Abiding in faith one lives life from one’s true nature. This means worldly success and happiness is not defined in the same way as it is for others.

If one is spiritual one lives life by different rules determined by spiritual principles. And in doing so is living as soul in the world.

Identification and communion with Spirit is the focus of soul’s life in the world.

This special relationship with Spirit requires the regular practice of surrendering one’s will to God/Spirit.

Soul honors this relationship with God and respects that God’s will determines its good fortune. This entails letting go of blessings by returning them to God.

Soul remains strong in the world by resisting spiritual materialism.

 However, if one becomes attached to what one receives one’s spirit will be diminished.

Not relinquishing gifts and triumphs bestowed upon one, darkness confuses and controls, and soul feels it is only of this world.

 Soul will mistakenly believe it is so powerful that it alone can create and/or obtain whatever it wants.

Acting independently soul leaves behind an unnecessary God.

Strong willed soul believes it alone knows what form its own destiny should take and will lust after more personal success.

With this attitude, wayward soul acts from a divinely insatiable and ethically corrupt desire for more.

Attached to its personal wants again, soul will separate from God, and a subtle insecurity will begin to arise within soul.

Feeling less spiritual one feels more challenged by life’s adversities. Soul subconsciously believes God is failing it.

As feelings of loss of its Beloved increase, soul will feel alone and powerless in the world. Thoughts and feelings will become negative and sadness will turn to despair.

Having forgotten its true identity, soul feels dead and paralyzed. The heavy darkness does not lift.

Pain will overwhelm motivation to engage in spiritual practice to restore one’s spirituality. Soul is at risk of spending a lifetime in this grief and self-pity.

One feels one has failed and one’s spirituality destroyed. All love and joy have been lost.

Soul will attempt to return Home but its intellect and willpower will prove insufficient to change its condition. Devotion is practically nonexistent and one will feel like giving up.

Feeling it is facing death, soul must now choose between the mundane and the sacred as if for the first time.

 Only returning to right formal practice, without reflection or argument will restore one spiritually. Unselfconsciously entrusting one’s life to God is the only solution.

Soul again submits to Spirit’s principles and rules, sacrificing will and personal power to restore harmony between oneself and Spirit.

 Through soul’s effort God will once again recognize It’s nature in soul and enable soul to live in communion with its Beloved.

Transpersonal feelings of unconditional love, peace, and joy slowly return. Aligned with the purpose and plan of the cosmos one begins to feel whole again.

One’s original identity is restored. The spiritual person understands his/her true nature as spirit. And living as soul, follows Spirit’s ways and receives blessings.

One’s mind is Spirit’s Mind. And the less there is of one’s individual self, the more there is of the liberated soul.

 Now more truly knowing God’s magnificence, soul appreciates its rightful place in a world of love and abundance.

Grains of wisdom are granted through spiritual pitfalls endured and overcome.