"While dignity is accomplished when we boldly advance forward and confront the outside world, spiritual completion is attained when we advance inward to confront ourselves. To be dignified we must have mastery over our environment, business, money, property, and so on. But to be spiritually complete we must have mastery over ourselves. And while dignity is triumphantly conquering the forces of nature, completion is about conquering ourselves and humbly allowing ourselves to be confronted and defeated by a higher power — God.
"Dignity is discovered at the peak of success but completion often happens at the depths of crisis and failure. When you are overpowered by God, surrender to his will and completely give yourself over to him.
"Ironically defeat is often our greatest triumph. Defeat in the arena of the outside world can bring us to great inner victory and spiritual completion. We as souls come out as winners when we courageously face defeat and wholeheartedly affirm our 100 percent unconditional self-worth. Regardless of how bitterly we may fail in worldly accomplishments or in our public image we must always remember that we are created in a divine image. We are souls, rays of God; nothing and no one can take that away unless we give it away.
"In other words, completion comes from learning to let go and let God. There is great joy in surrendering and trusting that we can't always get what we want and we can't always have it our way. We can let go and be at peace because we know that our self worth is unconditional. It does not depend on getting what we want or having it our way. Spiritually complete people know that they are not the director of the show. People who defiantly insist, 'It's my life!' have it wrong. They are selling themselves short. This kind of thinking completely undermines the value of life. . . . The life that we think we own we really owe to God. Our life is only on loan. When we sense this truth, we are able to trust that things are going to work out; we let go and trust in God. Of course God is taking care of us. Whatever happens is always in our best interest because God loves us unconditionally. He loves us with the same love he has for his very own self because indeed we are a part of him.
"The Talmud says if a person loses his temper, it's as if he is worshipping idols. How can that be? We see people lose their temper all the time, yet they are hardly pagans.
"People lose their tempers because things do not go according to their plans. They are unwilling to trust in and surrender to a higher power and demand to be completely in control of their lives — as if they are gods. They worship themselves and their own plans.
"To trust God means to accept that life always goes according to God's plans. In fact, participating in a higher divine plan is really what gives our lives the greatest value. We then experience ourselves as actors in an eternal divine drama and not just some petty little self-produced play that is here today and gone tomorrow. Life is a mere fleeting moment when it's just your story or mine. But when it's a part of God's Story it's simply divine. We are blessed with a spiritual completion when we trust in and surrender to God's higher plan, move out of the limelight, and humbly seek to serve.
"We must take control when we climb the ladder of dignity, but for spiritual completion we must know when to let go. We must give up the reins and realize that we are not the reigning power. Oddly enough surrender is the secret to unconditional self-worth and empowerment. It is also the secret to accomplishing unconditional love."
