About
the Founder by Kurt E. Venables
First,
welcome to the site! I launched this magazine and online
community to provide a forum where those who share my interest in spirituality
can meet and communicate with each other. If the kinds of things you find
on these pages ignite your passions or simply your curiosity, please
join us!
As we stride into the new millennium, I see a growing spiritual crisis.
Something very big is missing from our culture. I believe that this spiritual
vacuum is also taking a toll on the mental health of our society, on our
happiness. I believe that four principal spiritual maladies afflict our
culture, which I call the Four Horsemen: Close-mindedness and Misplaced
Values, Selfishness, Arrogance, and Negativity and Stress. The antipode
of these scourges is what I call the Quartet of Angels: Truth, Love, Humility,
and Optimism. (For more on the Four Horsemen and the Quartet of Angels,
see Spiritual Soup on the Home page.) I believe that the reason these
plagues are so prevalent in our culture is that while we expend enormous
resources on the generation of material wealth, we invest comparatively
little in the advancement of spirituality. I believe that we can
attain the same progress in spirituality that we have achieved in material
well being and that this endeavor is vital to our health both as individuals
and as a society.
The most essential aspect of humanity is a pure love that lies deep
within the heart. In order to find true happiness and fulfillment, a person
must open his or her heart and allow this pure love to burn bright within.
I call this love the Light or the Lord within. Opening one’s heart is
a lifelong journey. This is what I view spirituality to be, an inner journey,
a quest for the Light within and the true joy that accompanies it. In
addition, I view an appreciation for a diversity of beliefs as essential
to progress on this journey. When we view the beliefs of others with a
pure heart, we see truth shine through. In this way, each of us finds
the pieces that together form a set of personal beliefs that make sense
to us. The keys are open-mindedness, casting a wide gaze outward, and
ultimately a focus on the inward. The Light helps us to see truth; studying
a diversity of beliefs helps to guide us in reaching the Light.
Among my goals in launching this community and magazine are to promote
spirituality and bring together people of diverse beliefs- to meet each
other and learn from each other. Participating in this process enables
each of us to attain greater spiritual development on a personal
level. In addition, I believe that we are entering a New
Age of Light in which genuine collective spiritual progress will be made.
By participating in the process of spiritual learning, each of us helps
to facilitate the emergence of a greater common understanding of
spirituality- a New Age. Some may see these as lofty goals, but
small steps count as successes. And, with persistence, dreams can
become reality.
Guidelights
In keeping with the goal of providing resources for readers to explore
spirituality, I have made the full text of my book, Guidelights,
available here. My goal with the work is similar to my goal in founding
Spirituality & Community: to raise awareness of the importance of spirituality
and promote respect for a diversity of spiritual beliefs. In Guidelights,
I do not attempt to hold myself out as an expert or guru. With this work,
I attempt to help the reader find his or her own path to spirituality.
I also have attempted to keep the style readable and entertaining. I punctuate
each chapter with a light section in which I recount stories about my
life in rural Virginia.
The links below provide reviews, the first chapter
(an overview), and the full text of Guidelights.
Anyone who reads my work does me a great honor, and I appreciate
the time spent. I also appreciate any feedback on my work- questions
or comments. Please email any correspondence to me at: 
Also,
I have received inquiries about how to purchase a hard copy of the work;
if you'd like to do so, please contact me and I will forward further information.
Reviews
Overview (First Chapter)
Download Full Text of Guidelights
Biographical
Information
I live in Bedford, Virginia with my wife, Tammy, and our two children.
Southwest Virginia is beautiful country, and Bedford is a very nice place
to live. It's a good, clean, wholesome place to live and raise a family.
We really enjoy it here.
I graduated in '89 from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical
Engineering and in '94 from William and Mary, School of Law with a Juris
Doctor. While still in law school, I became very disenchanted with the
practice of law but decided to finish my degree. I'm actually a member
of the Virginia State Bar, but I've never practiced law and don't intend
to. When I graduated from law school, I went back to engineering, and
I've been enjoying that ever since. I do enjoy working in technology,
but here is where my heart truly is- in spirituality.
P.S. I also enjoy weight training, wine festivals, and hiking in the great
outdoors, although I've found that it's best not to try to do all of these
on the same day.
Contact
me!
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