“Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than material force, that thoughts rule the world.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today I was talking to a friend and colleague who lives in Boulder Colorado. She was sharing the volunteer work she was doing in support of the many people who lost so much during the recent fire. With more than $8 million of losses, it has been called the most destructive wildfire in Colorado’s history.

One of the stories of total loss that she shared was unforgettable. The only thing that remained in the place of a 4500 square foot, 3 story home was this angel. The recognition by the homeowner that “spirit is what remains” is more remarkable still. The foundation of my own faith is the belief in something bigger than the material world that defines and consumes life in equal measure.

I was reminded of the Montmartre Cathedral in Paris which shares a similar story of the church being the only thing left standing in a 10 block radius after German bombing. All of the neighbors who came to the church for protection were spared. The surrounding neighborhood was reduced to rubble, but the church was untouched.

In every spiritual discipline that I have studied and the height of my view on religiosity is this: that the truth of life lies far beyond the three dimensional, sensory experience. Faith and love are forces more powerful than any material destruction that we can experience. After it is all over, they will endure. In light of the ever increasing challenges we face in the world, knowing this truth and that goodness is everywhere you look is more than solace. It is a life direction. It is the solution.