This week and next will mark a major shift in our time together. I have been writing this newsletter for a year and a half, and it has been a fascinating experience. It has pushed me to integrate my theological knowledge with the knowledge I have gained as a clinical psychologist. All of this has converged to illuminate the spiritual journey we have been on together.

Each week, with what often seemed like a random selection, I chose a topic to explore. I’ve never had an overarching theme; it has been more like an exploration of this particular idea or some other. Every now and again I would find several newsletters connecting with each other, but it was rarely intentional.

Now, with some 67 pieces of the puzzle lying in full view in front of me, I am beginning to discern clear patterns that pertain to the spiritual dimension of life. These elements have always been there, and the arc that connects them has always been present. I, however, have been unable to see these patterns until just recently. If you will, the noise has been obscuring the signal.

What do I mean by noise? It’s the same noise that you face as well, every single day. The voice in our heads – the constant self-talk – the repetitious blather that judges and critiques and compares and is always, always talking. As I have been watching it, I have come to realize that most of our self-talk is simply a way we entertain ourselves. It serves little or no constructive purpose.

In fact, when you look closely, the constant noise has a hidden destructive purpose. The noise keeps us from seeing the Reality underneath. It keeps us so busy and so occupied with the trivial that we cannot see what is Real.

You can see this for yourself if you just take a moment to look. For those who go to church or synagogue or mosque, you’re going there to have a moment with the Divine. So how much time do you actually spend with God, and how much time are you chatting with your neighbor, critiquing what somebody over there is doing, or listening to your own inner chatter?

Or maybe you don’t go to a worship service these days, but you spend time in prayer. Notice what happens there. You close your eyes and go inside and perhaps you give thanks for the good things that have happened in your life, and perhaps you ask God for some special help – either for yourself or for someone you care about. The rest of the time you’re thinking about things that have nothing to do with God. Things like, “I need to remember to get some milk and bread for breakfast tomorrow. I need to do X,Y and Z”.  Yada yada yada.

Does any of this actually help you remember to do X, Y or Z? I can’t answer for you but I know for myself these so-called “reminder thoughts,” are just hogwash! They don’t help. They do, however, take my attention away from my devotion to God. In that way, they are destructive. Worse, they all grab my attention by masquerading as something constructive. They masquerade as time spent with God when in fact only five or 10% of the time is spent how I intend.

This is nuts!

My goal, in the remaining years of my life, is to draw as closely to God as possible. You, my reader, have helped me in this quest, and I thank you. Taking on the discipline of writing for you every week has helped me keep my focus on the main goal. Going forward, I want to sharpen that focus even more. I hope you want this for yourself as well.

To that end, I’m going to organize the parts I’ve been developing in these newsletters into a coherent teaching framework. I want to sharpen our focus in this way so that we: 1) recognize our true nature more clearly, 2) connect more deeply with each other, and 3) connect more deeply with the Divine.

I have an even deeper purpose behind all of this, even though I know it is out of my reach. I hope, as we connect more deeply with God and with each other, that we find our hearts opening in love – a love that is much deeper than that which we now know.

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Western culture has reached an inflection point – and it’s a dangerous juncture. We have forgotten the caring social structure which undergirds our apparent differences.  We have divided ourselves and we have begun to hate those who are not like us. While this reflects a dark side in our human nature, if it’s not addressed and remedied, it could be the death of us all. On balance, our cultural descent into strife, hatred, cruelty, and destruction is not something I want to participate in.

So here is what is going to change going forward. I’m going to write longer newsletter sequences to explore our spiritual life more deeply. Coming up next is a series titled, “Who Do You Think You Are?” This will be an extended exploration focusing on our identity, our sense of self, and the Divine deep within each of us. It is designed as a teaching series and its purpose is to transform our spiritual life.

Now there’s one thing about any kind of transformation that is critically important to understand at the outset. Every transformation, in fact every movement of any kind, has friction. Friction makes us uncomfortable, but we cannot grow and develop without it. This newsletter course is now going to ask something of you. It will ask you to look deeply within, and it will invite you to change those things that don’t further your spiritual life.

To support you as you work through this course, I plan to have video Q&A sessions monthly. I will do my best to answer your questions as we go through this process together.  One caveat: I’m not interested in debating theology in these sessions and I plan to shut down that kind of talk when it occurs. On the other hand, I am very interested in helping you work through the questions and experiences you will have as the course develops.

To that end, I need feedback about when to schedule these video sessions. At the end of this newsletter, you’ll find a brief questionnaire addressing this issue. Based on your responses, I will be looking for a day and time where we can accommodate the most participants. We will use Google Meet for this and there will be a link and instructions on using it in the weekly newsletters you receive so that you can participate.

In addition to this new newsletter course, we will begin very soon now to beta test our new website, www.insidetheinvisible.com.  This website is a monster – just stunning in its depth and breadth.  It will provide step-by-step instruction on the specific behavioral changes necessary to achieve mystical union with God. This website will offer something that has never been available before – an instructional system based on empirical research that includes all of the major spiritual traditions.   

By collecting data from all of the major spiritual traditions, a clear pattern has emerged. The emergence of this pattern is a major breakthrough for spiritual seekers. It shows each step we must take and, more importantly, the specific reason for each step. Up to this point, the bottleneck constricting spiritual formation has been the lack of qualified teachers – teachers who have themselves achieved union with the Real. By collating these data together, this research has begun to demystify the spiritual path.

That is not to say that we demystify the Mystery! The mystery remains and will always remain. This collation, however, allows us a much deeper understanding of the path that leads to our transformation.

This website will require a paid subscription, but we are deliberately keeping the price as low as possible. The folks who beta test this site for us will receive two benefits. First, they will get to preview the first group of stages. That will help them decide if they want to take the course, and it will also help us fix the glitches before we release it to the public. Second, they will each receive a free six-month subscription to the site.

The last change coming is a new book I have written titled, The Invisible Life Within. This book is a very personal record of the arc of the spiritual journey as seen through

h the lens of my life experiences. It is an attempt to put a human face on the spiritual journey, showing what it looks like from the inside.  Writing the book took me to some very deep and surprising places, and I think you’ll find it interesting and, I hope, useful in your own journey.

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Well, that’s all for this week. Please take a moment and fill in the questionnaire below and return it to [email protected].  Do it now before you forget.

I hope you have a splendid week and I look forward to continuing our time together in the next newsletter.

May God make his face to shine upon you, this day, and always!

P.S.  These newsletters were written in a particular order, but due to the limitations of our email delivery system, we cannot send them in the order in which they were written.  We can send out the first five in order, but then the system sends out the next one, whatever that happens to be.

So, if you are suddenly moving from issue #5 to issue #whatever, it might be a little jarring.  If this sounds like you, I would encourage you to go back into our archives and do your best to read them in order. 

Humility as a Tool  → Letting go → Fear → Openness →  Acceptance & Growth

If you are finding this newsletter course helpful, you may want to consider Dr. Kaisch's latest book, Inside the Invisible:  The Universal Path to Spiritual Transcendence.👇

To access the other newsletter editions of the “Inside The Invisible Newsletter,” or if you’d like to read ahead or go back.

Please Note: These newsletters are meant to be read in order.