Brothers and sisters: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings by the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another, mighty deeds; to another, prophecy; to another, discernment of spirits; to another, varieties of tongues; to another, interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as the Spirit wishes.
1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
In this week's gathering of the Contemplative Community at Authentic Freedom Ministries, we spent time meditating and reflecting upon and discussing this reading from Paul the Evangelist. One of the questions that surfaced was regarding the distinction between talents and spiritual gifts (charisms). A talent is simply something that we are good at. Talents are something that we take time to cultivate, nurture and develop. Cooking, sewing, painting, singing, gardening, listening, counseling, teaching are all examples of talents lived out.
Charisms, or spiritual gifts, are special abilities given to us by our Divine Source to enable us to be powerful channels of God's love and healing presence in the world. It is through our charisms that we are uniquely gifted to reveal God in the world. Charisms are not "inborn" or inherited from our parents, but are given to us by God. Charisms are also supernaturally empowered. They are focused outward and enable us to bear results of using our charisms above and beyond our normal human abilities. God is working through us in the use of our charisms, the results of which are self-evident.
While our talents may spring forth from our charisms, this is not necessarily the case. We may be talented in playing a musical instrument, but that does not mean that we possess the charism of music. If music was one of our charisms, we would find that through the sharing of this gift, we, along with those with whom we share our musical charism, are drawn closer to God and deeper into an awareness of our most authentic selves.
The depth of our Divine giftedness, however, does not stop here with our talents and charisms. Underlying these experiences through which the Divine may be revealed in the world through us is our Soul's Purpose. It is through our soul's purpose that we are uniquely programmed to perceive the world and our lived experience. Like a coin, our soul's purpose has two sides - a light (redeemed) side and a shadow (compulsive) side. The extent to which we live in the shadow or the light is reflective of our perception of our relationship with the Divine and with one another. As long as we remain in the false perception of separation from God, we live within our compulsions. As we allow ourselves to be open to being healed of this false perception (wound), we live more and more out of the redeemed aspect of our soul's purpose. The Enneagram (a tool for spiritual transformation) suggests that there exists within us one of nine possible soul purposes:
Reformer, Helper, Achiever, Muse, Sage, Loyalist, Enthusiast, Champion and Peacemaker.
Like the roots of a tree, the soul's purpose acts as the foundation upon which the charisms (trunk) and talents (branches) may arise. It is in diligent attention to our spiritual healing that the roots of our tree may be strengthened so that we can know the security and freedom of living and being as our most authentic self.
