The Good Life Part 4

November 18, 2024

The Good Life Part 4

What are the qualities of spirit that make a good life? The Apostle Paul gave a wonderful list of such qualities in his letter to Galatians Chapter 5, verses 22-23. Paul’s nine fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I see a correspondence between the nine fruits of the spirit and the nine divine qualities in the Enneagram of Soul. But as I re-read the fruits of the spirit, I realized an amazing thing: Each fruit is grown in its purest form by an ego type who goes from their unhealthy ego to their soul child. Therefore, all of us have the opportunity to bear these nine fruits. There is an Enneagram of Fruits of the Spirit, and we all travel through that Enneagram while bearing each fruit on the tree of our lives.

I have correlated each of the nine fruits of the spirit with the nine ego types:

Point One: Patience. More than any ego type, Type One tends to lose patience with others (and themselves) when things go wrong or aren’t right. Patience increases when we’re relieved from expecting that everything is right. When Type Ones go to their soul child at Point Seven, they are naturally infused with Joy. Joy and optimism reframe perfection as “Holy Perfection,” One’s Holy Idea. Holy Perfection is wholeness, not lawlessness. At Point Seven, Joy allows us to see people as works in progress rather than as faulty, wrong, and in need of correction. As a quality of Type One’s essence, Joy displaces resentment and impatience; it gives space for ambiguity, serendipity, mistakes, and forgiveness. We all lose patience, but optimism, hope, and Joy restore it. This is when patience is most beautiful!

Point Two: Kindness. The overriding emotion of an unhealthy Type Two is “pride in being such a kind person.” Such is not true altruistic giving. But Twos can be authentically kind by going to their soul child at Point Four. Their Holy Idea is Holy Will and Holy Freedom which means aligning their will with Divine Will. Instead of clinging to their personal will to meet everyone’s needs and to have the control and status that role commands, they relinquish to God’s will. At Point Four, they claim their own needs honestly. When we know our needs and ensure we meet them, our kindnesses are pure and completely free of manipulation (Holy Freedom). At Point Four, Twos find that they ARE kindness, which is a higher form of kindness than being kind only to be thought of as kind. Whenever we lack genuine kindness, we can embody it when we realize our inborn and authentically kind nature.

Point Three: Goodness. The unhealthy Type Three yearns to be loved, desired, and approved of through their accomplishments. They say, “I am successful, so I am good, and because I am good, you can now love me.” This is a distorted sense of goodness. Undistorted goodness is being respected for the person they are, not for what they accomplish successfully. When the unhealthy Three goes to their soul child at Point Six, they embrace their Holy Idea of Holy Harmony, Holy Law, and Holy Hope. These return the Three to their essence of family, community, integrity, and interconnectedness. They then accomplish for the benefit of all, not just for their image, for praise, and to earn the love of others When we lack true goodness, we re-connect to it by being part of the community — where pure goodness springs from harmony, the underlying laws supporting the universe, and the hope that they give.

The next two Daily Reflections will reflect the other six fruits of the spirit.

Point Four: Joy, — Point Five: Peace, — Point Six: Faithfulness, — Point Seven: Self-control, Point Eight: Gentleness, — Point Nine: Love.

Spiritual practice: Read the nine fruits of the spirit. Contemplate how each one may be expressed in you. If you are unsure, ask someone you trust. And in exchange, tell them how you experience each of the fruits in them.

Self-inquiry: What are my favorite fruits of the spirit, and why?

Dear God,

I pray to bear your fruits. Please flower me with consciousness so that I can genuinely accomplish my spiritual purpose. Amen