November 4, 2026
What is your true purpose?
To discover it, we must delve beneath the surface, beyond the generalities of our desire to love others and be good people. Those purposes are precious, to be sure, but they do not specifically describe our individual purpose—the very reason we came into this body and onto this planet.
That deeper purpose is found in our essence, and our essence is the aspect of God that our soul embodies and expresses. After all, we are sparks of the Divine, and in our purest nature, are expressions of God. In fact, God needs us to be those expressions because, through us, God continues to live and express God on earth. As living extensions of God, we are children of God.
My friend and fellow seeker, Chuck Samson, recently shared with me a beautiful definition of essence from the writer and Celtic spirituality teacher John Philip Newell. Chuck heard Newell offer it on the island of Iona.
“Our essence is the unique and unrepeatable core of our being that was formed in us at the beginning.”
Chuck was struck, as was I, by John Philip’s spot-on definition of the elusive and profound concept of essence. John Philip’s conceptualization of the one-of-a-kind soul that is ours—a soul that will never be duplicated—is amazing. Just think: every soul has its own unique way of expressing the Divine, a way that no other soul can ever repeat or embody.
So, an aspect of God can be expressed through you and no one else. Your very existence brings into the world an expression of the Divine that has never existed before you came and shall never exist in anyone else.
Think of the unrepeatable blessing you are to the world. Your touch, your smile, your words, your intuition, your compassion, your why, your curiosity, your laugh, your tears, your thoughts, your demeanor, your prayers, your presence, your countenance, and so much more—all uniquely combine to make you who you are. No one else possesses precisely that combination of qualities. No one else can offer the world exactly what you have been given to offer.
And herein lies the wonder of our individual purpose. We do not have to become someone else or even a better version of ourselves to fulfill it. The soul is not about personality improvement or gaining more living skills. Rather, we are called to fully embody and express the soul qualities that were placed in us at our making.
Spiritual Practice and Inquiry
Give yourself some quiet space to contemplate the spiritual qualities that uniquely combine to make you who you are.
What qualities—such as compassion, wisdom, creativity, courage, tenderness, friendship, kinship, action, benevolence, strength, joyfulness, a readiness to help someone in need, or understanding—seem to arise naturally from the depths of your being?
Your list may be extensive. Allow yourself to recognize these qualities, not as accomplishments of your ego, but as expressions of the Divine essence entrusted to you.
Prayer
Dear God,
Help me to recognize the unique essence You have placed within my soul. Reveal to me the qualities of Your Divine nature that I have been given to embody and express. May I come to know my true purpose, not simply through what I do, but through the qualities of my soul. And may my life become an ever-clearer expression of Your love in this world.
Amen
