On Virtue
Yesterday was a rather "down" day. Feeling the weight of no job invitations, feeling the desire to go back but no opportunities presenting themselves to do that with lightness, moving through the repetitive motions of the days. I whined, cried, and felt sad. Today, I decided the only way out is through. God always lifts me up. Always. I know how to reach closer to him. It starts with diving into his world- the words of the saints, the spiritual teachers, the gurus, etc. One of the books I borrowed from the library has a saying from Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov for every day of the year. The October 3rd saying said that to enter into God's domain we have to clean our slate from negative thoughts and feelings. Reading that felt heavy in the moment. It appeared conditional in its requirements. Sometimes teachings land like a burden if we take them as a command. But if we hear them as an invitation—to let God wash us, not for us to scrub ourselves—it can shift from heavy to freeing. Shortly after, I stumbled upon a free course on "How to Become a Saint". I signed up and already listened to the first lecture and immediately felt uplifted. What do saints have in common? I believe it is their ability to remain virtuous. What if virtue is the bridge between our human struggles and God’s presence?
What is virtue? According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, virtue is a habitual and stable disposition to do the good which makes its possessor good. What is good? Good- contributes toward human flourishing. Evil- hinders it. If we are Divine in Nature, good is that which is in accord with our nature, and evil is that which is opposed to our nature.
The Challenge of Virtue
Virtue is not effortless. To live with integrity, courage, and compassion often feels like walking against the current of our impulses, fears, and disappointments. In these moments, we may be tempted to label our struggles—or the world’s darkness—as “evil.” But as Vaklush Tolev reminds us, evil is simply good that has not yet moved through evolution.
This teaching reframes our struggles. What feels heavy or broken in us is not doomed—it is unripe goodness, still waiting to awaken. Just as a fruit ripens under sun and time, so too do our souls mature under the light of awareness, love, and grace. Virtue, then, is not about condemning weakness or failure, but about trusting the process of ripening. Every step toward patience, forgiveness, or courage is a movement of good evolving into greater good. We do have a major role in this process- to make a choice, to use our will , and always return to virtue. Each return is form of spiritual resilience aligning us with our Higher Self which runs on God’s frequency.
What are the virtues in accordance with our Divine Essence?
Virtues are not merely moral codes to follow or social rules to obey. Sure, God proposed some moral laws to consider obeying, but they are the starting point. The laws of virtue go beyond in intensity. They are the radiant qualities of our soul when it rests in union with God. In our essence, we already carry them. What appears as “cultivating” virtue is, in truth, remembering who we are beneath fear, ego, and conditioning.
From the mystics we learn that love, wisdom, and peace are not acquired—they are uncovered. St. Maximus the Confessor wrote that virtues are “the natural energies of the soul in accordance with nature.” They are the movements of our being when aligned with Divine truth.
The virtues that arise from our divine essence—Love, Faith, Compassion, Wisdom, Peace, Beauty, Humility, Purity of Heart—feel expansive and luminous. They lift us, remind us of our eternal nature, and show us what it means to live as children of God.
Yet, to embody them in daily life, we need anchors—virtues that ground the luminous into the ordinary. The ancients called these the cardinal virtues: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude. They are not separate from the divine virtues but rather their earthly reflections.
Prudence is discernment. It is the wisdom that sees clearly, separating illusion from truth, so that our choices align with Love and not fear.
Justice is honoring the divine spark in every being—including ourselves. It is Love expressed as fairness, dignity, and the recognition of each soul’s worth.
Temperance is harmony. It guards us from excess, helps us walk the middle path, and mirrors the Beauty of balance.
Fortitude is courage. It is the strength to live in truth even when fear whispers otherwise, the perseverance that keeps faith steady in trials.
The divine virtues inspire us toward the heavens; the cardinal virtues keep our feet steady on earth. Together they form the vertical and horizontal beams of a cross—heaven touching earth through the human heart.
These eternal virtues flow from our Divine Essence:
Love – the boundless giving of self, rooted in the deep honoring of one’s own essence.
Wisdom – seeing beyond appearances into truth.
Faith – trust in God’s unfolding, even in mystery.
Hope – holding light in times of darkness.
Compassion – tenderness in the face of suffering.
Humility – resting in reverence and openness before the Infinite, knowing we are held in something greater than ourselves.
Peace – the stillness born of union with God.
Purity of Heart – an undivided spirit, aligned with love above all.
To live these virtues is not to strain but to surrender—allowing what is already within us to move through us. Virtue, then, is not about becoming something we are not, but returning to what we have always been.
