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Faith and Spiritual Growth

Journey to Wholeness:  The Spiritual Fire

The Spiritual Fire
 

by Marianne Diaz

Frequently as a working mother of four, I am asked, "How do you do it? How do you keep it all together?" My response is usually three-fold, "I do it imperfectly. I have an amazingly supportive husband and I rely heavily, daily, on the grace and power of God." One of my favorite images for the presence of God within us is the divine fire. Ronald Rolheiser defines spirituality as the desires, the energy, the passion that fuel us into life. (The Holy Longing) The spiritual challenge for us remains in what we do with that fire. Do we channel it into a large bon-fire that burns but does not consume us, or do we let the fire get out of control and lead to spiritual burnout? God wants us to grow in our capacity to feel and to know love and to express that love in our daily lives. Despite what might be our mediocre attempts at loving, some power inspires us to keep trying to love God, ourselves and others in better ways day after day. This motivation comes from no one less than God's own self—the Holy Spirit—that dwells within us. Anything that we experience that supports life and enables love draws its power from the Holy Spirit.