The essence of the spiritual life is the vitality contained within the interface of heart and soul, mediated by the Spirit. This vitality continually informs our decisions, and gives direction to our lives. Without it we are bound to the edict of our genes, and this will leave us stranded in the wasteland of our unenhanced desires, and we will be sad, frustrated, and in conflict with those around us. The key to this life is that it will develop the soul, and this will serve us well both here and hereafter. It is the pathway to successful living, for our expectations will be healthy ones, determined not by the whims of others but by the wisdom of dimensions beyond ourselves, craving our fidelity. It is the symbiosis of here and hereafter, charming every moment with mysteries being brought to fruition, and the result for ourselves is a meaningful life. It is a difficult life, for we are being continually being pushed and prodded this way and that by forces less attuned to the Spirit, but we will always find our way back to the center if we remember to surrender the heart. Once we have found this life, everything else becomes a step backwards, for this is the only place where we can live in the uncompromised integrity of Self. Temptations abound to take the easier way, but then we would be squandering our potential for fulfillment.
Once we have found clarity of purpose and direction, there is a deep sense of freedom that comes with the realization of that purpose. For we know that we cannot be substantively challenged, and because of the spiritual clarity we know that we are not destructively impeding anyone. The best thing we can do for ourselves, for anyone and everyone, is to establish and maintain spiritual right relation. This is the essence of our giving, and it feeds everything including ourselves. Not that we won’t be resisted, for there are people not spiritually minded who would rather we conform to their outlooks, but where is the freedom in that? The United States remains the beacon of freedom throughout the world, but a closer inspection reveals that what we really have is the freedom to be free, in that we are not hindered from pursuing spiritual objectives. This cannot be said of many places throughout the world. Because of this, surely the United States has found favor with the governing mechanisms which steer the Cosmos, and we might offer this here as self-evident. Freedom can be abused in the exercise of self-will, but toward legitimate spiritual objectives it will never be abused, but rather it will be ceaselessly honored.
Even tyrannical governments cannot take away our spiritual liberty, but they can kill us for exercising that liberty. This will always result in a stunted culture, where the artificial is deified and phoniness is rewarded. One particularly notable government which announces itself as officially atheist, will find this position unenforceable, and even its top people cannot be trusted to commit to this idea. Often, people who think of themselves as atheist are really rejecting the mainline version of faith, and they have not been motivated to seek alternative versions which may circumvent their objections to the mainline faith. Sometimes, people are merely seeking to avoid accountability, for if there is no God then they are accountable mainly to themselves, but this is a dangerous path. Nevertheless, there are people who profess no spiritual affiliations yet seem to make healthy and productive decisions, as if the heart were surrendered without them really knowing it. Conversely, there are admittedly religious people who ring a little bit false in practically everything that they do, for their faith is bolstered by self-will, but then this is possibly what they have been taught. Then there are church people who are so imbued with the Spirit that they seem like angels, so complete is the surrender of their hearts.
Excerpt from Chapter 7 of Return of the Mourning Dove, pp. 39-40.