet offers a global perspective that anyone can join at the same time. How?
The key to the LISN strategic membership platform is the ability to create memberships that are private subsets of a bigger whole. We are all human, so LISN starts there. If you have no other affiliation you can still join. However if you are part of an organization such as a service provider, your membership can be accessed securely and separately. This applies to a religious structure such as Christian or Buddhist, as well as specific non-affiliated or multi-faith spiritual organizations such as Spiritual Directors International. When you log in as a member, you get the choice to decide which of the groups you belong to you wish to work with during that session. You may select a private meditation group you have joined. You may select your local congregation or temple community. You may select the organizational structure you are a service provider for (eg SDI), or you may just want to look for people from a particular religion that you are affiliated with.
In the case of a service provider, the level of membership will determine what you are entitled to see and do.
Of course all members have their own personal dashboard. However membership has multiple levels.
Here are some examples of membership levels:
A group admin for a service provider will be able to structure country, region and specific groups, upload and manage memberships.
A specific service member will be able to access all the people who are connected to them, either individually, or in an affiliated group. The service member can then contact their clients via LISNchat or post information (eg upcoming vacation times, or a pending retreat) onto the group forum which is available (optional)
From a group administrator perspective, logging into the sub-domain for the service group (E.g. sdi.linkedinspirit.net) automatically provides a private network environment for the SDI group and all its sub-groups and members.
Secure and private access to this group is provided with all the LISN search features, inspiration, profiling etc, without having to develop these specifically for that one organization.
What is even more important, however, is that because any other individuals can become members of LISN, they can register, request friendship with a service provider (e.g. a spiritual director) and filter as per Beth’s example above!
Once connected to any individual, the ability to be recommended or referred for friendship is automatic.
Guests can come onto LISN and find matching service providers without having to be limited to a specific organization. While this may sound negative, it is in fact a positive for the enquirer, and will in the long run demonstrate the service strengths of any provider.
LISN recommends that you have a good look at the upcoming developments for surveys, spiritual analysis, mapping etc. These features and benefits can be applied to the subset of data that applies to you, your service providers and all the clients that are affiliated to them!
Best of all, LISN is not for profit, and seeks to provide a service to all spiritual ventures at cost.
Recommended for you...
(These hints change, so take a hint regularly!)
Try out the LISN glossary!
An explanation of how words are used in LISN is accessible from the menu HELP/GLOSSARY INDEX
When you visit this page you will see a list of words and terms used in LISN. You can search by entering a part or whole word, or by clicking on the first letter of the word or phrase in the alphabet list:
These are mainly spirit based, or metaphysical metaphors. We have tried to make them interesting and fun!
So please, if you have not yet visited the glossary page, click on the above image, and you will be taken to that page. When there, learn more by clicking on the orange button “All about the LISN Glossary”.
LISN provides great services for anyone in order that people can find support that matches their needs, or to find & link up with other searchers to whom they can offer/receive support… Please read our guarantee…
Click the buttons to expand
LISN Guarantees
LISN is a not for profit service for spiritual seekers, which guarantees:
NO costs to participate, NO spam, NO global emails sent to you, NO requests for credit card information, NO advertising, NO sales or promotion, NO public comments or opinion on content, NO scientific or religious dogma, NO pushing to believe, NO alignment with specific organizations, NO sharing of your email address, NO hidden or ongoing fees, NO popularity contest! We want you to enter here as a safe place without obligation or expectation. Our Terms are for your protection. Every participant benefits, so please register.
LISN offers a safe place to interact with questions that are common for all humanity. LISN asks lots of questions, but does not try to give answers, state positions or try to change anyone’s beliefs.
It is a place to explore your own soul and gain an insight into all that you are.
Friendship
There may be people on your street or close by, with whom you can offer who you are, and be blessed in return, if only you knew they were there.
LISN has location mapping to befriend others nearby who have common desire to connect spiritually, in friendship.LISN also has mapping and organizational support for small groups, circles, councils. LISN can link a person to spiritual circles or groups who are local or in a vicinity of interest.
With ZOOM technology LISN offers video conferencing for small and large groups to sit together, calendars, group email invitations to friends, chat room to organize these LISN_circle events, group documents and online training.
This service is for anyone, so is not limited to a specific tradition, gender, approach, philosophy, religion or belief.
The Linked In Spirit Network (LISN) combines these services to help people connect with meaning worldwide.
Group Permissions
How visible will my group be?
When creating a group, you have the option of making your group Public, Private, or Hidden.
Public groups are visible in all group directories. The contents of the group – activity updates, forum posts, and any additional group functionality you might add through plugins – is publicly accessible. Anyone in your community can join a Public group.
Private groups are also visible in group directories. The group name and group description remain available for all to see. However, the contents of the group are accessible only to members. Moreover, group membership is controlled: members of your broader community must request membership, which can only be granted by a group administrator.
Hidden groups are invisible to non-members. These group names and descriptions are not listed in site wide search, and their contents are accessible only to members of the group. Because the group is unlisted, users cannot request membership. Instead, individuals can only join the group by invitation.
Access to members
Group Administrators have total control over the contents and settings of a group. The individual who creates the group is automatically the group’s first administrator.
As a result, each group must have at least one administrator, though the first admin can choose to appoint others.
In a public group, members are able to post to that group’s forums, as well as submit content to other parts of the group (for instance, group members can upload documents). Being a member of a group means having the group’s activity aggregated in your Activity > My Groups activity stream.
In a private group or a hidden group, members have all the same privileges as members in a public group. Additionally, being a member of a private group means that you get to see who else is a member of the group, and that you’re able to send invites to other users. (This is not the case for hidden groups)
1 By default you will be shown those groups nearby your current location, which is determined by GPS. For this default display you do not need to press SUBMIT.
2 Once you see the map, you can zoom in or out, or scroll the map by dragging on it. However only those groups in the local area will be shown, until a wider range is chosen.
3 To expand the search, click on “Within” and choose a range.
You can select Miles or Kilometers as the base. Choosing 200 shows the world map. Then press SUBMIT and you will be shown all groups in that range.
4 You can elect to find groups based on a different search location. To do this, enter an address for the centre of the search. Select a range and press SUBMIT. The map will display the new location and groups surrounding it.
5 Once groups are displayed as icons, you can click on any icon to see more about the group. Each group is also listed below and you can open the details of the group by clicking on the title. Some groups may be private so though you can see their location you may not be able to open them.
6 If you open the group, and it appeals to you, you can chat to the convenor (Group admin) by clicking on their avatar, or simply Join the group by clicking on the JOIN GROUP button:
7 Each group can have a parent group. Their hierarchy can be seen on the Groups Menu option. On this page you can see the top level groups and their Child Groups:
8 Each group will be either a LISN_circle (which cannot have child groups, a node) or one of the other group tags:
9 If a group is a LISN_circle it will have selected group type(s) which are set under group MANAGE/SETTINGS – however non LISN_circles should always be group type ‘[FOR ALL GROUPS NOT LISN CIRCLES] ‘
The content of LISN is kept in pages of information, which are categorized according to content. You can find such pages filtered by category, by selecting the LISN category from the side bar drop-down list. You can find Interactive Question Surveys (IQS) is a category.
Click here to go to the glossary and learn more.
Click this arrow button to submit your feedback!
or enter your search address for where you are.
becomes:
congregation. However the death of both her mother and her daughter led her to look for a different level of connection to what she gained from her weekend religious activities. Through LISN membership Annabel found inspiration from others who have had similar losses, and who were nearby.
Ethelia is lonely, new to her new village, and with specific spiritual interests which could be called ‘mystic’. Her country does not permit views contrary to the national religion. Ethelia longs for people to explore questions and inspiration with, and finds LISN.
anyone else knowing what they are. He likes that.
He joined LISN and then discovered he can also upload his entire cohort of parishioners as users, so that they are part of the membership of LISN, but specifically assigned to his care group.
He had recently found a number of small groups existed that he did not know about. His attempts to get people to let him know had not worked, probably because things were constantly changing and there was no online method for people to update their own connections.
She looked online and found lots of offerings but no indication if they would match what she was looking for. By registering and defining membership with LISN she was able to define her own spiritual expectations in a fun way, and in doing so the list of local Spiritual Directors was somehow narrowed down to those who matched her needs and style. She loved not having to research a whole lot of options and found it easy to choose one that works well with her spirit.
LISN also has mapping and organizational support for small groups, circles, councils. LISN can link a person to spiritual circles or groups who are local or in a vicinity of interest.
