9) The capacity for trust
The capacity for trust is based on the understanding that we live within a sacred reality and that God, by whatever name God is called, is at the center. There is no aspect of life that is not part of this sacred reality and so there is no part of life that cannot be trusted. Without the fear of death operating in the background, decisions can be made based on trust, and many possible paths of exploration can be tried without fear being a necessary component. The capacity for trust allows each one to develop the quality of flexibility rather than rigidity, of creativity in relation to the future rather than needing to repeat the past, and of a willingness to try new solutions to problems that face the whole, rather than needing to remain attached to any particular position or outcome.

    Trust can only occur where God's presence is held to be the center of one's inner reality and where that presence is experienced as benevolent and loving in its many forms of creative expression. There can be no trust where the self does not acknowledge a fundamental order to the universe but rather holds to the view that things occur randomly, and there can be no trust where the fabric of life is not perceived to be fundamentally benevolent at its core. Trust can only occur when the self comes to realize that life is held together by an intentionality that is God and is within God, and that Divine perfection operates in ways that are invisible to the physical eyes but that are visible to the heart and soul. The basic premise that allows the full flowering of trust is the realization that God is love, and that out of this love comes the desire and intention to bring all of Creation forward into the full experience of sacred reality and the consciousness of the Divine.

Emotional factors limiting the experience of trust:

• The unwillingness to surrender control in life based on fear of letting go
• The unwillingness to tolerate uncertainty and to live in a state of unknowing
• Difficulty allowing others to be as real as oneself, creating a narrowed vision of life in which trust cannot enter
• The desire to hold oneself at the center of life rather than holding God at the center

Resolution within the experience of beauty:
    To see life through the eyes of the soul is to experience its beauty and wonder, and to appreciate the love and holiness that created all that is. For some, this perception is heightened in aspects of nature. For others, it is heightened in the context of relationship where the soul of another can be perceived in all its beauty, mystery, and wonder. The perception of beauty that touches the soul creates an experience of gratitude and an opening of the heart that lets the self know that something has been given that could not have been attained by oneself. This something is perceived as pure gift, and the blessing of being given to in whatever way the self perceives this, causes an immediacy of perception of the goodness of God. There may be areas within life in which the self does not feel given to, but if the experience of beauty that is given is strong enough and deep enough, it will gradually infuse every area of life and the self will come to understand that God–as-Goodness and as the giver of that which is most valued and precious, is present within every area of life, whether one feels it to be so or not.