All paths lead to total love.
August 28, 2023
It is the living, peaceful presence of God that enfolds you and all people at all times.
The recent event that you have spoken of [another shooting in the United States] and its tragic aftermath brings to a head what it means to pray for peace. Praying for peace does not simply suggest the absence of war but rather a balance of mutual love and a total respect for all of life. When you encounter violence, the proper response is never violent. Those who create crimes against other human beings are shouting out in ways that are not readily heard about deep needs that consume those behaviors. Indeed, such needs are often difficult to connect with the deeds that are observed.
Actions by anyone have as part of them many interrelated layers. Those layers are the subject of much debate, and the pursuit of such understandings form the basis for many careers. If someone does something that is clearly opposed to the presence of God, the dominance of love, it is easy to quickly condemn the person, not just the actions, and there is precious little effort exerted to dig more deeply into the roots of behavior. Even if you consider your own behaviors, you have all done or said things that you later come to realize were not good choices, and it is easy to condemn oneself. It is easy for others to condemn someone, but in reality, the actions that you take, the actions that any human being takes are the consequences of much that is felt within. So many deny the opportunity to explore that basis to further understanding the roots of behaviors, the roots of words.
Human life is always complex. There is no simple explanation for anything you do or say. You may take an appropriate action in a situation which is felt in retrospect to truly be reflective of your understanding of God, but how were those actions conceived? They didn’t happen spontaneously. You responded to others in a loving way in part because you have experienced what it means to be loved. The actions of a criminal cannot be explained simply as spontaneous. They may seem spontaneous, but they’re not.
Human beings are in some ways the product of the lives they have lived to any given point. Such lives are not described merely as personal experiences, for such grounds for action can also be connected to their interaction with others, what they’ve learned, what they’ve shared, the decisions that have been made in the past and the lessons that have been gained from those decisions. The genesis for action can often be external influences, not simply conscious, rational decisions. It is for this reason that we always emphasize the necessity of not condemning an individual even when you disapprove of an action or a decision.
We’re not suggesting for a moment that because you are part of a succession of life experiences that you yourself are not responsible for what you do, that the individual who commits a crime is not responsible for that action. But what we are saying is society is far too ready to convict rather than to understand. Understanding doesn’t mean condoning. It does not imply approving. It means simply receiving a clearer understanding, a clearer view, a clearer perception of some of the principles, some of the elements that contributed to the decisions, the actions, to the thoughts and words of all people. You are urged never to be judgmental.
It is in experiencing vicariously something of the violent acts that have taken place locally that you are urged to find ways of increasing your heart vision, of finding a way to accept the individual as the visible component of a complex past. Nothing that you do in your life is totally spontaneous. What is considered spontaneous are merely actions, the roots of which are not evident. What you see is a manifestation only on the surface but with no clear understanding of what supported such manifestations.
Every human being experiences life differently. Every human being has different capabilities for synthesizing those experiences into something that has meaning on a day-to-day basis. You are in a sense a product of all that you have encountered. The need for nonjudgment, therefore, reflects back to the necessity for avoiding selfjudgment. If you believe you have made a wrong turn in the road, the godlike response is not guilt or anger but rather a need, a drive, to understand. From that effort can grow an affirmation of self, a value of self as a creature of God, and from that evaluation of self, you can be more accepting of others.
For some whose lives are most accepting and supportive of the dignity of the life of others, they have endured much deep self-reflection. It is in that self-reflection that one gains the heart vision to be responsive to others. When guilt is felt, it can also be looked upon as a strength-giving experience. How, you may ask? Because it equips you with greater heart vision of finding ways of reaching out and supporting others.
We say that there is no real place in human life for self-guilt. We say that not because one can never regret what one does, but rather an acceptance of what is seen to be inappropriate strengthens one’s understanding of what it means to be accepting of others.
Life is ultimately about supporting others. For some, that strength comes from being supported by being the recipient of love from others. In that reality, one is strengthened to reach out in support of others. But there are those who receive that support, that strengthening, not only by being loved by others but by being perceptive and acceptive of one’s self and gaining an understanding of why you are as you are. Both the experiences of self and the love of others serve to strengthen the vision of the heart, the loving center that is part of each of you.
When you encounter the reality of God in those who seem the least godly, commit yourself to the affirmation of the sacred value of every human being. Let such a commitment be a reflection of your willingness to accept yourself as being a part of God’s presence as one who can be loving, as one who can be vulnerable enough to accept the nonjudgmental love of others. You are given life in part to learn what it means to be loving. The beginning of that journey must be the loving of self, the acceptance of self, not the dominance of self, but the acceptance, the valuing of self.
No human being is perfect, that you know. But it is one thing to state that truism, and it is much more difficult to apply the implications of that statement to all human life around you, regardless of how that presence may be manifested. All life is to be honored, for life itself is precious. All human beings are at their core equally part of God’s presence, but no two human beings bring to the visible level the same characteristics, because the experiences of no two human beings are ever identical.
You are, in a sense, in a school of one. Your learning occurs in its own way. Your path toward becoming only love is different from the paths of all others, and yet, all paths lead to total love. All paths lead all souls to becoming fully loving. Your earth experiences are merely one set of pathways toward that goal. The lives of other knowing beings in other universes have their own characteristics that lead them to becoming all-loving and ultimately simply love.
Accept your pathways. Accept the pathways of those on the fringes of society that create great harm and deep suffering. Seek grounds for finding reason to support them. Your support may be simply embracing them with your prayers to be peace-full. It may be in opening their spirit to finding balance, opening their spirit to becoming motivated toward lives that are peaceful and loving and not considered threats.
Human life, all human life, is to be cherished. All human life is to be valued. All human life has within it the potential to become more loving. Grasp these potentials. Seek ways of exercising the muscles of love, and in so doing, the strength of spirit is enhanced. The acceptance of self is burnished, and you are left with the most important component, that being the love and absence of judgment for all human beings.
It is a difficult goal to seek, and no human being will become fully loving and accepting toward all other human beings. But you are asked to take those initial steps, for by reaching out with loving understanding, you are on your pathway toward becoming total love.
Be confident in the ultimate direction of all paths. Be accepting of your own detours. Be accepting of the detours of others, and be convinced that you are the brother, the sister of all others. You are equal. You belong to the body of God.
Amen.