July 18th, 2026

The 40 Rules Of Love 

By Shams of TabrizTabrizi (as popularly attributed to Shams and beloved as spiritual wisdom) 

Rule #1

How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves; we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are. If God brings to mind mostly fear and blame, it means there is too much fear and blame welled inside us. If we see God as full of love and compassion, so are we.

i like to come back to certain touchstones whose meaning evolves along with my understanding. it's not a repetition but a new discovery framed by a new understanding.

i'm not claiming growth but i am acknowledging a changed perspective. reflecting on the way Spiral Dynamics maps how perspective itself matures (#1), as we grow we change and as we change our perspective changes. my appreciation for the 40 Rules of Love has never wavered, but it certainly has morphed (#2).

in this sense every day is the first unique experience of existence, offering a fresh perception of every sight and sound. this perspective may, if i cultivate it, offer a way of seeing with the gift of revelation — the beauty, uniqueness, and unforeseen blessing that each new day offers.

~

having lived most of my life seemingly trapped in the utter sameness of each day, trying to escape by any means from the dull, repetitious, daily rebirth in the hellish landscape of my mental creation —reliving, on a daily basis, the same perspective and the same thought process and the same solutions that failed yesterday. 

to be delivered, somehow, through grace, to see the world not through the eyes of an entrapped victim, but through eyes of grace, connection, and newfound appreciation for the opportunity to arise with peace, love, and blessing that permeate every fiber of my being.

Today is the Rest of My Life

~

(#1) Spiral Dynamics is a developmental model — originated by psychologist Clare W. Graves and later popularized by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan — describing how human values and worldviews evolve through successive stages as life grows more complex. it offers a way to understand why a person's perspective on a fixed touchstone doesn't just change, but deepens: the touchstone stays the same, and the seer doesn't.

(#2) To be "morphed" means to have gradually changed, transformed, or shapeshifted from one form or character into another — from the Greek morphē (the outward expression of an inner essence) and metamorphoō (to change form).