{"id":978,"date":"2011-06-06T11:45:21","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T11:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projectconversion.com\/?p=978"},"modified":"2011-06-06T11:45:21","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T11:45:21","slug":"project-conversion-redux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/projectconversion\/2011\/06\/project-conversion-redux.html","title":{"rendered":"Project Conversion: Redux"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, Congregation.<\/p>\n

The last few weeks have been interesting, haven’t they? In fact, I think the project is getting better. We have become wiser, more candid, and shared more than ever before. That means something\u00a0phenomenal\u00a0is happening…<\/p>\n

Trust.<\/p>\n

Whenever I make a post–especially revealing ones–I now anticipate comments to follow. The amazing part is that out of the many visits this site has each day, I recognize many\u00a0commenters by name. I see you on chat. Some of you have even made friends with one another. Halfway into Project Conversion, I’m no longer sharing a personal journey with passive lurkers…we are building a community.<\/p>\n

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We are the Project Conversion Congregation<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Not once have I rejected a comment to one of my posts. Our Facebook Group<\/span><\/a> is one of the most dynamic I’ve seen. Something else that blows my mind is how quickly we are growing. You are spreading the word and bringing folks to “church.” But we don’t preach here, do we? We are explorers of peace and spirituality. This says nothing about me, by the way. What it says is that I belong to the greatest world (yes, we have folks from all over the freaking globe here) community out there. What it says is that no matter what I write, no matter what I’m (or my family) going through, I can expect our Congregation to respond with candid, mature, and consoling comments and suggestions.<\/p>\n

We understand that I’m no enlightened being here to give you some divine message. I’m not perfect, but I do have a mission. Like you, I’m a fighter and explorer. We all come to this site for different reasons, but we’re in this together. There are many people out there expecting and even craving Armageddon. I believe that so long as there is religious strife, misunderstanding, and animosity that we are personally setting the stage for war. Each negative thought, every maligned word, every harmful action is a bullet manufactured for slaughter. My mission–our mission–is to snuff out the fires of hatred. That’s our mission. And every time we meet here, we’re mission planning, talking strategy…<\/p>\n

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This is my spiritual boot camp.<\/p>\n

Now that I’ve pumped your butts full of sunshine this Monday morning, let’s get down to business…<\/p>\n

In an earlier post this month, I asked you to do a few things. One was to design a tattoo for me–or at least to get a more artistic friend to do it. We’re working on that, right? The other was recommendations for the site. Again, this is your<\/em> Congregation. Think of the site as your semi-sacred meeting place. I want it to be as comfortable and\u00a0accommodating\u00a0as possible. Taking your suggestions into account, here are some of the changes I’ve either made or am working on for our temple of awesome:<\/p>\n