SEVEN GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

“Spiritual writers tell us to expect certain qualities that are traditionally called “the seven gifts of the Spirit;” and if we study the special nature of these gifts we see that they are the names of linked characters or powers that work together to enhancement and clarification of the whole personality. The first pair of qualities that mark our spiritual humanity are called Godliness and Fear. By these are meant that solemn sense of direct relationship with an eternal order, that gravity and awe which we ought to feel in the presence of the mysteries of the universe; the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom.

From these grow the gifts called Knowledge, that is the power of discerning true from false values, of choosing a good path through the tangled world, and Strength, the steady central control of the diverse forces of the self: perhaps the gift most needed by our distracted generation.

We see that the first four gifts of the spirit will govern the adjustment of man to his earthly life: that they will immensely increase the value of his personality in the social order, will clarify his mind and judgment, confer nobility on his aims. The last three gifts… those called Counsel, Understanding and Wisdom… will govern his interchange with the spiritual order. By Counsel, the spiritual writers mean the inward voice, which, as the soul matures, urges us to leave the transitory and seek the eternal, not as an act of duty, but as an act of love. When that voice is obeyed, the result is a new spiritual understanding. From these gifts its possessor may truly behold life, that is, from the angle of God, not from the angle of man,” wrote Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941).

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” Jesus