Realizing that all of this that I have just said is true, still, if we are anywhere near being a realist and pragmatists, while at one and the same time the dedicated and inveterate seekers of spiritual truth that so many of us claim to be, we will learn to demand certain things of any spiritual teaching or tradition that we might come to embrace or choose to follow: namely,...proof and validation of its spiritual efficacy, of its value as a spiritual weapon in overcoming physical circumstance. As we wend our way through the underbrush of the daily fray and fracas that we all know life often is, we must not allow ourselves to become lost or mis-directed by unfounded, ill-conceived, airy-fairy, soft-served spirituality, a spirituality that so often melts before you can even begin to get any real flavor and applicable meaning out of it. Most people, and most religions, merely lick at the edges of real spiritual living and power, rather than dealing with, or actually showing you a method whereby you can meet life, head-on in a way that will firmly establish in the mind the absolute truth and inviolability of spiritual truth and law when that truth and law comes into direct conflict with the illusory appearances projected by the world of space and time. The lesson should be simple: "spiritual law always prevails over physical circumstances and physical laws, that is, of course, when it is properly understood, accessed, and applied, as Jesus demonstrated in the New Testament. "

Unbeknownst to most Christians (and those of other faiths, as well), who seem perfectly content to keep bumping into, as well as succumbing to, every volley of missiles, stones, and arrows that life can throw at them, while still they go devoutly on " marching as if to war,"as faithful as ever to an otherwise "empty tomb" teaching, never once suspecting (at least for the most part) that they have not been properly taught according to the real truth that is to be found, waiting like a mountain of spiritual gold, in the New Testament. Most Christians would never suspect, for so much as a moment, that their religion has more spiritual holes in it than a rusty water-pipe, and as far as being a conduit of true spirituality, there is as much rust flowing through their teaching as their is spirituality. It is only in relatively recent times, and with the advent of such popular movies and books as the DaVinci Code, and many others like it, that some Christians have become embolden enough to even challenge the orthodoxy of official Christendom. However, some have begun, indeed, to see mainstream Christianity for what it unfortunately has become over the last two millennia of human exploitation: a hodgepodge mixture of two-thousand years of erroneous teachings based upon doubtful discernment at best, and outright human manipulation at worst, by certainly mistaken, but well-meaning (and sometimes, not so well-meaning), clergy who know little or nothing about true spiritual power, well less how to access and use it. If you should doubt what I am saying here, then just look around at the plethora of evidence so obviously displayed in so many mis-directed, misguided lives of so many otherwise "fine" and "outstanding" Christians. You will find an abundance of ineffectual lives, as well as depravity and unhappiness, in one way or another, along with untold mountains of suffering and pain throughout most of Christendom. Most of these people never once suspect that the first gift given, and true evidenced seen, of true spirituality is that of a gleeful, joyous, almost uncontainable happiness. If you are not now experiencing any of this, then rest assured, your spiritual work and journey is far from over. You have more to learn,... more work to do.

True spirituality, as well as true Christianity, is all about learning how to "overcome the world" of human circumstance, physical events, and challenging dilemmas. Unfortunately, I have found that the great majority of Christians know a great deal about liturgies, dogmas, rituals, catechisms, and what I have come to call (for lack of anything more accurate), the "mythology" of man-made Christianity, and very little about the marvelous truth concerning spiritual power and how to apply it to everyday events and circumstances just as it is, and was, correctly presented and taught in the New Testament by Jesus and his immediate followers.

Keeping in line with this realistic and practical approach to spirituality, it behooves those of us who are serious about our spiritual pursuit and path, to set up for ourselves periodical weigh-stations and check points, whereby we can make sure of the truth and workability, in a very practical, hands-on way, of all of the spiritual principles and methods that we are being taught and/or are accepting, otherwise at face value. We should make absolutely certain that they deliver all that they suggest or promise, that they really produce results in our lives, results that we can see, and touch, and "Yes!" sometimes even "spend."

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