The New America Papers Summary:
An awakened future on our horizon
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Discernment with Compassion
Compassion arises from awareness of our interconnectedness with one another, our natural environment, and the cosmos. This interconnectedness is felt with our heart, mind, spirit, and body. This commonality is something much greater than our perceived differences and informs us that, ultimately, we have no one to blame, not even ourselves. As such, we can choose wisdom over ignorance, greatness over smallness. We simply need to allow this for ourselves. At this point, a new freedom is available to make choices -- a new discernment -- one that encourages the emergence of our greater being. To act from this awareness is our next step, one that deliberately looks for and encourages the emergence of our deepest aspirations and then expresses it in practical terms for the highest good of all concerned.
Discernment with compassion can help us create new ways of living and allow us to love ourselves enough to learn to see our various crises as the birth pains of something new. It is thus that humanity can eventually reconcile and heal its differences and problems, real or perceived. This approach is very different from putting too much energy into fighting everything that is perceived to be wrong -- something we are wont to do when acting out of a self-righteous and judgmental position.
Discernment with compassion is essential to creating new ways of living that meet the needs of the individual as well as those of humanity and the planet. To serve our transition into a more positive future as a species, we need to modify what we can of existing systems while focusing on new social, economic, and political constructs and methods.
Spirituality is a subject many people shy away from discussing. It is both a pervasive, cosmic concept that many recognize at some level in their lives and, at the same time, it is an intimately personal subject closely held and cherished, to be shared with but a few, if at all. Yet, the IOOW-2000 study demonstrates that vast numbers of people have a longing for a world that can embrace all within a greater unity of being. Many are now beginning to experience a "spiritual" awareness that goes beyond any organized religion or individual belief. 
