Affirm the value of everyone.

February 16, 1994

God joins the hands of each of you into a firm unit of compassion and mutual interests and love. There are times when you gather and you are pulled in separate directions because of the matters of individual concerns. We know those issues which create worry for you even when they are not voiced, but at the same time that you have your concerns, we sense a quiet unity that binds all of you together in harmony. The world, as you know, spends too much time defining differences and precious little effort seeking common grounds of unity. 

Often we have spoken of the unity that you share with all that has been created, both animate and inanimate. It may be difficult to feel a kind of union with stones and rocks, but you are all indeed made from the same ingredients. The hope that so many of you have is that you will be made aware of what unites you and be successful in moving in a direction that draws people together. But there are so many in life who are more concerned about what is theirs as opposed to what is everyone's. They are concerned about territory, belongings, influence, power, the dominance of ego and selfinterests. All these work against the bonding of humans to one another. 

Certainly, you experience jealousy and greed, the feeling that you deserve something. Everyone experiences anger at being wronged by another, motivated by a sense of self-righteousness. These are human reactions. They belong to your experience, but they belong only as hurdles to be crossed, as issues to be overcome. 

We referred to your need to live your life in a manner that reflects that for which you pray. If you pray for peace in a corner of the world, you must live your life in a means which leads toward peace in the immediate surroundings. You cannot pray for peace and never experience it. You cannot pray for love and never experience it. You cannot pray for compassion somewhere else if you have not experienced compassion. All that you pray for you must also experience. 

If you pray that the world be more tolerant, then you must be more tolerant, for there is really no difference between the reactions of the world at large and the reactions that you feel in your innermost being. You must live what you pray. Prayer is action begun from within but always reaching outward. In praying for peace, you begin with peace for yourself. You do what you perceive must be done if you are to experience peace. Then you take that experience and reach out to others with it, guided through prayer. 

There is so much hatred and jealousy in the world between nations and ethnic groups, but everyone experiences jealousy. Everyone experiences a kind of hatred, some more strongly than others. It may not be hatred of a particular individual but hatred of an act of another. The feelings will be identical although they may be directed toward different objectives. One nation hates another nation. One individual hates the actions of another individual. They are two different objects, but the feeling is identical. If you are opposed to hate, be opposed to hate in your life. 

Learn to be more patient and more tolerant of others. You experience your own frustrations relating to events that surround your life. Too often those frustrations result in impatience leading to anger. Learn to be more patient. From patience comes tolerance, and out of tolerance the arrows of anger are broken. You cannot be angry toward someone for whom you feel tolerance. The two do not go together. 

If you wish to eliminate anger in your life, then start with patience. Start with an acceptance of your own life as it is, recognizing it is not perfect, that you are continuing to develop as you live. Your life is always in the state of development, growth, and change. That’s where patience begins. Love of self is essential, for if you do not accept yourself as being important and valuable because you are who you are, you cannot be patient with yourself or with others. 

Therefore, live the life that reflects what it is you pray for, for those prayers indicate to you clearly what you feel is essential to life. It is often that people say, "I don't know which direction I should go. I really don't know what is important in life." That's normal, but if you want answers to those questions, examine what it is that you pray for. That will show you your priorities. You can then take those priorities and change them or alter them and thereby change and redefine the direction of your own life. 

You pray for love that love may grow and clarify and develop and be nurtured and flourish. If that is so important to you, do you regard the love of yourself with the same intensity? If love is so important, learn to love yourself. 

As your guides we are always concerned, not with fear but with interest in your development, in your growth spiritually, for that is why you are living in human form, to provide your soul with the opportunity for the growth that is so essential. That growth only takes place in human form. We are concerned for your growth, and we want to see it flourish. We rejoice when that growth is made evident by the way you live your life, by the way you relate to others, by the way you treat yourself. 

We are here always to help you. It is not necessary that you receive our help in words. It can be in many forms. Each form is valid in its own right. Each form of being guided by us is the most appropriate form for that particular individual at that stage in his or her life. There should be no reason to feel as if one form of help from us is more valid than another. What is essential is that you are always aware of our presence. Even if you have prayers that are not uttered and not clarified in your own mind, just the knowledge that we are indeed with you constantly enables us to help you at far greater magnitude than you can imagine. 

Prayer is acknowledgment of your openness to God. It is not a condition, the result of which is God's help. Your openness is what is important. The prayer being offered is of less importance. Your awareness of us means that you are aware and receptive to God. We, just as you, serve as the hands of God. 

We, just as you, reach out and touch others with God’s love. We, just as you, offer our spiritual strengths on behalf of another. There is no difference in basic substance of what is done. It is only the means by which we act and you act that are differentiated. 

You should love life. That seems a simple statement, but it carries with it the complexity of loving everything that life brings—the joys, the sorrows, the anxieties, the exhilarations, the questions as well as the answers, the beauty of life, the inequity observed in life, the inconsistencies as well as the constancies. Life is for you. Embrace it completely and resonate with it. Become a part of it fully and not merely as an observer at times. 

Participating means being involved in the development and growth of yourself and others. Participating means strengthening your own soul and serving as a light for others. Participating means recognizing the source of all you experience as being within the creation of God and recognizing that your potential for responses is also a part of the creation of God. 

There is a constancy to life. Seek it out, recognizing what you have in common with all people. Focus your efforts in life to bringing out what is common, what represents unity in life. Forget about differences, for they are merely cosmetic. They have no importance in the grand creation of God. Close your eyes to the differences. Don't be critical. Don't be quick to find fault in another. Affirm the value of everyone you meet, for they are indeed as valuable as you. Be patient when you do not understand what another does, for in your patience comes learning, and through learning about another comes love. 

Devote your energies to activities that accentuate the union of all of creation. It is not an easy challenge. It may be clearly understood, but it is so often poorly executed. You have a lifetime to work on it. It is indeed the most important thing that you can do. You should rejoice that you are aware of this! Take up the challenge and run with it and create the heat of love that reflects the intensity of God's love for each of you and for everyone else. 

We bless you with God’s love. 

Amen.