June 15, 2006

• Guides and humans focus God’s light

• Be present with caring intention

God speaks to all. God speaks to the souls of everyone. It is not just the guides who speak, for the truth is that we do not initiate what is shared with you. What we offer to you is a gift directly from the center of Spirit, from God. It is merely for us to facilitate, to focus, to direct God’s guidance to each of you. Some of you may believe at times that we create the concepts, these messages of love, but they do not come from us. All comes from God.

And so it is with your own lives. When you behave lovingly, you are God’s window that allows the brilliance to shine through. It is God that provides the light. You only bring a focus. Each of you has an eternal opportunity to create illumination in the world around you. Each of you can reflect this luminous presence that we are aware of and that you know to be God. It is you who take God’s presence and give it meaning. We do not give meaning to God’s presence. We help you to be aware of that warmth, that light, but it is a uniquely important opportunity that each of you shares, that allows you to bring that presence into a force that directly influences the rest of human life, indeed that has influence on all creation. It is you, therefore, as we have said so often, who are the arms and eyes and heart of God.

We do not control human life. We do not intervene on behalf of one belief or another. It is you who provide the intervention of God for whom you pray. When there is strife, you ask God to resolve it, but who actually resolves the struggle? It is resolved by you. You hold the keys to peace. You hold the keys to understanding. You hold the keys to reconciliation. You hold the keys to compassion. You hold the keys to being present…you, meaning all of humanity, not merely you in this group. For God’s will to be done as you pray for it, in reality you are praying for the strength and vision to actively bring God’s will to fruition.

Human life, therefore, is important, not just as an opportunity for spiritual growth, but in bringing God’s response to the world as you know it. We speak of your spiritual growth as the result of what you do for others. This is precisely why the growth takes place, because you are bringing God’s reality to another.

You pray for healing…you are praying for balance, but how exactly is any balance achieved, whether we speak of physical healing, social healing, political healing, psychological healing? Such balance is not achieved alone. The balance you seek doesn’t arrive magically without a carrier. It doesn’t just simply happen. This balance occurs through intention. We do not mean God intends and therefore it is done. It means human beings understand the intention and consequently bring that intention into reality through their own efforts, guided by a conviction, an understanding, a vision, if you will, of God’s presence.

Each of you is where you need to be, for although we reinforce the position that it is most important to be there and not to accept the responsibility for the response of others, you are asked to accept the responsibility for your own actions based on your understanding. Human understanding is never complete, and therefore there is always room for doubt. When you take a stand, when you act with compassion, you always wonder “is this truly the proper response,” regardless of your own intention. The response is never one hundred percent certain, and that is okay. That is part of the incompleteness of the human experience, but you are nevertheless asked to be responsive. You must always be responsive. You are not responsible for the impact of what you do, but you are responsible for your own actions based on your understanding of God.

Therefore human life, although you are asked to be there, is not fully characterized as being passive. Human life requires of you a commitment, a commitment to your sense of right, a commitment to your sense of direction, a commitment to your sense of how God would act—always with commitment, always an intention. You must never approach life waiting for something to happen, waiting for someone else to make decisions, waiting to be told. You do not have to be told. If you listen…if you listen to your heart, if you listen to your soul, if you listen to your innermost spirit center, you will know what it is for you to act.

When you are filled with intention, you are not necessarily filled with solutions, but rather with a vision that you expect shall lead to a solution. You cannot be directed by intention when what you seek is full understanding, for that fullness that you desire is never fully developed.

God wants you to be committed. Sometimes your commitment will be in the form of supporting presence…being there, as we say. But what is the value of just being there? It is your presence and what that presence means to another that is so important, for in your presence, you are by definition affirming. You are affirming the importance of another. You are affirming the importance of an event to someone else. You are affirming your concerns. You are affirming your love. You are affirming your care. All of that belongs to being there. You can affirm and support and uplift and give love without a word in exchange. Words in themselves have less power than the act of being present. You can try to describe the importance of that presence, but the real meaning goes beyond such description.

So being present can be intentional. It is a form of being active, of reaching beyond yourself. Prayer is action as well. Just about any activity you are engaged in has the potential for support. Certainly you are capable of bringing harm to another, but we speak here of actions that come from your desire to be helpful, to reflect God’s presence. No action is totally lost, just as no energy is totally lost.

What is the opposite of intention? It is not caring.

You cannot put out all of the fires in the world, all of the concerns that face your country, your community, your family, yourself, but you can choose to be involved in a means that is appropriate for you. It is does not necessarily mean being there, doing, talking. Your prayers are intention. The fact that you pray for another has a positive impact on another. Whether or not you observe that, you can be assured the impact is real.

So you are living with intention. The intention you recognize must be given its direction as a result of your understanding of God’s presence in any situation. When it is God-centered, it is correct. When it is God-centered, it is enough. You never need fear that you are doing less than what must be done. The sheer act of being committed to prayer, to physical action, to emotional health, is doing what needs to be done.

You are therefore the means for God’s influence to be a part of the world you know and participate in. It is God that provides the direction. It is your guides that help provide the vision of that intention, but it is only you who have the power to intervene, to step in, to offer the loving presence. That presence may be a smile, may be a touch. It is not important the nature of being there, but rather your own commitment to whatever that may be.

So often we say you are the hands and eyes and heart of God. These are not just words, but they are meant to give you faith in your ability to become God’s presence. You must have faith in your ability to give support and love. Being there may be anything beyond simply not caring. If you are the least bit concerned about something that affects another, that in itself is being there. But if you go through your lives not caring, if you go through your lives focused exclusively on self, then you are not God’s light in the darkness.

Because of your awareness of guides, you specifically, all of you, are incapable of not caring. That is not a part of who you have become. You are together at these times for the sole reason that you do care.

You wonder if there is a fundamental truth that should underlie your life. That truth is to care. Being there is part of caring. Your prayers are part of caring. Your concerns, your worries, are a part of caring. Your offer of support, compassion, belong to caring. Smiling at a perfect stranger you see belongs to caring. That is what you do. You should never be consumed by a sense of inadequacy, that somehow you are not doing enough. If you are aware of the need for something to be done, you are doing in that very awareness. You are not ignoring. Your lives must be shaped by caring, for in caring, the love that is God is made into human form, and you are empowered in your caring to bring strength and light to souls around you, and to bring focus of God’s light upon your own soul.

You are indeed blessed by your awareness. Allow that awareness of God to provide illumination, and have faith that in your awareness, whatever your response, that response is in keeping with the design of God for the spread of absolute love throughout creation. What a joyous vision you are blessed to have! Be guided by it and warmed and inspired by all that you see.

Amen.