Label Yourself

How do you label yourself? Democrat, vegetarian, lawyer, fat, Catholic, older, student, intelligent, American, mother, etc? May I suggest instead --- God, One with God, Christ, son of God, daughter of God.

Saying You Are Sorry

It is important to say you are sorry, both for yourself and the person you are apologizing to. When you say you are sorry and it is heartfelt, you affirm that which is Real in you for you and the other person. You advance yourself on the path to God, because you acknowledge that you would do it a different way the next time, that the words or the act maybe came from a place of anger or bitterness or resentment or hurt and not from who you want to be and who you are. It takes humility, courage, and the willingness to be vulnerable to admit that to yourself and the other person, and when you are willing to do that, He is working through you.

Crux of the Issue

Here is the crux of the issue. God is either separate from you or not. There can be no partiality. You are One with Him and He is present and expressing through you without exception, or He is separate from you, maybe loving you and bestowing His goodness and favors on you when you turn to Him or act "good." There cannot be a scenario where sometimes you are One with Him and you move and have your Being in Him and sometimes you don't. But this is what the vast majority of people believe to be the case. God is One. What are the implications of this totality, this non partiality, this non randomness, for YOU?

Compassion

Compassion means seeing yourself in someone else's shoes. Compassion is the foundation of Love. As Love, we go further than seeing ourselves in their shoes. We see them as ourselves, as God.

Separation From God

It is not your actions or your thoughts or your experiences which make you believe you are separate from God. It is your self judgment and guilt around these things which creates the belief in separation. Someone might say that they could then murder or rape someone as long as they don't have self judgment or guilt. But if you had no self judgment or guilt, you would fully know your Oneness, and you would never come from actions or a view that was not Love. You would never hurt someone else as you realize that you would be doing this to yourself. When "evil" is committed, it is done by an individual who has tremendous self judgment, and they believe at some level that they are taking their anger and self judgment and "getting rid of it" by this act. This is false, as you cannot project away anything, for we are not separate, we are One. As God shared Himself to create us, we can only share --- we cannot project it on to a person or group to get rid of it. After the "evil" is committed, the perpetrator has tremendous guilt, even though it may be well hidden from their conscious mind, and this is the case with self judgment.

Forgive Them Father ...

"Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." What does this statement that Jesus made on the cross tell us? It may appear that Jesus was imploring God to forgive the crucifiers, but God is Love, and Love looks past. Forgiveness was automatic. And Jesus had no need to "voice" something when his communion with God was wordless. That statement was said so that it would be recorded and we could learn from it. "For they know not what they do." All of the evil in this world is create by individuals who have an unknowing or ignorance of their Oneness with Him. What this tells us is that the words and actions of someone must be seen as separate from the true essence of who they are.

I

Each of us identifies ourselves using "I." We say "I am going to the store," or "I am angry." "I am smart," and "I don't like what you are doing to ME." When we continue to identify ourselves this way, when we continually reinforce it, no wonder that we believe we are separate from Him. And no wonder why many people believe He is sitting in a faraway place called Heaven. And no wonder why many people assign Him the same qualities as we perceive in ourselves, like judgment, anger, conditional love. He is not that, and neither are you. You may perceive that, and this makes you believe it, but perception is an appearance, not Truth. Do not believe this about yourself or Him. You are not separate --- you are One with Him. And you are One with everything and everyone. You are not limited by time and space --- these are human constructs. They are not of Him nor of you.

How You See Yourself

The world we see is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves. It is a composite of each of our individual self judgments. That is why the world's appearance is such a mess. Many people believe they have sinned against God, and it is this harsh self judgment which collectively gives the appearance of evil, hatred, chaos, greed, and all that is NOT God. Each of us has personal responsibility in this, because we are One. To change the appearance, change yourself, or rather change how you see yourself. When you know that you are His holy Son or Daughter, that you are One with Him, like Him in all respects, then the angels and all of Heaven will sing your praises. For you have become a vessel of Light through which He can bring His Light to others. When enough have done this, this world will truly reflect Heaven on earth. For His Kingdom has always been here --- it just needs to be revealed through your Light, His Light (one and the same).

"Never Forget"

Throughout history there have been many atrocities committed on groups of people. When it is finished, you have heard the phrase "never forget." When this is said, it is the same as saying never forgive. If we have forgiven, we don't forget what happened, but we don't dwell on it either. True forgiveness means to see the experience in a different light, a much larger perspective. There is no anger, hatred, bitterness, resentment, or self pity remaining when we truly forgive. If we look back, it is for this important reason. God wastes nothing. Out of every tragedy can bloom roses if we allow it. So when we look back, look back for the gratitude, for the roses, that came out of the horrific experience and allowed us to move closer to Him.

The Hard Times

In everything and everyone we encounter, without interruption, God gives us signals which show us what we need to do to move closer to Him. This encompasses what we need to do in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual areas. There are times when we go through difficult periods but we are able to see the ups and downs from a larger perspective of our full journey, and we know that the difficult period that we are in is temporary. As we learn to be aware of the signs He gives us and we follow these with joy, even if we don't understand them, our life moves with great ease, the difficult periods become fewer, and the most amazing doors open to us. However, when we are in a difficult period and unable to see this hard period from the larger perspective, we may have ignored and resisted the signs and paths He has presented to us. If we have resisted them, the signs become stronger --- He does not want us to go through a personal disaster for us to hear Him, but for some people this becomes the only way He can get their attention. It is never too late. We can always move on the path that He has illumined, although it may initially seem like a bad or scary choice, especially if you have been resisting everything up to that point. He will always provide the answers and the help. Life is meant to be easy and joyful --- we are the ones that make it difficult.

Make Your Heart Sing

Do only that which makes your heart sing, because when you stay centered in this, you are centered in Him. If there is a practice, ritual, or prayer which was making your heart sing but has become rote, drop it. We cannot become attached to any practice or specific prayer, even if it is one that "appears" to take you toward Him. Because ultimately all of these vehicles which take you toward Him are still things of this world, and what is of this world will pass away. When something has become rote, this is to be celebrated, because you have moved to the next level of recognition of your Oneness with Him, and He will bring you the next thing that will make your heart sing, increasing your joy to an even higher level.

What Profiteth a Man ...

What profiteth a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Where do you make compromises? Do you visit websites which are not good for you? Do you maintain your prayer and meditation time but eat foods which you know pollute the vessel that is His temple? Do you tell just a few little white lies, or do you think it is okay if the cashier makes a mistake and gives you an extra five dollars back? Do you remain silent when someone's reputation is being trashed? What profiteth a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? This is not meant for you to condemn yourself. Everyone is being presented this right now, for our time is short. You have to make a choice as to what you want, and if it is Heaven, you need to bring awareness to those times you are not meeting the standard that you know is required. The time for exceptions is over.

What You Think of Yourself

t doesn't matter what anyone thinks of you. It only matters what God thinks of you and what you think of yourself. And I can tell you that God thinks you are the most amazing part of Him and that He loves you beyond all measure of what you can comprehend. So all you have to do is take care of what you think about yourself.

Experiences

You have formed an opinion, of yourself, based on your experiences. Because you see these experiences as either "good' or "bad," you have made judgments about yourself based on the belief that your experiences are who you are. For instance, if you were sexually abused as a child, you may feel that sex is not natural and that you are dirty or "bad" when you have sexual feelings. When you have a "bad" experience, the severity of your self judgment and negative belief around the experience is based on the duration and severity of that experience. Going back to the sexual abuse example, a child who has an incident with a stranger is probably much less traumatized than a child who is abused by a parent for many years. But there really are no degrees. All experiences are temporary, and what is false, is false. We do not need to delve in to or define what is not of God except to say that it is not of God. Remember that all experiences are temporary. He is eternal. You are eternal. The experience is something you have experienced, not who you are. Do not let any experience define you.

Purification

When you are undergoing a trial or tribulation, do you ask for the next to be more difficult? We are meant to be in this world but not of it. We are meant to live a life filled with His joy and peace. But you cannot reach this state without purification. He is not trying to punish you when you undergo trials. He is purifying you, making you like Him, to bring you closer to Him. All He does is done from Love, for He is Love.