August 2, 2023

Many types of information may be gathered from a road test such as how the vehicle’s electrical system, engine and tires perform.

The spiritual life often gives us road tests. We may not schedule them, but they happen and they tell us how we are doing.

July 31, 2023

The mental processes of others are important to know. For example, I saw a snake on the back porch when taking out the garbage one night last week. I am not in love with snakes, but I am not terrified of them. But Lark is horrified at even a picture of one. I knew that if I stayed on the porch too long, she would come out and see where I was. Then she would see the snake and have a heart attack. It was a giant reptile wrapped several times around a column like a candy stripe.

July 28, 2023

A saying is going around: "What others think of you is none of your business.”

It's attributed to several people, but regardless of who said it first, we've all wondered what someone else thinks of us. 

Many of us are insatiably curious about how we come off to others; we wonder if we are esteemed or disrespected. We wish we knew if we were seen as credible or not. We want to know our importance and whether our opinions matter to others. But we definitely would NOT like them to know our private thoughts about them. 

July 26, 2023

Many people label others according to how they act. But on the Enneagram of Personality, we can’t go by someone’s actions in determining their type. Outward actions and rhetoric may be consistent with a specific type but we do not know the person’s underlying intentions and motivation is the key to finding our type.

Knowing the motivations behind people’s actions is the only way to determine their type.

July 24, 2023

We recently finished a Daily Reflections series on “Knowing Ourselves.” As we have explored, self-knowledge is essential for those on the spiritual journey. The Greek philosopher Socrates said, “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” Shakespeare took that idea a step further in his play Hamlet when the character Polonius said,

“This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man...”

July 21, 2023

Our eighth piece of the “Pie of Self-Knowing" is discernment through self-mindfulness. Being in tune with the divine flow includes our sensing the variables that change us. We can change from moment to moment because of incidental intrusions, but we can also shift in big ways.

July 19, 2023

The Self-Knowing Pie

Another slice of the pie of Self-Knowing is readiness for change. Many things change when we penetrate our ego and enter our most authentic nature. On this journey, we are not as enchanted with the ego ... its fears, attributes, deficiencies and desires because we discovered that our soul’s enjoyment, wonders, struggles, curiosities and ecstasies are far more meaningful and impactful.

July 17, 2023

Step Seven, Number 8:

It's easy to sit on our qualities instead of applying them to bring about higher consciousness. But in knowing our divine attributes, we tap into the Sacred Power that created these qualities. When we access the divine within, we have a direct link to the Higher Power. When we accept our divinity and connect to it, we are more powerful than ever and can use our true selves to relieve suffering and help bring the world into higher consciousness.

July 14, 2023

We realize other "persons" are inside us because we hear such voices as our egos, super-egos and primitive selves, to mention a few. But much of our self-talk is self-centered, punitive or shameful. So we won't delve further into these sides of ourselves for fear of what we find, such as mean streaks, deficiencies, moral failures, dark desires, guilt and much more. We may be afraid of disrupting our self-concept if we know the real person behind our persona.

July 12, 2023

All of us have set personality characteristics and inherent soul qualities. Yet there are many different sides to ourselves, some of which come and go, and some that surprise or even shock us when we realize them. When it comes to others, we may find it as difficult to accept their different sides as we do our own.

July 10, 2023

In Mobile, Alabama, in the 1950s, Mardi Gras parading societies were comprised of Mobile’s prominent families. Every Mardi Gras season, The Mobile Press-Register had a big spread in their society pages with fancy color pictures of the Mardi Gras Queen, King and all of the court including ladies in waiting, knights and pages. But of course, there were no black people in those. There were African American parading societies in Mobile whose Queen, King and courts were pictured in another edition of the newspaper, but their pictures were black and white, not in color and not in the society section. What was the message there?

July 7, 2023

We come into the world as different types of souls. Though there are nine major types of souls, each soul within its kind contains a unique mix of divine qualities. Therefore, there are billions of unique souls. For example, a Two Soul Type (all of whom are Ego Type Eights) is under the broad category of Sacred Compassionate Benevolence. However, each soul under that broad category has a distinctive expression of Compassionate Benevolence. This is true for all souls under each of the nine soul types.

July 5, 2023

When was the happiest and most fulfilling time you have ever spent? As soon as you think about it, beautiful feelings are likely to flood you again. You see, hear, smell and taste that memorable time. It could have been only an hour, a day, a month or a complete season of your life. Yet it was golden.

July 3, 2023

In spiritual reflection, we sit in stillness, turn things over in our minds and ponder them in our hearts. Then particular things come to mind. Some of these things come to mind because our soul is unsettled about them. So our soul contemplates the situation in search of a place of peace.

A place of peace is not necessarily being in a state of having reached a definitive answer. Instead, it is a settled attitude concerning a situation that had disturbed us. For example…

June 30, 2023

Reflection is a time for looking at something or looking back at something and thinking about it. We may reflect on anything - a person, event, work of art, an occurrence, book, lecture, concert, play, sports event, historical event, a fantasy, a physical sensation, an encounter, concept, an emotional reaction, a movie or anything we humans can experience. We reflect upon the subject because of the positive feelings it evokes or the negative feelings it brings. Sometimes we reflect because we are curious about the experience and want to think more about it.

June 28, 2023

Fun is a form of play. We must play because, like love, play is a part of the human experience. Animals, even reptiles, play and of course, children play. Every adult was once a child who played. As children, we discover our bodies, mental capacities and emotions. It was fun to find out about ourselves because exploring any new territory is fun. Our very nature includes the inherent need for play and fun.

June 28, 2023

For the soul, true immortality is not achieved by building monuments or by over-idealizing the lost person. The soul does not even seek to attain immortality because the soul IS already an immortal spirit. From its depths, the soul knows the lost one is alive in the spiritual realm. Therefore, the soul spiritually communes with the lost one and holds them in their heart. But these consolations do not do away with the soul's grief.

The soul is in a body and lives in two realms: earth and heaven. So, it weeps in the agony of grief. But the soul doesn't weep for the same reasons as does the unhealthy ego.

June 26, 2023

In the Spirituality of the Enneagram, our quest is to return to our soul and eventually reunite with the Divine Source. But the soul has many challenges along the way, the most difficult of which is loss and grief. The ego has its way of dealing with grief as well.

We resolve our hunger when we finally get what we long for: food. But we resolve grief very differently.