Category: Transformation

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Spring Forward

So, God, it is almost, truly, spring. We have already had the switch to daylight savings time. This past Monday, there were only about half a dozen swan in the cove, and it was so pretty, I walked down to my car to get my camera and long lens. I snapped a quick cell phone image first and good thing — when I returned, the swan were gone! And then I saw them, way off in the distance, flying away. Flying away north. Flying away to home, their other home. Just like that. The majority had left already; these were the last to go. And then, about an hour later, I left and checked on the osprey nest just north of us since I heard the first one calling that morning. Sure enough, the pair was home! Home for the spring and summer. Just like the swan, they had to make a journey. OH, I get it. Some go, some come, all head Home. Like my cousin who I cannot get out of my mind and heart. Oh.

Home-going is hard only for those waving goodby. To the travelers themselves, coming Home is wonderful, is glorious. It is good to go, it is good to come home. You know this yourself from all your own travels. You love to go, and you love to return.

It’s the leave-taking that is hard.

Yes, and the waiting. But notice what happened, even in your own experience. The osprey don’t take the place of the swan. They each have their own stories. But the presence of the osprey, the joy they bring in and of themselves, that is what helps fill your heart. So now it is a matter of focus. You could choose to fill your heart only with swan, with the memory of their being here all winter. You could let your heart linger there. And that is what memory is for. But — and this is a very important distinction — you can let your heart linger lightly with those swan while embracing the osprey. You can remember and rejoice, and yes, at the bigger goodbyes you can still shed tears, while at the same time choosing to spring forward. Choosing to let your heart find new loves, new reasons to rejoice, new seasons to explore and even celebrate. Some think that dishonors what once was, to be open to what is and what could be. But since I AM, and since I AM Timeless, I say to you, linger lightly. And Spring Forward. Do Both/And. Don’t refuse spring’s gifts thinking you have to be loyal and faithful in honoring winter. You honor winter by remembering, not by refusing to let the snow melt, let the ice thaw, and let your heart be warmed once again by the spring sun. So Spring Forward, little one. And trust that those you love will find their own ways forward into the same sun, warming their own hearts. Hold winter’s griefs up to the light of that sun and let My Love warm and comfort and heal.

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Shine

In the shower this morning I was remembering that verse, which we used to sing, the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn; it shines brighter and brighter until the full day. I’ve lived that, as a photographer. Watching the light come. Watching it grow in intensity and reach. And I’ve lived the opposite, which is how a lot of us think about our lives, I think, especially as we age–like the light of dusk, shining dimmer and dimmer until the full dark. But that is not what You said. Like so much of what You say, it is the exact opposite of what I would think. I would think ending and dusk and dark, and here You are, saying beginning and dawn and light. Full Day. So when we do think Full Day, we think Heaven. What I want to know is, what part–or is there a part–of Full Day life, of shining brighter and brighter life, is meant for here and now?

It is all meant for here and for now. The whole idea is, brighter and brighter. The culmination is Full Day, yes–but most people miss the brighter and brighter part. So those people may still have some concept, some idea, some hope, of a hereafter Full Day, but you are correct in thinking that people expect their path to grow dimmer, not brighter, as their bodies and minds age. Imagine for a moment an opposite reality. Imagine as your physical strength begins to diminish, that your spiritual sensitivity and strength ramps up and goes into overdrive. Imagine an acute awareness, a heightened perception, of My Presence, of all that Light and Bright implies. Imagine living in More Love, More Joy, More Peace, day after day after day. Imagine your connection to My Presence with you and within you growing, not dimming. Imagine the reach of your influence as you live your life in such increasing brightness. What you share with others would change. You would, in fact, become what I called My Children to be, what I Named Myself to be–the Light of the World. So your word for today is Shine!

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Touchstones

Earlier this morning, God, I was thinking about Touchstones. Touchstones are kind of like keywords, like shorthand in a physical object sense. The rocks I carry, they are touchstones. They connect me back to the place or the person I received them from. The fox statue at the entry to Yellowhouse, that is a kind of touchstone, too, and it connects me back to my life with our mother fox at “old Yellow” years ago. That lost-and-then-found butterfly earring. Photographs can be like touchstones; they are visual reminders and connectors back to experience, to moments that were amazing or precious or extraordinary. These pages, these conversations, they are hearing-based, not touch or sight based. But they function sort of like touchstones, too. I come to the page in a routine of what has become expectancy. Not the expectancy of taking for granted, at least I sure hope not, but in a kind of glad confidence born out of love. Actually, now that I say that, that is what touchstones are for me. What makes those objects special isn’t magic. It’s the sense of loving connection each one represents. Is that why the word Touchstone resonated so much with me this morning? Is it a keyword?

 

Connection is a keyword for you. You are like a powerful magnet. You have chosen to magnetize yourself in particular ways, ways that attract into your world experiences that help reinforce what has become your life-view and your life-purpose. You have heard, opposites attract. This puzzles you. You fear it means that you will attract into your world people or experiences that are your polar opposite. But I say, you are attracting that which mirrors your soul. Let Me ask you a question. Would you rather be in the presence of Love or Fear? Of Peace or War? Of Kindness or Cruelty? Of Calm or Agitation? Of Friendship or Enmity? You see? You are attracting the very qualities of My Nature and My Kingdom. In some cases you are transforming situations around you. The goal isn’t to balance fear with love, or to balance cruelty with kindness so both exist in a kind of push me/pull you dichotomy, where neither is more influential than the other. The goal is to build My Kingdom Come. The goal is that Love overtakes Fear, that Peace defuses War, that Kindness softens Cruelty, that Calm envelopes Agitation and that Friendship transforms Enmity.

My Cross is a Touchstone for many. Bowls of Water are Touchstones for many others. Because you view nature as a doorway into My Presence, all of nature has the ability and opportunity to become a Touchstone for you. And because you view the world in this way, nature itself has the opportunity to be elevated to a higher place and purpose than many allow it to be. Because you don’t look at nature merely as a collection of resources to be consumed, but as a living playground that reveals My goodness, nature responds in kind by showing you the best of itself. If you expect the best, you tend to receive the best.Touch

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Exit Here

I had a good day, really, but now I am tired. So what do I do? I drink a cup of coffee. Because I need to be awake, alert and at least somewhat productive, and I’ve got four hours or so ’til bedtime. I’ll relax, kinda-sorta, watching tv for part of that time. But my brain, God, it never stops. It never really rests. So more than my body, can we talk about my mind? I told a customer once about how my brain works, how busy it is all the time, almost like a pinball machine, making connections, synthesizing this with that, and in all seriousness he asked me, so do you take medication for that? I was almost offended! NO! I said, in probably a louder voice than maybe I should have. It’s my brain, I said! Sometimes I like how it works. But sometimes I do wish it would sit! stay! Like a puppy, like training a puppy. I guess that is what mediation is partly for, training your brain to sit, stay. Right?

I made the human brain to think. There is a difference between thinking and over-thinking, between planning and worrying or fretting. Here is a question you can ask yourself–how many times have I covered this same ground, mentally? If you were walking or driving instead of thinking, would you be saying, wait a minute, I passed this same exit half an hour ago! I am back here again, I have made no forward progress! Sometimes that is a very good thing, as it signals you have more work to do to resolve something inside. But if you find yourself passing the same exit over and over and over, then it is a signal there is a deeper issue involved.

Lord, years ago my pastor said, if you find yourself over-reacting to a seemingly small or relatively harmless situation, it is a sign that it is a trigger, relating back to something deeper.

Yes, that was wisdom from him. The same can be true of your worrying. Or your over-planning. Or your second-guessing decisions. Try to get at the source of the repetitive thoughts. Are you accusing yourself, telling yourself information that isn’t correct?

Like what?

How about, you are lazy. Nothing, nothing could be further than the truth. Or what about, you are not doing enough. Again, untrue. You repeat other phrases too. Why don’t you jot some of them down here.

Here? Now?

It might help you. Get them out of your head and down on the page.

Well, I know I say I’m tired when I am actually other things beyond tired. Like upset, or scattered, or…frightened. When I feel pressure closing in and I don’t know what to do, what decision to make. So I say I am tired when I mean more than that sometimes. 

Go on.

Well…gosh, this is harder than I thought. I say, no one cares what I think. I say that a lot. I guess I have said that, a lot, for a very long time.

And now that it is in black and white, staring back at you, what is your reaction?

It’s not true. It is very far from true. Lots of folks love me, and lots of folks actually do care what I think. Some care because they care about me, my thoughts matter to them. Others care because they look to me for my opinion on things. Gosh, it really is the opposite of what I say inside.

So here is what I want to say about that. You just wrote, “what I say inside.” How do you know, why do you believe, I Am speaking with you now?

It is a little hard to explain but I feel as if I know Your voice now. I know the calm and the peace I feel when You start talking. I can come agitated, and You always, always calm me. It’d be like asking me how I know it is Pete on the phone–of course I know. I know his voice from all other voices.

Yes, this is true. So how do you know this is you, in your head, accusing you?

Oooh, that is almost scary, like someone else, not me, not You, is thinking in my head? Is that what you are trying to say? I don’t like that thought at all!

I Am not saying this in the way you are imagining. But you have, most humans have, a stronger memory than you think, especially of your formative years. You internalize many messages spoken aloud, or even with non-verbal clues. Much of your opinion of yourself comes from those early years. We have been talking much lately about play, about perfectionism, about rest. All of these trace back to your early school years with their roots. What I Am saying is, these repetitive thoughts you have, especially those that accuse your character, your stamina, your diligence, your love, your commitment, even your ability to make and keep a commitment, all of these stem from ways you were treated or words that were spoken in your earlier years. If the words came from authority, they had more impact yet. Young children tend to trust the messages they are given. The young of all species are hard-wired to learn. One important difference between animals or birds and humans is that animals and birds give their young consistent messages designed to maximize their ability to survive and thrive. Oh, would that were so with humanity! What a different world you would inhabit! Much of My trying to teach you My voice is to help you discern the difference between My voice and My words and all other voices that have ever spoken to you, including your own. Now here is a promise. Just as you learned to copy and imitate other voices and behaviors when you were very young, including words and thoughts detrimental to you now, so you have the ability to learn and imitate My Voice, My Words, and My Thoughts. Not only can you learn new facts and new skills and new information, you can learn a new way of being with yourself in this world. THAT is what will, once for all, destroy within you the power of fear, worry, anxiety, stress, drivenness, striving to be perfect, trying in fact to be anything that you are not–and all the outworkings of all of that in your life, your health, your finances, every realm you can think of. You can look to Me for an honest, realistic assessment of who you are, and who you can still yet become. You can turn down the volume on any voice that speaks out of your past, while you seek My wisdom about its truthfulness.

So the next time you catch yourself passing the same mental exit ramp, thinking no one cares what I think, or I have to try harder, why don’t you deliberately exit? Don’t go around the loop again. Get off that road. Remember what I Am telling you now. Take the exit marked, My True Self. Let’s continue to explore that road together. It is more beautiful and more wonderful than you have been led to believe.

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Patterns

God, scripture says You don’t test us.

Why should I test you? I already know everything about you. I already know your heart.

Well, teachers test us to see where we are deficient–to show us, or themselves, where we fall short, where we have gaps.

Teachers need to ensure their students have a certain body of knowledge and skills in order to lead an integrated and productive life. Good teachers will assess both their students’ skills and knowledge, factoring in how they learn best. A great teacher will help empower students to continue to learn and grow beyond the classroom. There are other ways, better ways, to encourage and develop life skills than the concept of “testing” implies.

Like what?

When you and Pete got married, were you constantly demanding that he prove his love for you, or were you more focused on showing him your love, and how happy and grateful you ere to be together? And what about him?

We just loved each other, corny as that sounds.

It doesn’t sound corny at all. All that I Am flows from Love, to Love. Love is the beginning place, Love is the journey, Love is the destination.

Ok, Lord, but I have friends and family whose lives seem to be a series of, how can I say this, one-thing-after-another hard circumstances. It never seems to stop. And I am not even talking about the challenges we all eventually face if we live long enough, I am talking about a cascade of disasters. It seems as if more and more is being demanded of them. And if I may say so, it doesn’t seem fair.

Of course you may say so–you may say anything. I don’t want you ever censoring your thoughts with Me, as if you even could. So you are asking why am I giving them such hard circumstances.

Yes, Lord. I don’t understand. 

Imagine a farmer going out to plow his field. And imagine there is one part of the field that is rocky, and every time he plows there, he dulls or chips his blade. Imagine there is another part of the field where the ground is soggy, and poorly drained, and inevitably his tractor gets stuck in the mud there every single time. Now imagine this farmer getting up every morning and setting out to plow these same sections, perhaps imagining that this time all will be different–even though he has never removed the rocks, or tried to fill the soggy ground with better soil. Now imagine that same farmer actually neglecting the portions of his field that are good, fertile, cleared ground. How many crops do you think he will have? How much time and money do you think he will waste, constantly chipping his blade, always getting mired down in the muck? Now, finally imagine this farmer telling his neighbors, I don’t know what lesson God is trying to teach me, that I have all this bad luck farming!

Humans tend to repeat patterns, for good or ill. That is great when the patterns lead to good results, such as good health, loving and respectful relationships, wise stewardship of resources, and peace with others, but it is disastrous if the patterns lead to poor health, being taken advantage of, repeated abusive or neglectful relationships and so on.

When there is a pattern of behavior, or a pattern of results, you do well to come to Me for wisdom about changing the pattern. You can be sure it is not I Who is testing you in those kinds of circumstances. Instead, I Am the One trying to break through your destructive patterns and lead you in paths of life. You change by changing. Perhaps that means a different sense of responses so the outcome is different. One reason recovery programs are so successful is that they are based on the idea that different choices lead to different results.

So what is one concrete thing my friends or family could do?

The first, best thing to do is just to be willing to come to Me and talk about everything that is going wrong with a view to identifying the underlying pattern they may be repeating without even being aware of it. I have promised to lead My children in paths of righteousness. What that really means is, in paths that are right, and true, and perfect for that person. You can be sure My leading will always be centered in Love. For those whose patterns are lifelong, their hearts may be deeply rutted. I Am a gentle and loving shepherd. I will not push or prod or demand a quick pace. That is why the Psalm also talks about green pastures of plenty, and quiet streams. My Way is always the gentlest way. So I would say simply, come. Come, walk with Me. Lean on Me. Learn from Me. Love with Me. Live with Me.

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Empath

You said I can talk to You about anything, and I can be honest.

Of course.

So I want to talk to You about Star Trek. I want to talk to You about that episode about the Empath. I always identified with her, how she literally absorbed whatever bad thing, whatever illness, was happening to her people. It was her destiny to do that, and ultimately it killed her.

Ultimately it killed Me, you mean.

Whoa, no, I didn’t. But, yes. I hear You.

So it doesn’t need to kill you. It already killed Me. And I already Rose, victorious, over all of it.

To save us from punishment?

To save you from enslavement. To save you from any power that would harm you, power that you would yield yourself to. To save you from choices, habits, addictions, anything whatsoever that would cause you harm, or prompt you to harm another.

So among everything else You are, You are the Empath?

I Am. And you cannot be, you must not be. This does not mean you have no compassion or show no mercy. It does mean you do not have the role of absorbing into yourself all that is false or negative and transforming it to the true and positive. That is my role; that is Divine Alchemy, Holy Chemistry. Your role is to see the end result, and you do that by asking Me for Vision. When you see through the eyes of My Heart for the world, you begin to envision what is possible, what is best, and right, and true, in any situation. This takes practice and a discerning ear, eye, and heart. But this is what is truly meant by the scripture, “let the same mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus.” You can share one mind, one body of thought, with Me. The only transformation you have direct control over is that of your own life. You can influence others; you can model a life lived in union with Me; you can speak and share from your life experience, but you are not meant to carry the weight of the world’s sorrows and sufferings. That is uniquely My burden to bear.

So when the world’s sorrows burden you, bring your burden back to Me, and let Me transform your mourning back into dancing. Let Me repair any breach such knowledge has made in your trust or your confidence in My Nearness and Goodness. Let Me continue, like Atlas, to carry the weight of the world. You continue to proclaim glad tidings of great joy!

If you try to absorb the world’s ills, the practice will only sicken and weary you, and cause your own light to grow dimmer with discouragement and despair. That is why Empath is not E.M.’s path. Yes, I used both your first and middle name initials. Clever, yes? You sometimes forget I can be clever, and humorous. Where do you think humor originated?

Intercessor and Empath are not the same thing. You can have empathy for others, and feel with others, without trying to feel FOR others. You can pray for them and comfort them, but don’t try to absorb their pains or weaknesses. Even if you could, that would merely prevent them from coming to their true source of ultimate help, strength, and transformation–which is Me. That is why I Am the Empath, because I Am also the One Who Transforms.

So rest easy, little one. You are doing well. You love your friends and family very well. Let that be enough.

Okay, Lord, I hear You. And thank You. This is not at all how I pictured this conversation going!

And that is why our times together are so important. You need to stay on track, and for that, you need Me.

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Oh Very Young

Lord, I feel like I’m missing something, some lesson, some message. Young, transformation, over and over and over. Like a Native American message–look for new growth, give-away to the young so the young can grow. I sort of think it’s beyond that, even.  I mean, that all seems obvious. But what are You trying to say to me?

To the very young, everything is wonder. Every day, every experience is fresh and new. The very young are receptors–they take in everything and learn and grow from all of it. Everything has a lesson to teach. They have not yet learned to judge, to sort experience. They are curious but not yet wise. Their very openness and wonder are their gifts. True Wisdom retains this wonder. True Wisdom contains this enthusiasm. True Wisdom is not cynical, not jaded. True Wisdom retains the expectancy of Very Young. There is a big difference between “getting older” and “growing elder.”

The Very Young are wide-eyed. Some are timid by nature and some are bold, but all know they are in a larger world, full of possibilities.  Most adults reach a point where they stop. They settle. They stop growing, stop learning, stop expecting anything new or wonderful. Most adults assume, this is it, I’ve reached as high or as far as I can. And they quit there, and begin concentrating not on growing but on maintaining, on not-losing, on not-sliding-backwards. They may have an occasional moment or experience that is beyond the box they’ve constructed and labeled “real life” but those are few. I never asked My Children to “grow up” in this way. I never said, the day will come when I, your Father, will no longer have anything new to show you, give you, tell you, teach you.

Some–you call them visionaries, explorers, inventors–refuse to grow up into this settledness. If not for them, you would, all of you, still be living in the Stone Age.

You already know, which has shaped your believing, a little, a very little, about potential. Don’t stop here. That’s the message. Don’t stop now. Don’t stop, period. In many ways you are already an Elder. But in so many other ways you are a Beginner. You have received that word as a negative rather than as the positive it is, in Me. You are remembering emotions surrounding the phrase “starting over” as loss. Starting over–after losing a relationship, after losing a child, after losing a job…going backwards…you have tremendous sorrow, tremendous grief, tremendous energy of loss, of defeat, around the thought of beginning. That is the source of your mixed emotions right now.

There is a lot that no longer fits for you, a lot more than you’ve been willing to admit or acknowledge. I want you to explore that with Me. Be honest, here. What no longer fits? What relationships no longer fit? What beliefs? What patterns? If you were moving into “smaller to grow larger” emotional space, mental space, what thoughts and feelings do you not have room for? What programs do you want to purge from your hard drive so it will run faster?

If you knew you’d remain healthy, and have financial resources, what would you do then? What would change? What would you dare? What would you dream? What would you try? Your largest dreams, selling a few stock photos to an ad agency for a hospital, is so small, I could make that happen in one day! Then what? I Am saying to you, now what? Don’t become “older.” Don’t settle. Don’t “be adult about this.” Be Very Young. Be filled with wonder, be creative, let your imagination take wing. Be Bold.

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Emergence

Lord, some people fast. How can I prepare, or train, for what You are calling me to do, to become?

I’m not exactly calling you to Become. I Am calling you to Come, Be. Be who you are. There is a difference.

What about transformation? That is becoming; that is change.

Not at emergence. At emergence, the Butterfly Is. But it must come forth. It must emerge. At emergence others see—and say—transformation! Well, yes—and no. The Butterfly always was, within the caterpillar.

You saw the butterfly! You called it forth! Things that are not as though they are!

Here is the Mystery. The “are not” is in your vision—the “are” is in Mine. What I call forth is really Vision, is for you to see what I already see, and Name.

Butterfly?

Butterfly.

Fragile…

Resilient. Strong. Beautiful. Inspiring and uplifting. Gentle. Living only on sweetness, kept alive by joy. “Born in calm.” And passing on a legacy of beauty and freedom for generations to come.

So the transformation?

Is already accomplished. You are who I say you are.

Then why the word about waiting?

You aren’t waiting to become—you are waiting to be revealed.

God, I have so many swirling thoughts and questions, questions about the business, and being this, this other thing, this butterfly-thing. I don’t want my life with critters to be a schtik. You know? I want it to be real, so real.

Eve, it is. It already is. It is your doubt that makes you falter. The critters, as you call them—and yes, call them—know you. They recognize you. You are one who has been coming. They have been waiting for you. You won’t chase them, you will draw them.

 

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Transformation

Lord, when I was writing about Love as a watchword for 2018, for the planet, the word transformative came to mind as well, for myself. I was thinking the changes I have already made, even starting this blog, were transformative. So is transformative a word for me, for 2018?

Transformation is a process. You are experiencing it personally and professionally on several levels, and 2018 will see the end of one era and the beginning of another. There are changes in store, changes that will free you to travel and be even more fully creative.

God, you say that and my heart lurches. Literally, my chest feels tight and my neck zings and my head is pressured and I feel like I can’t take a good deep breath.

I Am trying to re-birth your writer. What was the caterpillar transforms into the butterfly’s body, lifted by its new wings. Even more fully will word and imagery be united in you.

You’ve been very analytical. You’ve tried to reason your way. You’ve tried to calculate your next steps. You’ve tried to make sense out of circumstances. I gave you a very sharp mind but you are not using its full potential—and you are using it in the wrong way and for the wrong purpose.

I don’t understand?

I created your quick, sharp mind to be creative. You keep turning over stones of old ground. I created your mind to see forward and you keep looking over your shoulder. That creates the tension you feel in the left side of your neck, by the way.

Really?!

I want, right now, you to commit to East, to Vision, even more vision. This is the transformation I have in store for you. Walk, seeing. Light will become even more important, and your work will take on even more of an ethereal, other-world visionary quality. By My Spirit, you shall see and name things that are not, as though they are. The storyteller shall emerge in power within you. The poet and lyricist shall rise up. No longer shall you struggle to find the right words, for words themselves will come at your call, at your beckoning. As your planetary winter melts into spring, so shall you take this time to transform your house, your working space, your schedule—you are about to experience a life-shift, in which your ability to minister through your creative gifts will increase. Leave your analytical mind behind and come back to Vision. See, and then see. Hear, and then hear. Butterflies are East symbols. The Butterfly is your symbol for East now. It combines journeys, transformation, nectar-seeking and the golds and yellows of an eastern morning.

Whoa! Butterflies see color! So the concept of color…

Is a Vision concept.

My Voice will be louder, not softer; clearer, not vaguer. I don’t want you stumbling around in the dark trying to figure things out. That is a tremendous waste of time and energy. I want to illuminate your path. I want to give you wisdom.

But aren’t we supposed to work at it?

If by “it” you mean a relationship with Me, the work is to believe and receive. Say yes, and go, flow, know. Remember, My Light will refract through your life.

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Life Movies

Lord, we started talking last night as I was falling asleep, and I really need to re-start that conversation.

I was telling you not to close your heart off, but to stay open, and vulnerable.

Lord, someone gave me that same advice years ago. I heard it then as a command to endure.

That may have been that person’s meaning, but it is not Mine. I never condone or excuse abuse or mistreatment. But when you are hurting inside, for yourself or for others, you tend to wall yourself in and work harder as if that will help. It won’t. It will only add more physical fatigue to your emotional weariness.

The truth is, I didn’t create humanity—or the planet itself—for sorrow, sickness, loss or death. I created for life, for I Am the Giver of Life. I created for Love, for I Am Love. My entire nature and being is Love. Out of Life and Love flow joy and peace and kindness and goodness—which you call the fruits of My Spirit.

So when humans encounter the elements of life they were not made for, they react. Some become stoic, so nothing affects them. Some become narcissistic so everything affects them or revolves around them. Some become addicted to pastimes or to substances to numb or distract them from which is too hard, too painful, to bear alone. But you humans were not made to bear such suffering, not in the beginning, and certainly not alone.

You said recently when a situation troubles me, to surround it, to picture it surrounded, like effervescent life, I can’t remember exactly what You said, and I don’t know how to do that. And I need to. Right now.

Imagine you are a movie director. You can film the scene any way you wish. You have an unlimited budget and any props or costumes you need. You have the world as your set. And you have Angels as part of your extras in your casting of characters. How would you film the next scene? What kind of movie would you produce and direct? Set that as your intention and prayer for them.

Lord, aren’t You the Producer and Director?

Sadly, no. People assume so, and that assumption has led to much additional sorrow and misunderstanding. Each of you is your own director. I direct only where and when I Am invited to do so. Oh, I try to interject into the plot, to give warning about where the storyline is going, or to give encouragement in character development. But the human power of choice is always in your hands. That is why I ask you to pray My Will Be Done. It is not a given, in this world—only in the next.

So take a few minutes. Imagine the scene re-written. Then offer that, as prayer. I Am the God of Reconciliation. Picture a peaceful resolution to all that troubles you.