"Because of the lack of connection with a particular tradition, Spiritual Eclectics often find themselves without spiritual community. This is a painful situation for many Eclectics, who can't understand why it is so hard to find other like-minded folks with whom to meet. Spiritual guides can help their Eclectic clients by pointing out that there is no such thing as a perfect-fit community. It is a hard truth but can be liberating for Eclectics to hear it: if you are looking for a community that is a perfect fit, where everyone believes exactly as you do, you will have a very lonely spiritual journey.
"Instead, spiritual guides can help guide Eclectics to find a 'good enough' community. This will be a community that does not believe exactly what your client believes but will not be so far askew as to compromise his or her sense of integrity. It will be a community filled with flawed, sometimes hurtful human beings (because those are the only kind there are).
"Spiritual Eclectics can often find community in movements such as New Thought churches (Unity, Church of Religious Science), which tend to be metaphysically oriented and nondogmatic. Eclectics may also find a home in liberal congregations of specific traditions — liberal Christian denominations (such as the United Church of Christ), Jewish denominations (such as the Reform, Reconstructionist, or Renewal communities), Zen centers, Sufi groups, and many others provide welcoming homes to many Spiritual Eclectics.
"Spiritual guides can help Eclectics discern the reliability of spiritual sources of wisdom, since an 'all-comers' approach to spiritual wisdom leads to sources of wildly varying quality. Are channeled teachings from a guy from Oregon really on par with the centuries-old, tried-and-proven insights of the Upanishads? There is a dangerous gullibility factor among many Spiritual Eclectics, and professional spiritual guides can remind clients that a critical approach to all spiritual sources is valuable and necessary.
"Finally, Spiritual Eclectics have an Achilles' heel that any spiritual guide encounters before long: a spiritual perfectionism, born of the idealism so rampant among Baby Boomers. Eclectic clients often have an idea in their imaginations of how the spiritual life should look, and they become anxious, depressed, and discouraged when their own spiritual lives don't measure up to this ideal.
"Spiritual guides can help clients by reminding them that 'perfection' actually exists nowhere in the created universe, except in the human imagination. It is a fictional notion that we have used chiefly as a stick to beat ourselves up ever since Plato extolled it to the ancient Greeks. Spiritual guides will serve their Eclectic clients well by helping them stay grounded in the here and now of everyday life, reminding them that spirituality is not 'out there' somewhere, but right here in the messy flesh and bone.
"Spiritual Eclecticism is a spectacular spiritual phenomenon showing no signs of slowing down. Since Spiritual Eclectics often do not have spiritual communities in the traditional sense, professional spiritual guides can offer an invaluable service, as they can provide them with assistance that traditionally has come through community, such as spiritual mentorship, guidance, and accountability. Spiritual Eclectics make charming and exciting clients, and as long as the spiritual guide can keep up with their roaming, journeying with them will often mean covering a large swath of spiritual geography. For those who enjoy travel, this is a blessing indeed."
