In her book The House of the Soul, Evelyn Underhill writes that charity is no easy emotion. She says Charity is the secret chamber of the world where our idea of Divinity lives.

Charity is a prayer,  I think, and it is my highest aspiration as a human.

“The fire of charity, lit in the soul, needs careful tending. The first tiny flame must not be allowed to die down for lack of fuel, and we may have to feed it with things we should prefer to keep for ourselves. It will only be developed and kept burning in a life informed by faith-stready, mortified, self-oblivious reflection,” she wrote, “the very object of prayer is to increase and maintain Charity, the loving aspect of the soul.”

Charity is often seen as a religious virtue, but it’s much bigger than that. I ‘ve approached it differently, but Underhill is closer to my idea of charity than anyone. Her honesty, conviction, and faith are inspiring and powerful.

Charity is complicated. She is right that it needs careful tending; in my experience, it is humbling.

I’ve known that something is amazing about stepping out of myself and my needs and wants and transferring them to the needs and wants of another human being. It’s no longer a social decision for me but an expression of the heart and soul. That took a long time and hard work.

Charity was going out of fashion before the Army of Being came into my life in 2026, with the rise of Trumpism and the angry MAGA revolution, still underway. I am grateful to them for that; it awakened my soul, and rather than argue or hate, I started embracing charity and doing good with my energy and skill, rather than keeping them to myself.

I don’t need to hate anyone to feel complete, and I need to do my idea of good.

I credit the Christian faith with embracing charity thousands of years ago and putting the idea into my head. They didn’t back away from it for centuries; it isn’t dead yet. For Underhill, all other aspects of charity are meant to get closer to her God.

My charity is meant to get closer to the God inside me; most other aspects of my inner life are now subsidiary to this.

Charity brought my soul to life and has deepened and enriched it. There is something precious about caring more about others than oneself. That happened with Maria, it happened at the Mansion Assisted Car Facility, it happened with refugee children escaping genocide and getting into the United States, and it is happening now with my work and the Army of Good—the arm of the soul—at the Cambridge Food Pantry Now.

Each step has made me stronger.

Each charity was a step forward for me. It is possible to help people who have nowhere else to go. I was astonished by how many people are eager to do it. It does the same thing for them as it does for me – it makes them feel outstanding, from deep inside. It really is human nature.

I don’t need to hate anybody to feel it.

If religion is not the drive for me, then faith is. The giver to others is free, not bound by dogma or stained glass. Free at last.

I have great faith in the charity of human beings; I see it every day, from every part of the country, no matter what the politicians say or do.

But charity goes deeper. It comes from the soul, not the wallet.

Underhill says that the last resort of religious spirituality is the whole course of the spiritual life, which is found to be the same as Charity—the loving union of the human spirit with the Divine Spirit of human beings.

I’ve discovered that Nothing but love for others will drive the soul to the most meaningful struggles, humility, and empathy. The politician seeks donations, the mystic is driven to heroic struggles and maintains the soul through the long, slow climb with endless frustration and cruel failures, remade in the image of Absolute Love. That’s where it ends up. Charity is a sacred thing.

Helping others is the most selfish thing I’ve ever undertaken because it is the best feeling I have ever had, and I never tire of wanting it.

“Real Charity,” wrote St. John of the Cross,” is not shown merely by tender feelings, but by a  strength, courage, and endurance known to other souls.”

I’m not there yet, but I’m on the way.