Undercover Investigation

It is important and necessary that we regularly spend time in purposeful self-examination. We need to take the time to examine our rationales, our pretenses, our masquerades, our motives, our justifications, and our reasoning.

Nevertheless, we must also realize that despite how thorough the examination, no man can remove himself from himself sufficiently to appraise the dark forces at work within. And, let us be honest with ourselves: all mankind suffer from some form of inner-darkness. We live in dark times and we live in a society that is gripped by the darkness of evil. As a consequence of living in it, some of it gets inside us.

The sins within thrive in this darkness. Sin feeds upon the darkness as a hungry predator feeds upon its prey. Being in this darkness, we cannot see ourselves as we really are. We believe we are what we are not and believe we are incapable of doing what we quite clever at perpetrating. We need the light of God to reveal the dark forces at work within us. When we see ourselves as revealed by God, our true character is uncovered. Who we are in the real sense comes to the surface.

In His presence, we discover, sometimes to our great astonishment, how far removed from God we really are. The holiness of God's divinity can find every speck of sin in our lives. Nothing in us escapes God and no man can stand in His presence as a saint. He must stand in his true character, as a sinner saved by grace.

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. http://www.clergyservices4u.org. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, will be available soon.

MORE RESOURCES:

Van Morrison takes listeners on his spiritual journey - Los Angeles Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-morrison9-2009jan09,0,7244840.story%3Ftrack%3Drsscid=1291214235ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNF1Fyy8U-HVhUc1Q6N7WYDEXr-Wzgimg src=http://nt0.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=QEGmml6uThAJimgurl=www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-01/44429821.jpg width=80 height=45 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Los Angeles Times/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-0fd=Rurl=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-morrison9-2009jan09,0,7244840.story%3Ftrack%3Drsscid=1291214235ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNF1Fyy8U-HVhUc1Q6N7WYDEXr-WzgVan Morrison takes listeners on his bspiritual/b journey/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fLos Angeles Times,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr7 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1I decided to end the show on a bspiritual/b note.quot; He said that whether the audience senses that bspirituality/b or not is almost incidental. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Google Launches quot;School of Spiritual Growthquot; [Perks] - Examiner.com

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1i-0fd=Rurl=http://valleywag.gawker.com/5126919/google-launches-school-of-spiritual-growthcid=1291200621ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNG5hwkIn-kTjezKBRDrfavKVNiPJAimg src=http://nt3.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=c1AfiMNWmkgJimgurl=cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2009/01/custom_1231463256841_lama_surya_das.JPG width=80 height=53 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Gawker/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-0fd=Rurl=http://www.examiner.com/r-5228701~Google_Launches__School_of_Spiritual_Growth___Perks_.htmlcid=1291200621ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNGL7rR7HUW0kTVig12NPFA2F0X8QAGoogle Launches quot;School of bSpiritual/b Growthquot; [Perks]/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fExaminer.comnbsp;-/font nobr8 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Hence the launch of Google#39;s School of bSpiritual/b Growth, an arm of the search engine#39;s in-house university. Behind it: star-struck engineer Chade-Meng Tan, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-1fd=Rurl=http://industry.bnet.com/media/1000579/google-searches-for-spirituality/cid=1291200621ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNFdJqHdCTzxm2ln44KP75gKJv-B7AGoogle Searches for bSpirituality/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBNET/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1291200621hl=ennobrall 3 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Spirituality May Help Adolescents Cope With Chronic Illness - Science Daily (press release)

Best Life Week Spirituality 101 on Oprah - Examiner.com

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.inquisitr.com/14768/suze-orman%25E2%2580%2599s-2009-financial-action-plan-free-download-at-oprahcom/cid=1290671658ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNHpTV6td3ImnB3-NncpkNbwcz8ujgimg src=http://nt3.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=hwuSX9gbx8cJimgurl=www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/oprahcomdownload.jpg width=80 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2The Inquisitr/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-0fd=Rurl=http://www.examiner.com/x-1869-New-England-Fitness-Examiner~y2009m1d7-Best-Life-Week-Spirituality-101-on-Oprahcid=1290671658ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNEuVZUAYYcIbIxIza9mkBd4b5ODogBest Life Week bSpirituality/b 101 on Oprah/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fExaminer.comnbsp;-/font nobr20 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1by Jo Levy, New England Fitness Examiner Day 3 of Oprah#39;s Best Life Week was based on bSpirituality/b. You may want to ask me what bspirituality/b has to do with b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-1fd=Rurl=http://www.bestsyndication.com/%3Fq%3D20090107_spirituality_101_coping_with_lifes_problems_best_life_week_oprah_winfrey_show.htmcid=1290671658ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNG5F3lsiOMk5LPcFN3WgYqr6NvgIgbSpirituality/b 101 – Job, Money, Family – Oprah’s Best Life Week on b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBest Syndication/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-2fd=Rurl=http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2009/01/oprahs-best-lif.htmlcid=1290671658ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNH6eUhO-nrM0q4cvLrDrQTs6YPpGQOprah#39;s Best Life Week continues with bspirituality/b advice, Suze b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe TV Guy/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-3fd=Rurl=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/01/09/lkl.suze.orman/cid=1290671658ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNEmvSOCOONJaE9qSUJP0tYOewMdkwSuze Orman: You need an action plan/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCNN International/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-4fd=Rurl=http://www.turnto10.com/jar/news/consumer/article/ormans_action_plan_available_for_free_download/8914/cid=1290671658ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNG1VeilI9ko4bzXP6nV1vwkumz-SwnobrTurn to 10.com/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-5fd=Rurl=http://lifehacker.com/5126615/download-suze-ormans-2009-action-plan-free-this-week-onlycid=1290671658ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNESZPpxWEQr6uRk699EjN90zjdMjQnobrLifehacker/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1290671658hl=ennobrall 16 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Spiritual convenience food for the God-shaped hole in your life - Irish Times

Spirituality Is Key To Kids#39; Happiness - Science Daily (press release)

Study: Spirituality adds happiness to kids - United Press International

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/01/08/Study_Spirituality_adds_happiness_to_kids/UPI-29251231432957/cid=0ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNHoU4YEVdLCzyQUPdMn2_KxqAixeQimg src=http://nt0.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=9OTPlmLnFIkJimgurl=photos.upi.com/story/w/581d1c0de05f1e7d190c1383bccc77ee/Study_Spirituality_adds_happiness_to_kids.jpg width=80 height=55 alt= border=1brfont size=-2United Press International/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-0fd=Rurl=http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/01/08/Study_Spirituality_adds_happiness_to_kids/UPI-29251231432957/cid=0ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNHoU4YEVdLCzyQUPdMn2_KxqAixeQStudy: bSpirituality/b adds happiness to kids/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fUnited Press Internationalnbsp;-/font nobr17 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-18 (UPI) -- Increasing children#39;s bspirituality/b boosts their self-worth and happiness, while religious practices have little effect, a Canadian study b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

The spiritual tragedies in Obama#39;s choice of Pastor Rick Warren - Examiner.com

San Carlos honors Geronimo#39;s courage, spirituality and intellect - Arizona Silver Belt

University Professor: ‘I liked the message of awareness and ... - The Epoch Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/content/view/9960/cid=1290785823ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNFQz3XJC9tjkUo5sYZZX9yfGL9RCQUniversity Professor: ‘I liked the message of awareness and b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Epoch Times,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobrJan 8, 2009/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1“I liked the message of awareness and bspirituality/b,” said Mr. Greenaway. “That’s how I live my life, with compassion and kindness. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-1fd=Rurl=http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/content/view/10040cid=1290785823ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNG6IGw_6MHdOhQyAvx4fUhhjZ5l-gProducer/director: ‘It’s the kind of thing everybody should see’/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Epoch Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-2fd=Rurl=http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/content/view/9852cid=1290785823ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNGabxQUCrorh-1y7yHVx6BaIkVsegArtist: It Is #39;very spiritually uplifting#39;/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Epoch Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-3fd=Rurl=http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/content/view/9948cid=1290785823ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNEOQjGaAqzW7y6g17C_951L0wZKgQMore Than Meets The Ear – Profound Inner meaning of DPA Deeply b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Epoch Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-4fd=Rurl=http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/content/view/9955cid=1290785823ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNGOmvdtKYo5TavdH2hAc3aWbChqTQnobrThe Epoch Times/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-5fd=Rurl=http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/content/view/10000/cid=1290785823ei=lh9nSdGSK4zK8ASQvvGnDQusg=AFQjCNHC-YwJSXiXcH8fLQt9Xnu04izwpAnobrThe Epoch Times/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1290785823hl=ennobrall 72 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Spirituality - Google News

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