December 7, 2023

• Addressing the Middle East conflict

• Guides are totally nonjudgmental

You pray for the presence of all spirits whom you know and love. You pray for the presence of all whom you love. You pray for the heart vision of God’s centrality of love. We can assure you that all that you pray for to be present is indeed present at this time.

The suffering of which all people are becoming aware is indeed widespread and profoundly distressing. The suffering emanates from a point of distrust and fear. Those two characteristics form the basis of much that you observe. Of course, there is an over sense of a wish to dominate, to control, but if you look at domination and the need to control, you will recognize that much of the impetus for that comes from a fear of what happens if you do not dominate, you do not control.

For some sides of the conflict, there has been an overriding anger because of what has been taken from them. There is a fear of losing more. There is a desire for freedom because of the fear of what it means if the lack of such freedom continues indefinitely. For others in the conflict, there is the belief that without being dominant, one can be destroyed. Of course, there are also beliefs centered around entitlement, but such arguments are not entirely based on knowledge but rather fear of what may happen if you are not granted what you feel you are entitled to. You then experience that as loss.

As was noted, there are many layers to conflict. The conflict in the Middle East that you have spoken so much of intertwines many sources of fear. The expression of that fear leads to violent behavior. There is the belief that when all else fails, violence becomes a viable alternative. Human beings are driven to such extremes in their response when they are convinced that without such response, they will not be heard, they will not be respected, and they will not prevail in ways that they define.

None of you are looking at this tragedy from the outside. Yes, you are geographically removed, but that geographic component is of little consequence, for you are emotionally and intellectually engaged in the desire to respond in ways that reflect and enact God’s presence. We spoke of the issue of patience in your response, and the question was raised, “But then what? What else? What can you do? What kinds of response become options that have their own validity?”

There is nothing that you as individuals alone can do to resolve this conflict, but there is much that you can do as individuals to contribute to such resolution. The causes for this most recent conflict go back decades. Indeed, you can find roots originating centuries ago. Such deeply felt positions are not going to be resolved militarily, and they will not be resolved quickly from a political perspective. What precedes any political commitment must begin at the very closest of distances, mainly between individuals, then between groups, and between larger groups, larger organizations, communities, states, governments. It is a long process, but it begins with a recognition of the value of all human life and a willingness first of all to be present with one another.

One could say very simply that the resolution to the current conflict comes from being present, but what does that truly mean? We speak of presence initially as a one- to-one relationship. So often we speak of one form of representing God’s presence. God’s presence is for you individually to learn in the most profound way possible what it means to be fully present to another human being. That means listening, just being there, being willing to acknowledge the value, the gift of someone else in your life. If you approach your own life with a willingness to be present for others, that presence will provide a heart vision of what moves another, what motivates another, what another’s fears may be, what another’s goals might be.

In being present, you also become clearer in your own mind what your true goals are, for in being present for another, you’re not exercising a passive relationship. This is very active. It reflects upon another, but it also reflects upon yourself. You’re opening yourself to understand the needs of another, and in that openness, you become more aware of what your own true needs are.

When that awareness grows, it becomes clear that your needs and the other’s needs are the same. How those needs may be fulfilled will of course be different, but you will see a shared ground. You will, in effect, be reaching out together for a resolution to those needs. You will be reaching out to the loving presence of God.

This effort to be present, while it begins between one person and another, it is in exercising those same skills that one group of people becomes sensitized to the true needs of another group. It was suggested that an effort be made to be engaged with others who wish to be committed to finding that common ground that is shared by those who are perceived in part to be the enemy. Such engagement is indeed possible, and it is an important step that needs to be taken. Those groups that are committed to exploring the common humanity that is shared exist throughout the world. They are not limited to one community or state, region, nationality, or religious belief.

It is for you to explore from that one-to-one perspective opportunities for communing with others with similar objectives. It becomes an ethical community, not a geographic one. It is through the exploration of that shared humanity that further commitments are made to reach beyond those groups to begin to affect policies that have their genesis in political objectives. This is a long process, and it is not completely sequential, for you can be seeking opportunities of working in community with others while at the same time clarifying the heart vision to become fully present, even to another person. You are, in a sense, engaged on multiple levels in your affirmation of the rights of all. But the principles that are explored in community are no different than the principles that are engaged on a one-to-one basis. Being present means being open, and you can be open as an individual, as a community, as a region, as a state, as a nation. The act of being present is the same.

The reason we say it often starts on an individual basis is because you have opportunities of interacting with individuals whose perspectives may be far different from your own. That is an opportunity that can be exercised almost daily. Being involved in a community of individuals seeking those same objectives, it is more difficult to fully find that common ground. It is so much more important to experience what it means to be present first in a personal way before simply espousing its necessity on a grander stage.

You do not have to have perfect heart vision toward an individual before moving to another broader arena of exchange, for you will never experience what it means to be absolutely free of judgment. That is the goal, and it is the process of seeking that goal that is most important, for you may hear viewpoints that you feel strongly opposed to. In the initial stages of opening the heart vision to another, you are already saying in effect “that person is wrong, but I’m going to listen,” and you discount much in that process because there is an element of judgment, even with the best of intentions of being fully open. Because of this, we emphasize that the work you do to clarify your heart’s vision is a process, and that process can play itself out in several levels and different directions simultaneously. The desire to judge, to value or weigh the value or question the wisdom of another is in itself a judgment.

As you encounter others with very different perspectives, and you begin to find yourself telling yourself, “Oh that’s totally wrong, that’s misguided, that’s being ignorant, that’s being selfish, that has no basis in fact,” you are placing a barrier between yourself and another. Whenever you encounter very contrary opinions, it is important to remind yourself always that to the other person, those opinions are just as valid as your opinions are to you. Just as you may be judgmental, being critical of the perspective of someone else, know that they are equally frustrated in what you may be sharing.

The principle of being nonjudgment is in truth a process. Will you ever reach a stage in life when you are fully free of judging others? Yes, when you are living in purely spirit form. We as guides are totally nonjudgmental. We share with you much wisdom. We share with you ideas and goals to pursue, but we are never judgmental of you when your own life does not fully reflect what is shared by your guides. The fact that you do not fulfill all that we share in no way diminishes who you are, and in the same light for those who find themselves moving more readily along the pathway that we illuminate, you are not elevated in our view. We see all of you in the process of becoming, and it is our objective as guides to illuminate that process, but you are not elevated in your success nor criticized when you are not successful.

You are who you are. You are doing what you can do. You are seeking to grow as you can grow. Your vision of the meaning of God is evolving. It is that process that we serve to bring light to. So, you are viewed never in criticism. There is nothing you can do that would make us hold you in less regard or higher regard. You are loved for who you are, and we devote our love to illumination. That is what nonjudgmental love is, and that is where all of us are.

No individual will find in human life that they are free of judgment, but all individuals can strive to be less judgmental. In your being present for another or present for many others, you are in the process of exercising a potential of what is available when judgment is suspended. Hear what another says. Hear what another group says. Hear what another religion or nation says. Allow yourself to believe that what is expressed is indeed believed, and yet what is expressed is not indicative of all that is felt. By listening as an individual, by listening in community, you move beyond what is being said and begin to more deeply understand what is meant. It is at that deeper level that you recognize that what is meant by another is fundamentally the same as what is meant for you.

You wish to be valued as an equal creature to all others. You wish to be affirmed as belonging at the table. You wish to be listened to, not to what you say but what you mean. That is shared by all people. To the degree that you can formulate your responses to the crises that you observe based on a commitment to the process of being present, of hearing what is meant, you will be engaged as a hand of God that reaches toward a resolution to the tragedies that are of such concern to you.

You are encouraged to love all, and that sounds wonderful to the ear, but the love that we speak of is a love of being present, of getting to know what is behind what you observe, what is behind what is said. Loving another is placing great love and commitment toward the ground upon which all stand. That commitment is fully realized in the absence of judgment, but in your process of becoming more nonjudgmental, your commitment to that common ground is becoming clearer and more meaningful. That commitment is the peace that we spoke of.

Be there in the present for one another. Be fully present to other groups. Find ways of being present to other communities, nations, religions, philosophies, ways of life, and in that increased presence, you will feel more deeply the warmth and love of the ever-present God.

You are in the light. You belong to the presence. You belong to the process of becoming present. You belong to the process of becoming the light that is truly God’s light.

Amen.