To grow spiritually, we have to effectively manage our pain and develop a spiritual practice. This leads to the discovery of our higher self or soul as the peace, love, and joy we crave.

Religious traditions point to spiritual qualities as the nature of the soul and Spirit and recognize these qualities as the goal of all spiritual work. If we extract the quintessence from the texts and stories of the sacred traditions and summarize them in one-word qualities to sell as a tincture of religion, these qualities would be:

1. acceptance
2. appreciation
3. balance
4. beauty
5. belief
6. changelessness
7. cheerfulness
8. clarity
9. community
10. compassion
11. confidence
12. contentment
13. courage
14. creativity
15. desirelessness
16. devotion
17. endurance
18. energy
19. enthusiasm
20. equality
21. eternity
22. even-mindedness
23. faith
24. fearlessness
25. forbearance
26. forgiveness
27. freedom
28. friendship
29. fun
30. generosity
31. gentleness
32. gratitude
33. harmony
34. healing

35. honesty
36. hope
37. humility
38. humor
39. immortality
40. infinity
41. integrity
42. interconnectedness
43. introspection
44. intuition
45. joy
46. justice
47. kindness
48. knowledge
49. laughter
50. light
51. listening
52. loyalty
53. mercy
54. mindfulness
55. mystery
56. non-attachment
57. non-injury
58. oneness
59. openness
60. order
61. patience
62. peace
63. perfection
64. perseverance
65. play
66. positive thinking
67. power
68. practicality

69. pure awareness
70. pure consciousness
71. purity
72. receptivity
73. reverence
74. rhythm
75. safety
76. security
77. self-control
78. service
79. silence
80. simplicity
81. sincerity
82. spaciousness
83. stillness
84. strength
85. success
86. surrender
87. sweetness
88. tenderness
89. thoughtfulness
90. tolerance
91. trust
92. truthfulness
93. unconditional love
94. understanding
95. unity
96. usefulness
97. warmth
98. will
99. wisdom
100. witness
101. other

• The Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, and all sacred texts speak to these qualities. Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed, the Bal Shem Tov, gurus, Zen masters, and yogis teach these qualities. They are at the core of every spiritual story. They represent the basics, the alphabet: the periodic table of spiritual elements.

• Spiritual qualities describe who we really are. We are born with them. They are standard equipment, built into the human genetic code. The higher self is pure and perfect, loving and calm, wise and compassionate. This is our genetic birthright.

• The roles we play in life, our educational level, economic status, race, ethnicity, and age obscure our true nature. We are not ultimately described by our bodies, personalities, or roles. Similarly, we are not our problems, flaws, or illnesses. These superficial identifications veil our inner identity or true self, the soul where we find all of the spiritual qualities.

• The list of spiritual qualities is long and may appear formidable. It need not be. All of the qualities are connected, and love is the root. If we improve our ability to love, the rest of the qualities simultaneously grow. Similarly, if we cultivate any one of the qualities, our love grows. We can pick one or a few qualities to work on at any given time. It does not matter which ones we choose.

• Nor does it matter what religion we practice. It does not matter if we practice a religion at all. What does matter is the level of our development of our souls’ qualities, or love. If the fruit of a religion is love, it is good; if not, there is a problem.

• Love is the soul, composed of the 100 qualities listed in the spiritual alphabet. For our purposes, each time you read the word "love," you can consider that as one or a combination of the spiritual qualities listed in the spiritual alphabet.

• Love is not merely a word but an actual healing power, a concrete, tangible force with an identity and life all its own. We can cultivate love through the practice of a variety of spiritual methods. We know how to make it grow. And as it grows, our healing power grows.

• Love and its associated spiritual qualities are the healers. They broker and buffer the pain of life. Such healing powers as compassion, understanding, forgiveness, and humility will contain, reduce, or eliminate any barrier we encounter.

• Expansion of love and her consort qualities is part of the solution to all of our problems.

• The cultivation of love, the goal and the reward of the spiritual path, is the true revolution.