NEW AGE MOVEMENT: THE INTENDERS OF THE HIGHEST GOOD

Dear MAx,

I am concerned about my granddaughter and her husband because they seem to have gotten mixed up with a group called the Intenders. Since becoming involved with this group they just aren’t themselves. Our family have always been devout church goers. Is this one of those new age churches that will change their Christian thinking?

Ellie

Dear Ellie,

For many this concept of “new age” thinking can be confusing and, at times, scary for traditional thinkers. Let me try, in this short space, to explain both new age thinking, and what Intenders are.

According to the Online Wikipedia the definition of this New Age Movement is “a decentralized Western social and spiritual movement that seeks “Universal Truth” and the attainment of the highest individual human potential.”

One of the key characteristics of New Age spirituality is that each individual defines their approach to spiritual practices and philosophies by identifying, living, and practicing their core beliefs. Some New Age thinkers are religious and spiritual; others are religious but not spiritual; and, yet others are not religious at all, but very spiritual.

The New Age Movement can be found in American history as early as the 19^th century filtering into the early 20^th century. The most significant changes occurred in the 20^th century--the distinct New Age lifestyle began to emerge. It continued to grow slowly, then gained real momentum in the 1980’s, strengthened even more in 1987, and continues to grow rapidly to this day.

Two events of this period of time may have influenced the New Age Movement to have it be as strong as it is here in 2009. One was a book written in 1971 by Tony Shearer called “Lord of the Dawn” that predicted the Harmonic Convergence. This book turned attention to the works of Jose Arguelles, an esteemed scholar, artist, and author of “The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology”. These two books may be responsible for all the attention being given to “the coming of 2012”. 

“2012” is a year that is significant to several different calendars and carries a warning through scriptures, prophecies, legends, and numerologists, of drastic changes around the world. Traditional thinkers interpret these changes as apocalyptic, while New Age thinker’s interpretation is that “the planet and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation.” Of course, the scientific community rejects both of these thoughts.

The second event that influenced the growth of the New Age Movement was the actual astrological event known as the “Harmonic Convergence”.  “Harmonic Convergence” is a “new age astrological” term used to describe a planetary alignment with the Sun, Moon, and six planets between August 16 and 17, 1987. This convergence was believed to have shifted the earth’s energy changing global thinking from warlike to peaceful; from conflict to cooperation.

Remember, this is very brief, very summarized, history of New Age Thinking. It is important to understand the basis of New Age Thinking to understand the Intenders Movement.

As we entered the 21^st Century a group of four good friends living in Hawaii, supporting each other to create better lives, started “The Intenders of the Highest Good”. It worked so well for them that, led by Tony Burroughs, they started to reach out to inspire and guide people to realize their lifelong dreams by merely setting intentions.

The most important piece of The Intender’s philosophy is that the intention is to be said out loud daily, and, “State that, in order for your intentions to manifest, they must serve the highest and Best Good of the Universe, yourself, and everyone concerned.” This philosophy is tied into the New Age Thinking of peace and cooperation.

Ellie, if we had time to explore the New Age Thinking even further, we would probably discover that the core beliefs are the same as you were taught as a child, that you in turn taught your child, and they theirs. You were probably taught from a book called “The Bible”.  The traditional words from that book are: “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself..” Leviticus 19:17-19; and, “..liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.” Samuel 25:6.

Whether praying for peace and cooperation around the world with Traditional truth, or speaking New Age truth, the INTENTIONS are the same. Ellie, I think your granddaughter and her husband continue to share your 20^th century core values with 21^st century thinking. It’s all good.

Be well on your journey.

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