Category: Vision

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The Seat of Seeing

You know how I love that scene in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, in which Aragorn, troubled and unsure, diverts from the trail to sprint up the hill to sit a moment in the Seat of Seeing. In the story, what he sees mirrors his own uncertainty; all is murky and he winds up having to trust his heart for his next steps. For some reason the idea of a Seat of Seeing has always resonated deeply within me. I think the reason has to do with deliberate intention. When you choose to sit still in a Seat of Seeing, you are really asking to see, asking to know, asking to be led. And I know we can’t always KNOW…but I also know we can always be led, always hear our next right step.

So last week, while in Hendersonville, walking a mountain trail, I came to this rock formation and immediately I thought, a Seat of Seeing! I want to write about what happened next, what I felt and thought there, what it seemed to me You said there.

Like Aragorn, I was seeking direction. So I left the trail and walked up the slight incline to sit on the lowest of the rocks. There was a perfect ledge there, big enough for me to sit and even lay back. No sooner had I sat, wondering what will I see here (thinking maybe a bird would fly by or something), then I heard in what I have come to believe is Your voice speaking in my own mind thoughts I know did not originate in my own thinking. You said, “your future.” I did not expect that! That was startling and revelatory in a way I still don’t understand. Later in the week, I had a chance to sit on another rock, this one on flat ground with a tiny heart shape in its form. There, You said to me: You have need of patience. Yes, Lord. I know.

The whole experience, these two rocks, these two messages, a couple days apart, were connected in my mind and heart. Future…patience. I told someone recently what I read years ago: you can drive across country at night seeing only the next 50 feet in front of you. Sometimes (ok, all the time) I want to see way down the road. But You are calling me to trust. To trust, and to flow. That is what I believe You are saying to my life right now.

Look back at your own words above. Aragorn had to trust his heart. So do you. You have to trust that I Am speaking to your heart, yes. But you also have to trust your heart, in and of itself, for your heart is connected to My Heart. This is where your doubts arise. You question your decisions. And what have I told you about that?

You told me to choose from Love.

Exactly. If you choose from Love, you will never choose amiss, which is what Aragorn feared he was doing in the tale, choosing amiss. You cannot choose amiss if you choose from Love.

But what if things don’t work out?

You mean, what if the outcome is not what you originally envisioned?

Exactly!

If you hitch your choice to Love to a specific outcome or a specific set of circumstances that you plan out in advance, then you are not actually choosing Love above all. Remember, the choice to Love does not mean that you bow down to abuse or that you go along with others’ choices that are clearly not based in Love. Love will give you the courage to say yes, and also to say no. Love gives you the patience to wait, to be still, to listen, to be led. The important thing, the only important thing, is to choose from Love. Love’s flow will always, always move you in the right direction. Follow that flow, follow your heart, and you will be following My Voice, all the time, each and every time.

You also reminded me of that old hymn, He hides my soul in the cleft of the rock, and covers me there with His hand. I just remembered that, looking at the photograph. As I was getting back to my feet, sort of climbing back out of the wedge, the cleft, You brought that hymn to mind. And it was comforting and scary all at once.

Why scary, little one? Do you not believe I Myself Am choosing from Love?

Of course. But the world isn’t. And even in Love, people leave.

People die, you mean.

Yes. And it is hard.

You are still very earth-bound, and earth-bound is who I made you, all of you, to be. Remember, I created this earth, this beautiful earth, for you, as a gift–for a season. In this season you are in the body. After this season you will be in My Body, which is deathless, timeless, ageless. And healed. Healed of any manifestation that is not-Love. Imagine that! Who wouldn’t want that? Who wouldn’t long for that? That is your future, your destiny. But before that future, you have chapters yet to live on earth, in your body, choosing the Love that is Eternal. Living here, seeing Beyond. That is what I Am calling you more and more to do. To live both/and, remember? To see, to hear, to share both/and. Both IN the earthly body AND In My Heavenly one. To flow from My Spirit while in an earthly body. To feed the hungry heart, to quench the thirsty soul. You have so many ways to do just that! Some will receive in one way and others will receive in a different way. Lead and be led from Love. Always, always, from Love.

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Retreat

So, Lord, I have just spent the equivalent of two days—an evening, a day, a long morning—in a mini retreat, with eight other folks similarly engaged. There was such good material, most of which bubbled up inside each one of us as we individually and collectively responded to each other’s insights, questions, griefs, fears, longings. We were in “it”—this business of a daily life, spiritually centered—together, and in a way we don’t, or I should say, I don’t, despite my longing, often practice in the daily all by myself.

So my question, or one of my questions, is this: given a sense of calling, given experiences that feel to me like being invited into a deeper sense of Your Presence, why would I, why would anyone turn away from that invitation? Here is a follow-on question: despite what might be my fears around that invitation (what will others think? How will those I love react?), how can I live more fully aware and engaged? Our director said, over and over, Just Breathe. How do you feel right now in your body?

God, I think I know why I keep being drawn to bicycles. It’s the balancing act motif. Live connected to You, live connected to others—but not in a way that diminishes either Your Voice or my own—and live connected to myself. That is the challenge, to keep present, God, with all that is, and still hold to, or allow myself to be held by, and in, Your Love. That’s it, isn’t it! It feels like an aha. To allow myself to simultaneously be present to what is happening around me and at the same instant, to allow myself to be held by and in Your Love. Bingo. And I don’t. I mean, I do, but then I slip. I fall. I tumble into trying to fix everything around me (as if I even could, or as if it would be wise if I could), or I stumble over what is happening around me because I have closed my eyes and ears if it seems too painful or hard to bear, and neither one of those is the Third Way, of being present in a way that still allows Your Love to flow and center me in that Love.

All this is really heady, heavy stuff. But I love it. I love taking time to acknowledge it, and talk about it, and practice Your Presence, and write about it, and go out with my camera in hand, into a world I view as one You made initially, and look for evidence that You are still present here.

You said a lot this weekend, and some of it was beyond words. But is there anything You would say now, that I can share here?

Why don’t you write about what you saw and experienced when you went outside at sunset by yourself.

Ok, well, I think I saw the Green Flash. I had seen an afterflash of white light, once, just after the sun went down, and that was a couple years ago. But last evening as the sun disappeared, and there was a thin haze layer right at the horizon so the last glimpse was ever so slightly above it,I clearly experienced a shift of color in my perception from yellow to green and then gone. It doesn’t exactly show on the photograph; it looks more yellow, but if I desaturate all the yellow there is still a tonality present in the flash than in the streaks of color in the clouds above. And then, when I sensed it was time to go, and I got in my car, there were three deer that came out of the trees on the other side of the road and walked out into the marsh. One of those was a buck in velvet, with just-growing antler. Whether they would have come if I had stayed, I doubt. But it was a special treat to see them.

And what did you ask for at the beginning of your retreat?

Well, I asked for an experience of You. Not just words. Something beyond words, something sensory. I asked for clarity. I asked for Vision, as in Vision Quest. I wanted insight.

How do you feel right now?

Very calm. Relaxed. As if I could take a nap! Really, I feel drained in the best possible sense.

So why don’t you?

Why don’t I what?

Why don’t you nap? I cleared your calendar for the weekend, and that included today. That includes this afternoon. Do you remember the scripture, He gives to His Beloved even in sleep? Well, that goes for you too. All the while you were there to receive for yourself, you were also holding sacred space for those around you. You deliberately set about to do that work, to be a silent assisting partner. Now it is time for Eve to rest, and simply, merely, only receive. Not receive AND give. Just receive. You rarely do that fully awake, but in this semi-drowsy state, I can impart much to you—much healing, much insight, much strength. Everything you need, I can impart. Are you willing to lay down your need to appear strong and just receive? If you can answer yes, then go take a nap. And trust that everything in your world will be okay, while you rest and receive.

 

 

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Envisioning

Lord, here I am. Another notebook filling up. Calendar pages turned. I am coming here, I am going outside, I am trying to be faithful.

You are being faithful in that you keep coming to your Source, Who is Me, the Great I AM. But you so quickly unplug and move into your daily. I so want you to stay connected, stay aware of your connection, and you still don’t know quite how to do that yet. What you see is your weariness, and what I see is your tenacity–and your beauty. How you come, over and over. How you choose to bless, how you want others blessed. How you pray. How you struggle for others and take on their concerns and their causes. In so many ways, you are still waiting for the full flowering of your own creative life. Every time you sense there is more, you vacillate–between thinking I Am trying to hurry you along, or thinking you must hurry yourself, or thinking you need to hold back. There is no hurry. I mean for you to enjoy the journey.

Right now you feel in another creative slump. The cure for a creative drought is daring. Daring to believe, daring to climb, daring to put new work out there. Your strategy is to diminish and withdraw, but My Call is to expand and grow and share. Over and over I have called you to name your heart’s desires, and over and over you keep them bottled and locked, hidden away from your own knowing. You are burying yourself alive when you do that. Your creativity goes into hibernation in self-defense.

I Am here to awaken you again, but I want for you to hear Me: Write out your Vision Quest. Write down your heart’s desires, all of them. Be honest with yourself and with Me. Make vision boards. I cannot bless what you will not let awaken. Look how Pete has supported you as Photographer. You think he will not support you also as Writer? Put it all out there. The first time you really did this, really let yourself dream, was 1993, and the west, and Pete himself, are all part of the flowering of that time. The last time you really did this, really let yourself dream, was 2003, and your life now, as owner of Yellowhouse and SeaDragon, as a wildlife and nature photographer, is a direct outflowing of that time. It is time to let yourself dream again, in the now. As then, so now. Dream. Be real on the page. Don’t hold back. Start envisioning. Trust Me to help you open the eyes of your own heart. I see already, and what I see is glorious, is magnificent. As I told you so long ago, don’t be afraid of it, just be faithful to do what I tell you every day.

Ok, Lord. I am hearing Yoda–do or not do; there is no try. I have “not-do.” I need to do this. You keep asking, You have been asking, so You must have a reason. I need to trust You for what the exercise reveals. I feel a small flicker of joy, of hope. God, I can’t go here alone. And I hear back…

You are not alone. You are never alone–you’re with Me.

Thank You Lord. I hear You. You, Who are Timeless, whose Word is Timeless. I hear You.

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Sees Far

God, SeesFar, that is an Eagle Name. Not a Fox Name. Or a Deer Name. Or a Mouse Name.

Yes, you have eyes in both worlds now.

Lord, in the story, Mouse gave up both its eyes eventually—to Wolf and to Buffalo—and then Became Eagle. But Fox, fox did not give up an eye to Eagle.

Nor have you given up both eyes. No sacrifice for Love is ever wasted, even if not received by the originally intended recipient. I take all those gifts to Myself. And I never forget. So Fox’s missing eye Eagle has received and made its own, and given back to Fox as extraordinary vision. Vision in the Extraordinary sense.

Like, Vision.

Exactly.

Oh!! So I have…

So you have a Fox/Mouse eye, and an Eagle eye. You have eyes in both East and South.

And my ears?

You have ears in the West and North.

Oh.

You hear language and music. You hear nature and My Spirit. You hear within and Beyond, just as you see here and Beyond. You see what is, and what will be. You also see what can be. And you hear in those directions as well. You hear what is, but you also hear what can be, and what will be. You hear My Heart. You have tuned your heart to My Rhythms. Now I want you to finetune your focus, your vision, on My Vision, just as you have tuned your heart to My Heart. Do You Understand?

Probably not. But I am willing.

That is enough.

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Seeing Green

God, there is some commercial out now, I can’t even remember what the product is, just the tagline. It says something about finding and celebrating what makes you different. The premise reminds me simultaneously of the Fascinate: Advantage book and personality test by Sally Hogshead and also of the quote about being yourself because everyone else is taken. What got my attention was the way it got my attention! As if there was some layer of meaning or message I need to, well, pay attention to. Something I am not doing, or not doing consistently, or not doing enough. Not a reprimand so much as a course correction, that is what the sense is, emotionally, every time I hear it. So that leads me to ask You, what? What are You trying to say? I know well enough now that You can and will use anything, any opportunity, to emphasize a truth or to draw out of us a question that You really are asking us. So, what?

What, what? The question is clear: what makes you different?

Isn’t that a little like asking what makes my heart sing?

Not necessarily. Humans are big on comparisons, and on contrasts. What makes you different?

I can think of two ways to answer that question. One answer really dovetails with something Pete and I were talking about earlier—once upon a time, seems like long ago and far away, I suffered from depression. I had circumstances to blame, sure, but I also seemed derailed and unable to think clearly, to focus on solutions or even on tasks at hand. I scared myself, actually. And I don’t think the person I was then is the same person I am now. I do think I am different, and what makes me different today, is the kind of relationship I have with You, and how You have led me to focus on gratitude. Honestly, I say it a lot, but it is huge, huge, huge for me. And it has made me a bigger and better version of myself for sure.

 The other sense of the question, which could be worded what makes you unique, is harder for me to answer. I said to Pete last night, something like, isn’t it fun, living with an elf? And then I laughed! I think…I think my trying to stay upbeat and positive, which really is an outgrowth of coming out of that depression years ago, I think that makes me different. Say you grew up in a desert. Lots of drought. Very little rain. Very little green. And then you somehow are transported, or maybe you walk yourself, out of that desert into a much lusher, greener, growing landscape. But you never quite forget drought, forget that others live in that desert. And you meet them every day, people who still live there, in their viewpoint, even though they are surrounded now by this verdant, vibrant life! I think maybe what makes me different is that I can see the desert in the rearview mirror, and I can see it in others’ eyes, and at the same time, I can see the green grassy open fields. It’s almost like a fantasy overlay, God, like parallel universes or something. And I live in the greener one, most of the time. And, ok, here is what makes me different. Not that, not what I have said so far. What makes me different is that I KNOW, I just know, the green world is true. Real. And available. Available to live in. Available to thrive in. And I know it not only for myself, but for everyone around me, and so I try, in my little ways, to mirror that possibility back to those who are still, for whatever reason, living in drought. I think that makes me different.

Do you know what makes the desert bloom? Water. Rain. You know how the verse, she who waters will herself be watered, always resonated with you? Here is a reality some will not understand—I will use many means to communicate with My children. It is no accident, the date of your birth. You are born, for those who pay attention to such things, in Aquarius for a reason. You are a water-bearer. You bear My Living Water, and you carry it to all living things. You carry compassion and hope in very particular ways. You see future potential and possibilities where others see only dead ends. They see a path leading to a wall or a precipice, and you see a path leading to a doorway into expansiveness. They see a trickle and fear it will run dry, and you look upstream to see the spring that feeds the waterfall that plunges into the river that rushes into a meandering stream that eventually narrows to a trickle that nonetheless causes a flower to bloom. You follow the trickle upstream with your eyes and your heart and eventually with your feet and you come to a place of such beauty and power it could generate enough electricity to fuel a city! Your vision of reality is not skewed or distorted as much as it is unbound by time. You see forward. You have been accused of wearing Rose Colored Glasses. They are not rose-colored, they are Risen-Colored, for you have embraced all that resurrection entails, for your own life and for the planet you call home. Remember what I said in Narnia—Father Time was his name while he was sleeping, and now that he is awake, he shall have a new name. You are seeing beyond Time at times. Don’t let that scare you and don’t let that stop you. Your job IS to see, and to share. That’s what makes you different.

God, You told me a few nights ago that You aren’t in absolute control, in the ways we might think, or want You to be. So how can I see beyond Time if everything is random, if nothing is in Your control. I mean, how can anyone see? Or know? It doesn’t make sense.

I didn’t say nothing was in My Control. I said not everything was in My Control. Imagine this. Imagine a landlord with a set of keys, each key opening a door in a building he owns. That landlord doesn’t control what happens in each of those separate units, especially if the inhabitants want nothing to do with him, except to begrudgingly pay their rent, and to be left alone. Imagine further that some of those tenants don’t take great care of their units. The landlord winds up getting blamed for the state of the living space, when the tenants themselves have created a lot of the issues they then have to deal with. Now imagine a friend of the landlord comes to live in the building. They greet each other in the hallway; they share meals in the friend’s apartment; they do things together whenever they can. The friend takes great care of his unit, in part because that is his inclination, and in part because he does have this close relationship with the owner. His view of the landlord, of the building, and of the world at large, will be far different than the view held by the aloof renter down the hall. You are like that friend. Now imagine sitting down on a regular basis with the owner of the building, who shares his ideas and plans for the space as well as his hopes and dreams for other properties around the city. Imagine that landlord talking about building a whole community around principles of sharing resources and green space and parks and conveniences located nearby. Wouldn’t the friend get excited? Wouldn’t the friend want to live there? Wouldn’t the friend want to be a part of the development and the planning, if he were invited to be? Again, wouldn’t his view of the future, as well as of the present day, be far different than the view held by the more aloof tenant? And if he were able to somehow change the viewpoint of that aloof tenant, wouldn’t that be incredible and fabulous work?

That is the way in which you see the world I, Myself, hope for. That is the way in which you have a part in building that world, what I have called My Kingdom. See forward. Hearken to Jeremiah’s words, which you love so much, and which promise you that I do have plans, and they include giving you both hope and a future. Another way to say that is, to grant you true hope, not a mockery of hope that disappoints by never being fulfilled.

Gosh, God, You have given me a ton to think about. And all of a sudden I am tired, with that tiredness that comes from letting go.

Yes, this is enough to talk about at one sitting. Go rest now. And remember, I shall never run out of things to tell you or share with you. Our Companionship is Eternal. Never shall you tire of Me, and never shall I tire of you. So rest in that truth for tonight.

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Waiting

Lord, the days are getting longer now. Little by little and day by day, more light. Thank You for Your promises of freshness. Even more than any kind of vacation, I have been longing to feel fresh here. Here on the Outer Banks, here at home. I know I won’t go with fresh eyes or the ability to be inspired anywhere else until I can be refreshed here. Then, anywhere I go will be fresh, because I will be fresh, I will be bringing a refreshed perspective to each day.

My Birth appeared ordinary–not to Mary and Joseph, and not to the shepherds–but to everyone else around that night. I was hidden in plain sight until the time was right. There were hints and glimpses, but the full picture wasn’t shown until many years later. And even then, it was not fully understood by the world at large. So I well understand waiting and timing. Bread, leavened, still takes time to rise. Still takes time to bake. Then it becomes food for the world.

Waiting is never easy. And you are waiting not for a resuming of something already experienced, already known, but for something as yet unrealized in your life and therefore unimagined. You keep saying, I can’t imagine, and that’s true. The first gate we will open together is that gate, the Gate of Imagination. Your writer-self needs this. You are picturing a rusty farm gate, squeaky rusty hinges, long neglected. As if somehow you should have known it was here and been using this gate all along. But the Gate we will open together is new, easy to swing, and high. It opens onto a world the likes of which–pun intended–you have never imagined. That is the whole point. This is a Gift you are now ready for. This isn’t a territory you have neglected. It is only now being readied for you, because you are now ready to receive it, prepared to explore it, able to actually occupy it, settle in and live here. There is a big sign on the Gate: Welcome Home.

But it’s not Heaven. I mean, it’s here!

It is Here. It is your next chapter. Your next level. Your next phase of being with Me, in your world.

And this is meant for daily? For every day?

You cannot understand until you experience. All you have to do is wait. You are already ready. I have seen to that. The time you will need to live this out–I have already seen to that, too. No, no this doesn’t come at the price of your health.  This is pure and undiluted delight that will give new color and shape and breath to everything you do. This is like breathing fresh air after being cooped up inside a stuffy stale room. Each full breath actually increases your capacity to breathe deeper and fuller yet.

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Mind Mapping

Lord, even after all these years, when I pause, I have this thought of, “He’s not coming. He won’t speak.” Like a blank page, blank canvas thought. But I pause anyway. I am remembering reading the Mind Map book, years ago. How I loved it, how it puzzled me, how it gave me a new framework to think about thinking itself. Lord, what would Your Mind Map look like?

Instant explosion of color–dancing–delight–joy–hope. Everything positive, beautiful.

One of My Mind Map branches is you.

I never thought of that, but I know instinctively, it’s true. What does my branch look like?

That is what you are going on Vision Quest to find out.

Oh!

Your Vision Quest is not about deprivation. It’s about expansion. It is about focus, but the paradox is this–as we macro-focus, close-focus on you, on My Mind for you, your vision of yourself and for yourself will expand like looking through a wide-angle lens. My Vision, My Map, truly is infinite. I want to share more of My Map with you. That is what your Vision Quest is for. It’s not that I Am going to tell you everything that will happen. It is not about “what.” It is not about “when.” It is about “who.” Maybe some “why.” That may point the way toward some “what” but that is not what this is for. This is not a journey to discern decisions. It is to discover the self I see, not what the world sees. Not what you see. Even though your own vision has expanded, it is still just a glimpse. You are still just squinting through dark polarized lenses. This Light won’t blind you. It will free you. This is bigger, for you and in you, than Renewal was. That was all I had to work with at the time, and you opened to that. This is much, much more. More than these pages have been.

Don’t worry or concern yourself now about larger effects, larger purpose. Of course it will bless others as you live out the Quest, as you embody the Vision. That is your heart and part of My heart for you. But it begins with you, and that is where we begin as well. It is not selfish, it is life. It is not sin, it is love–My Love for you. It will change everything–it will seem like a Big Surprise, surprise after surprise, image after image.  You can’t “do” it wrong, this Quest, for I Am leading you. The only “wrong” would be to not come. But here you are, so that is settled. For today, take these thoughts with you. Dancing Delight. And “greater than Renewal.” Feel the excitement, the quickening, the eager anticipation. Hold that feeling, that intention. That is like your walking stick. Take that with you everywhere, like your rock. That is how you begin.

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Stained Glass

Every night, before dinner, taking turns, one or the other of us thanks You for the day, and for our food, and for all the good things You give us. On days like today–our anniversary–those thanks mean a little more, refer to something extra-ordinary, something that makes the ordinary extra special. Thank You for bringing Pete and me together all those years ago. You took what was broken inside each of us, God, and You made something precious. Like stained glass, You saw that the pieces could come together and become something beautiful. I am, we are, so grateful.

I was not the only One Who had vision. The two of you did, too — vision that led you to hope again, to believe again, to care again, and to love again. That is exactly the sort of vision the world needs right now, vision to see beyond, and imagine as the two of you did, the possibility of something beautiful, something wonderful, once again — even if that something wasn’t the thing you originally planned. That is what hope is all about, the vision to see beyond.

Lord, when light refracts through stained glass, it makes a rainbow. It’s prismatic. 

Yes, that is what Love does, it colors your world with possibility and wonder.

Thanks again, God, for making our world, our daily part in it, so full, so beautiful. Thank You. 

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Full Circle

Lord, we’ve talked about north, about rest and peace; about west, the expansiveness I feel there; and about the south and my need to receive and connect. So what is left for the East, which I think of as the vision-place, the clarity view?

What do you see, looking East?

I see a shimmer, Lord, like sunlight dancing on moving water, the ocean at dawn. I see wings! Pelicans gliding on the currents, matching their movements to the interplay between air and water. I take a deep glad breath just picturing the scene in my head.

So, you see, for you, East is coming full circle. You integrate the peace of the North, the joyful, excited, enthusiastic energy of the West and the heartfelt connection of the South as you look East. East is your vision-place, yes–and also where you live on the map, the eastern edge of the US. Your vision, for a Utopian Eden, like a perpetual spring, will never be fully realized here on Planet Earth. You know this. But you will experience glimpses and moments, and those experiences are destined to grow for you in duration and strength, like a sunrise begins in twilight and grows to full day–but, and this is very important–only if you carry into each day’s beginning all the lessons of the other directions. Without these, the day will dawn overcast in your thinking and you will succumb once again to a heaviness of spirit. It’s all a choice. Remember, for this particular season of your life, in order to restore yourself, you need to work backwards.

North–Rest, Peace, Trust. Freedom from fear and anxiety, which cripples you.

West–Expansive Joy and creative expression, a direct result of peace

South–Re-connecting and connecting. Being willing to receive help, support and love.

East–Integrating all of these into a full life. Once you arrive here, then you can once again traverse the wheel clockwise, and give out and give back those gifts you have received.

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The Road Ahead

Lord, I have heard this thought: the minute you become responsible for another person’s happiness is the minute you cross the line into co-dependency. Is that right? Is that true?

There is a difference between contributing to another’s joy or happiness and becoming responsible for it. The moment you assume responsibility is the moment you hinder Me from working My full miracle in another’s life.

Really?

Part of My miracle might be you–and part might be someone else, and part might be those persons finding within themselves a wellspring from Me that was unrealized and unexplored before.

Oh. Well, oh. I never thought of that. Okay, I guess that makes me feel better. I can contribute but I am not responsible. Lord, I need to take this in, for everybody I love. So…what am I responsible for?

You are responsible for keeping your own lamp lit, and that is quite enough. Keeping your own lamp lit goes a long way to making the kind of contribution you long to make. Light your path. Look down your road–not so that others will follow you (though they may)–so that you can explore the territory I Am calling you to. I want you to carry a map and I want you to carry a compass. Carrying a map isn’t the same as actually going places and exploring them, but it’s a beginning point. I don’t want you to wander aimlessly; I do want you to have goals and purpose. And as you carry your map, I do want you to fill in details as you experience them.

Like a soul journey.

A soul journey and a literal journey, into new opportunity and new experience. Both/and.

And You are giving me a map?

Yes, the bigger map we talked about before.

Lord, I can’t see it.

That’s because I want you to draw it. I want you to believe I will inspire you, and I want you to draw it in advance; to draw it to you, and to draw yourself in, so you will know it is I speaking and inspiring you, and that I Am the One giving you this life.

First, you have to receive Vision. If you could really know that what you see, as vision, is from Me, then you would take it in, and live it out. You just don’t want the responsibility of creating a life for yourself if it’s not the life I have in mind for you. That is what stops you from dreaming or imagining. You–more than anyone else you know–need to know that the vision is true, and given by Me, to you. Then, you have faith and you have energy, but you need to receive a blueprint from Me. Otherwise all you have is a pile of lumber and you have no idea what to build with it.  I will give you clear, fresh vision.