Trial By Fire

The last two blog posts were about developing spirituality. Most people will experience these steps on their road to discovering who they really are and what they are really here for. That is if they care about those things and become aware of the big and small wake-up calls. Not all people do. In fact most do not. Many are busy just trying to get through each day and that is right where they need to be. No judgments for those who are not on this particular journey.


I wanted to talk about my experiences so far in relationship to developing my spirituality and how this has played out in my life. I was raised in a very religious, god fearing household and spent a lot of time doing religious things. I married and had two children like a good girl does and then realized that I had not looked much beyond this stage. I had always doubted myself and was extremely uncomfortable with the rules and regulations that religion had imposed on me, especially the male dominated hierarchy of things.

My “trial by fire” came when my children became teenagers and both suffered a major mental disorder. I was faced with truths, facts and ordeals that now seem to be straight out of science fiction. We all lived through what was, at the time, to be awful, heart wrenching and disastrous happenings. None of us came out the other side being the same people or embracing the ideals that we had followed going in. Nothing was the same. Everything had changed.

All of my beliefs were shaken loose and through a period of deep introspection and nearly ten years of counseling , learning and releasing I came out the other side. One important lesson I learned was that religion was not the same as spiritually. One is a system with dogma and one is total freedom to become more enlightened. What a blessing! My darkest hour was also my finest hour.

Changes That Occur When A Person Develops Spirituality - Pt 2

6. Contact with your Higher Power is directly available within your personal experience. This grows from #5 and can be cultivated to a very deep level. Feeling supported by a loving presence, noticing synchronicities, having feelings of awe while in nature, and being able to “let go” of worry are some of the miracles that flow.


7. Questions sincerely asked of your Higher Power are answered. This flows from #6 but emphasizes the fact that this new relationship is a two way street. When you pray for help with some problem you will often see something shift or improve within a short period of time.

8. What you truly ask for or intend from the deepest level of yourself-from your heart-will tend to come to you. This is the power of intention and is a spiritual law. What you intend by belief and commitment and your whole heart tends to come true. This also has ramifications on events in the world apart from you as events in the outer world will tend to align with your most deeply held intentions.

9. Love is stronger than fear. Pure unconditional love comes from your Higher Power. Fear comes from separation from ourselves, others and our God. Love is the foundation of the entire universe. One does not have love or not have love. Love just is.

Anxiety may be related to specific fears of abandonment, rejection and humiliation, loss of control, confinement, injury, or death. But these are all about a separation from first our inner selves and then from God.

10. Death is not an end but a transition. Death is an illusion. The body dies but the spirit or soul does not according to most world religions. Ongoing research with near death experiences and past life regressions seems to support this idea as well. Since the fear of ceasing to exist is probably the deepest one every human has, it is most reassuring to understand that this belief is false. For me, it helped me be more courageous in my actions and take a longer view of what my life represented. The greatest thing to come out of this knowledge for me was that I no longer fear death and therefore can really live my life with direction and purpose.