Dreams have a spiritual component.

December 21, 2015

God is with each of you on your paths toward a full reconciliation with all that love is—a reconciliation, a coming together of your spiritual presence and God. 

We spoke the last time about fear and its expression and experience. We would like to look at the other side of the issue, and that is one of forgiveness, for all who experience fear must ultimately become engaged in forgiveness. This forgiveness can be directed toward others, and it can also be directed toward the self. 

You know the value of faith. You know of the connection that you have with all other human beings, but you also experience moments in your lives when you are consumed by fear, and you begin to realize that the faith that you seek is not necessarily the faith that you exercise. Accompanying that realization can be a sense of guilt, a sense of not being worthy to live the kind of faith that you all seek. 

You experience the fear that is shared by others. That fear may be merely fear. It may be a response, their response, to that fear which is couched in a very different direction. The behavior which you observe that emanates from fear makes it too often difficult to find grounds for forgiveness. Forgiveness, therefore, is directed inward as well as outward. 

If you look at fear and its expression by others and the seeming inability to offer forgiveness to others, you will see that in truth the root of forgiveness offered to others is actually found in forgiveness of self. We frequently say there is no room for guilt. You cannot put guilt on a shelf and say it no longer is there, for guilt or feeling a failure in some way or another can only be overcome through forgiveness of self. 

What is forgiveness? It is acceptance, and it is love. You accept yourself for who you are, and you love yourself for who you are, still recognizing the gap that exists between who you are and who you wish to be. But that exercise of forgiveness must be felt personally. That forgiveness may be coming specifically from the self. It may be offered by others, but it is the self that experiences it. Just as becoming loving is only possible when you have felt loved, when you reach out and forgive others, you are taking the strength of self-acceptance or self-forgiving and directing that light toward others. 

You are keenly aware of the injustices that exist in the world, perpetrated by one group of individuals against another or one group against many others. It is easy to judge, judging from your own perspective, your own understandings, your own view of the world. There is no forgiveness, no accepting without the elimination of judgment. 

We often urge you to develop more strength as non-judgmental entities, for you cannot judge another. You cannot judge another’s worth, regardless of their actions. You can judge actions, but that is not the same as judging an individual. You can condemn actions and yet forgive, affirm, and love nonjudgmentally the individual. 

Part of forgiveness is separating action from person. You forgive an individual; you don’t forgive an action. You may say that a murderer must receive forgiveness, but you are not forgiving the act of murder. You’re forgiving the perpetrator of that crime. It is your relationship with one another, your relationship with yourself that is primary here. 

When another experiences fear, regardless of its expression, if you’re aware that such an expression is an embodiment of fear, it becomes easier for you to respond in a loving way to someone who is feeling fearful. When you respond to yourself nonjudgmentally, you respond to the recognition that there is fear, and the forgiveness is one of connecting to the essence of yourself, connecting to the essence of another, connecting to the essence of a group of people. 

There is no need for anyone to feel they must justify the actions of everyone, for offering nonjudgmental love to another is never an affirmation of what another says or thinks or does. It is an affirmation simply of the core we have spoken of, the spirit center. It is an affirmation of the connection that exists between the Creator and creation. 

Affirmation is another expression of love, another term for forgiveness. You forgive a child, not by just saying you forgive the child, but by affirming the child, affirming your relationship with the child. This holds true for the relationships between all human beings. You affirm that connection. You affirm the value of another. You affirm the validity another may place on an action that is not within your own value system. 

The tension in the world exists because of a lack of affirmation to various points of view, a lack of affirmation to how groups act out toward other groups. You affirm the validity, the feelings, the belief systems that others hold. That affirmation is not the specifics of what is held to be truth. Rather that affirmation is an acknowledgment that others feel that such actions have some justification. 

Life is always about the transformation of the energy within to actions that are directed outward. You cannot live on an island. You are by the very nature of human life inexorably connected to others. Even if you are in a society that gives premium value to solitude, you are still in relationship to others. Even if the solitude is a physical solitude, you are sharing the perspective that is held to be dear by many. There are many who prefer a life of solitude and contemplation. It is not just one person. It is a commonly held belief by some. So even for those who choose that life, they are connected to others who share those same beliefs. 

Therefore, all that you do is a reflection of what others either do or others believe. You are in effect in constant community. For most human beings a community is visible, it is personal, it is experienced, felt viscerally. You choose your communities. You therefore choose the nature of your connection to others. Because of that connection, you are drawn to the realization of the need for no judgment whatsoever. That need is accompanied always by patience. 

When you are nonjudgmental, you are patient with another. If you are nonjudgmental toward self, you are patient with self. Patience does not mean you don’t deeply care, but rather that the journey that is endured has no connection to time or evidence. Time you understand. By evidence we mean you can be patient that someone will evolve, and you can believe that evolution will take place, even if you are not aware of that transformation. Patience is an attitude. It is not something that exists in a timeframe to be observed—patience with self, patience with a neighbor, patience with groups of others who willfully inflict pain on other groups, patience to allow transitions from one life to another, patience to accept how political and personal objectives are spun forward to their conclusion. 

Fear is central to life, but forgiveness of what causes the fear must always be accompanied by patience. You are asked to be nonjudgmental. You are asked to be loving. You are not asked to be total love in this life. Is it possible to be primarily loving within the realm of a human life span? It is possible to be loving as a dominant force in life, but there will always be corners in every life that are darkened by judgment, that are darkened by fear, that are darkened by the expressions of fear. There will always be portions in your lives that create anxiety and worry. They are part of life, but when you bring to the table of anxiety the presence, the patience and forgiveness, being nonjudgmental, being confidant in God’s hand, you can dissipate those negative experiences in life. 

We know of your concerns for the health of others who are close by. That love and those concerns are experienced by those for whom you pray. They are felt, and they have an impact on those people. You pray that what transpires is in the best interests of each, and that is a meaningful prayer, for what is in the best interests is ultimately what is healing—healing in a most significant manner, not just healing to make things go away, so to speak, but healing that is strength-giving, that is affirming, and that is felt to be filled with a loving presence. 

For those who await stepping across the threshold, as you refer to it, much is needed in terms of comfort, affirmation, love, a complete lack of judgment, and a clear sense of forgiveness and patience. From that nonjudgmental environment, one grows with a sense of peace. 

Experiencing peace is the nectar that nourishes the spirit. Your souls grow throughout your human lives, but the real nourishment comes from being surrounded by an overwhelming sense of peace. When you pray for healing, think peace. The word healing implies a balance, and from balance comes peace. 

Pray, therefore, that all will experience peace, for love and the expressions of love are means of increasing the presence of peace. You cannot feel peaceful and threatened. You cannot feel peaceful while being anxious. You cannot be peaceful when angry. You cannot be peaceful when consumed by fear. Peace, the feeling of peace, the sense of balance, of rightness, is what nourishes the soul and creates great presence in human life. One never feels peace at all times, but you can increase the experience of peace for yourself and then for others. 

A question was asked about dreams. That is a big topic, for your spirit, while remaining connected to the body, is free to expand, to connect with other spirits, to grow, to brighten. Dreams, although physiological in nature, have a spiritual component. One soul can indeed recognize the presence of another in dreams. That recognition generally is through some kind of characteristic, whether it is a familiar voice or familiar presence visually or the presence of touch. 

The sensitivity of your spirits is greatly enhanced during moments of sleep, for in those moments the brain is processing, the brain is achieving a kind of balance. It is working through events that are held to be important, and in the working through, there is a condition of peace, however momentary it may be, and it is that state of peace that allows each spirit to be stronger in its sensitivity to the spirit presence of others. Just as you hear better when you stop speaking, your spirit sees more clearly when it is less engaged in matters of the body. You are receptive to what you hear. The spirit is receptive to another presence. 

There is much more to be said about the spirit center and sleep, the spirit center and dreams, but suffice it for the moment to say that you are much more aware of the presence of all when you are in a state of peace and when you are approaching a state of equilibrium. 

You experience these messages when you are filled with peace, and you have removed yourself from the cacophony of daily issues and become vulnerable to becoming open. You become sensitive to the presence that surrounds each of you at all times. 

Seek peace, therefore—peace in your heart, peace in your thoughts. Seek means of reconciliation, of forgiveness, and become more open. 

We, your guides, assist you, assist each of you, in reaching this lofty goal. You are blessed in your efforts, in your fears, in your joys, in your losses. You are blessed in your connection to all of creation. 

Amen.