Speaking of the Spirit, Jesus said that "He breathes where He desires, and you hear His voice, but you do not know from where He comes, and where He goes". There is a certain element of mystery in creative inspiration, which cannot be logically explained - at least at our level of knowledge. Yet, we may still find certain basic dynamics of creative expression. It is necessary for us to understand them.

The first stage of our creative expression is inner work. We take time to meditate and to discover ourselves, our deepest dreams and desires. We determine our priorities and focus on our goals. We visualise future accomplishments. This stage may also include recognition and correction of our wrong attitudes and thought patterns. However, our focus should always be a positive one.

We "withdraw from the crowd". We "go up to the mountain". A mountain is always a symbol of exalted consciousness which we are looking to acquire.

Creative ideas can't find a place in an earth-bound mind, the one which is focused solely on immediate needs. A person should develop an exalted vision, and then he will find practical steps to its fulfillment. Our problems are best solved when we live for our dreams.

Then comes the next stage: we "descend from the mountain" into the valley to express ourselves.

A valley is a symbol of human experiences and challenges in the outside world. Remember, when Jesus came down from the mountain he encountered a leper. Psalm 23 speaks of "the valley of the shadow of death". But, as we mentioned it a number of times, challenges are important. After we successfully dealt with them, we fully understand that the things we discovered "at the mountain" were not idle dreams. They are supported by the Reality.

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" This is a powerful statement made by Paul. But let us not understand it in a limited personal sense. God is not a Being who might intervene into affairs of this world from the outside. God has no "chosen ones", separated from the rest of people. God is the Ground of Being. The Ground of Being always sustains and supports us - and everything which exists in the world.

"All things work together for good". This is another side of the coin. In supporting us, God always acts through the world, and never upon the world. When we take time to meditate and to consciously align ourselves with the Source, all events of our lives will be arranged in perfect order, and our creative expression will be a successful one.

It is unreasonable to avoid challenges. As Eric Butterworth mentioned, "The tests in the sixth grade may be harder (and they should be), but you do not gain anything by trying to get back to the third grade where the tests were easier. (Actually they only seem easier, because you are now seeing them from a sixth-grade perspective". The tests of life are never meant to destroy us or to tear us down. Each test makes us wiser and stronger - if we approach them in the right attitude.

Burnout usually happens with those people who don't fully recognize this dynamics of their creative expression. They work when it is the time to withdraw - sometimes under the pressure from the others or because of the falce sense of duty. But this results only in exhaustion and low efficiency.

Sometimes I say to people that if they cannot schedule a time for meditation, their schedule isn't good enough, no matter how much they accomplish. Meditation is the only way to stay in touch with the Spirit and to be make that we flow with it, not struggling against it. Of course, the Spirit communicates with us all the time, not just when we pray or meditate. But it always takes time to become flexible and truly sensitive to its urges. Spiritual discipline is not the end of itself, but the useful tool to develop such flexibility.