Quartets: Balanced, Spontaneous Small H.O.P.E. Groups

I dedicate this blog post to the three who came together with me in the first “Quartet”: Elaine M, Berry M, and Jacob W, whose idea it was to think of the value of meetings in fours – a “Quartet”. We had come together to share our spiritual outlook(s) on life. We agreed that Quartets are loving, nurturing, kind, and creative… They are Balanced, Spontaneous Small H.O.P.E. Groups.
Those of you who know me and the way I have experienced life… not as something that I went out and looked for, but something that came with assignments for me. This simple principle is common to spiritual practices. My life has been a directed life since as far back as I can remember. Twice within the last few months I was one of four people to come together to explore our creative nature rich in these values: loving kindness, care, compassion, creativity, meaning, value, and purpose. These two occasions had no one in common except me.
The first meeting came about as two old friends – women I have known for years – and I started to talk about coming together for a noon meal in their city, Portland. As this dialogue began, I received a call from an old friend – a man I had not seen for a couple of years – asking me if we could get together for a noon meal at a good family restaurant about halfway between the two cities where we live. I mentioned the meeting I was going to have with these two women, and he wondered if it would be possible for him to join us. I told him I would ask my friends if he would be welcome. They were pleased to have him join us… they had their own experience of him and his ministerial career.
We had a richly creative and comfortable lunch together in Portland. At the end of our meal together he commented on the fact that we were a “Quartet”, the dynamic of which he considered to be balanced and pleasantly creative. We committed to having another such time together in the future… no specific day set.
Shortly after that fine meeting, three people appeared in my life, none of whom knew me or each other. They were called together by the organization I started in my surgical practice in 1987, H.O.P.E, through the website, hopehealing.org . They announced their presence and their curiosity all within a few days of each other. What we had in common, moreover, was a powerful interest in helping human beings develop beyond our old limited and selfishly egocentric thinking. After experiencing a series of dialogues between us as individuals we decided to come together in a longer dialogue comprising all four of us using the communication vehicle, ZOOM, which made it possible for the four of us to meet: a creative businessman from New Jersey, an “evolved” businessman from Montréal, and a social worker in the school system of a suburb of Melbourne, Australia! We were curious about how it was that we all came together within a period of less than one week without any prior introductions. It became clear that through our differences we were to work with each other to improve the quality of our individual callings.
As we were planning this meeting, I was reminded of the Quartet that had met for lunch in Portland, and, to me, this was another “Quartet”. Both of these Quartets had concerns for humanity, and I could see how the concept of “Quartet” could spread… and extremely rapidly! We talked about this rapid spread would happen if the four members of one Quartet each called together another Quartet to explore our human potential, thus bringing twelve new people into working together as Quartets. Each one of those could convene Quartets to explore a major shift in consciousness, becoming geometrically expanding to create a new civilization… one based on benefit – compassion, creativity, kindness, service, peace, love, etc.
Consider that the civilization that began with the Renaissance and reached its peak with the Industrial Revolution is now dying… as all civilizations die. Consider that the forces which created the past civilizations were ones that focused on ego–driven survival. Consider that what I am talking about is a natural component of evolution: spirit–driven thriving. Consider that the Mother Earth on which we live, and from which we derived our physical bodies is not an accident, but the product of a field of consciousness that comprises and involves the entire universe… just as the field of matter comprises and involves the entire universe….
Consider that the power figures of the old civilization are highly creative human beings who thrive on control by creating fear, shame, blame, and guilt throughout humanity. Consider that their leaders live in secret… a cabal who have profited greatly from war and consumption of natural resources. Consider the effect of an expanding field of consciousness comprised of countless millions of Quartets and the consciousness that convened them. Considered that this phenomenon has, like all other natural phenomena, a tipping point. Consider that the work of the Quartets is not any form of warfare and consumption… the creativity of the cabal would then be welcome in the creation of a completely new civilization.
Consider your potential to contribute to the new civilization… convene a Quartet.