Proposal - New Forum for Heavenletter discussions. Feedback please.
The comment section below Heavenletters are for comments and reflections on Heavenletters.
To clarify, the Heavenletter comment form is NOT a forum.
The forum is here: http://heavenletters.org/spiritual-community-forums.html - On a forum one can create a topic and have a conversation about the topic with the community, like I have done here.
How many times has comments steered completely away from the vibration of the Heavenletter? There have been times when I quickly close the Heavenletter page because the comments start to feel too personal and often have little to do with what was conveyed in the Heavenletter.
Of what value is it to the general reader to know that X loves Y's comment? Or how bright and brilliant Q's comment was? The comment form below the Heavenletter does not feel like a place for a support group. That's best moved to the forum.
The guidelines could do with a revisiting. New Guidelines specific to comments on Heavenletters would be ideal.
I would love to pull all the comments out and move them to the forum with a link below every Heavenletter like "Discussion on this Heavenletter".
There are also comments that are not personal and express appreciation for the Heavenletter or highlight something in the Heavenletter that stood out for the commenter. There have been comments that were deep and moving, not personal, but complimentary to the Heavenletter. These comments just slot in comfortably below the Heavenletter. They usually are reflections on the Heavenletter or a realisation that arose from reading the Heavenletter.
Any suggestions on what to do here? I suggest a guideline specific to Heavenletters and a gudeline for the forum. I also suggest some kind of feature to easily move a comment from the Heavenletter into the forum.
One Love,
Santhan
p.s The words shmaltzy and shmaltz monster kept coming to my mind, but I refrained from using it.
Feedback
So many judgments. Judgments judgments.
It has been asked why Heavenletters aren't known everywhere...
Santhan, I found your
Santhan, I found your request incidentally. To tell you the truth, I haven't known until now, what the "forum" is for and that the "comments" is not a forum. Nevertheless it is very important to me, to have the possibility, to share what Heavenletters create in my life with others and I also have a feeling of responsibility to others, that might want to share there experiences with like minded people.
One person's opinions
If I had to pick the most helpful and valuable aspect of Heavenletter’s it would be Gloria’s incredible ability to purely receive powerful spiritual messages. If I had to pick the most difficult and frustrating part of Heavenletters it would be the guidelines and how they are administered.
I feel like adding a separate set of guidelines specific to Heavenletters would only aggravate this problem and make it even tougher for those who want to comment to be able to avoid having their comments deleted or otherwise receiving negative feedback.
You ask for opinions, Santhan, so I will be quite frank and clear about my point of view. I feel like the guidelines as currently implemented are condescending. I believe Gloria is tapping into a very powerful connection with God’s words for us, and if this is so, why are we so afraid of certain heartfelt comments in response to God’s messages? Further, if those who comment use off-color words, or discuss their beliefs about any given religion, aren’t we all mature and intelligent enough to skip over anything that does not appeal to us or offends our sensibilities?
We do need guidelines and we do need them enforced, I am not arguing that “anything goes.” But even a nasty comment might fall in the category from ACIM that I believe was phrased: “Every attack is a call for help.” What better place to ask God for help than following letters where He is directly speaking to us? And what better people to respond than the kind of individuals who read and comment on Heavenletters?
If someone is just trying to market their wares, or if comments are obviously out of random meanness, deleting comments does us all a favor. If someone is just trying to push their religious views on others, other readers could let them know in comments following their bothersome comments, and if readers’ complaints are then ignored, these should be deleted also. But I think Heavenletters would be more effective in reaching a lot more people if there was less censorship.
When I read a particularly moving or a particularly helpful comment, I want to publicly show my appreciation to encourage more from that individual. The comments often add very important impact to the letters. I very much appreciate the help of other readers in interpreting and applying the wisdom of the letters. I would not want to see this discouraged in any way.
I do not want to give the impression that I do not appreciate Gloria’s devotion to her work, as well as all the hard work of everyone involved in making the letters and the forums available to all of us. You all deserve a huge round of thanks. It is just this one aspect of the whole process that I think is in need of much more discussion and perhaps even a re-orientation.
Love to all,
Chuck