Grow seeds of love.

February 6, 2017

God, who is the author of life, who is the author of everything that exists, is joined by all that exists within the spirit-form. You are surrounded by the power of love. That would be more than overwhelming if you could but see in physical form the presence of all that share in this spiritual communion. 

Life is sacred. It is sacred because life is about relationships. The reality of God being a reality of love is all about relationships. Love is nothing unless there is relationship. You cannot express love out of the context of relations. You cannot be the recipient of love without relationships, for love does not exist alone as some kind of abstract reality. 

You express love even if you are alone. You express love toward someone or something. That someone may be yourself. It may be another person. You may express love through something that is inanimate. What would be the purpose of expressing love to something that doesn’t experience human life? You express that love because you affirm the place of that object and its essential position within your own lives. So you are expressing relationship to that other object. It could be a plant; it could be rocks; it could be shells; it could be trees. It could be anything, but the love that you express is a love of affirmation. It is a giving of value within your own lives. 

Love, therefore, needs the giver, and there is always a recipient. If you love the tree, the tree is the recipient. That tree may not experience the love you offer as another individual would. That love that is given out is one kind of invisible energy, just as electricity may be, just as waves of communication technology, just as heat, your thoughts, your prayers, even your observations. 

The mere fact that you observe something sends out an energy, and that energy is met by something. Science has discovered beyond deniable reality this energy of observation. If a scientist is watching, just watching an experiment, that individual is impacting that reaction. 

There is much humor given to what you refer to as “tree huggers.” You may think of those who speak to plants. Hugging a tree does not mean you are hugged back, obviously, but there is an energy that impacts the tree. When observing the smallest flower, just in the observation you are impacting the flower. As you stand at the seashore and look out at the ocean, and your mind projects far beyond what the eyes can see, you are having an impact on the ocean. 

Have you ever sat behind someone you’ve never met and looked at that person intensely, and he or she then turns around and looks at you? No words were said. The distance may be great. But in some unexplained way your observation and the energy of that observation was received and had an impact. It is this energy of being present, it is this unimagined and invisible energy that is an important part of our relationship with you, our relationship with God, your relationship with us, and your relationship with God. 

Even when an individual questions the possibility of the existence of God, the mere thought in that direction is an energy that connects that individual to God with great force. When you deny the existence of something, you are in fact denying the existence of something that you recognize as being worthy of denial. You cannot deny what you know nothing of. You cannot deny the existence of a particle when you are not aware even of the possibility of its existence. When you come across individuals whom you have great difficulty relating to, your acknowledgment of that difficulty is a recognition that that individual exists, and because of that recognition, you have an effect on that person. 

God is energy. Thoughts that are loving result in positive energy. Thoughts of denial are negative forms of energy. It is not merely that such denial is not productive, but rather the thinking in that direction creates an energy field that runs counter to all that you pray for as reflective of God’s presence. 

It is sometimes unfortunate that you cannot see all forms of energy that exist at any given moment. We are aware of all energy—energy of light, energy of heat, energy of thought, energy of observation. There is no energy that exists that we are not aware of. We speak often of your spirit as emanating a kind of color. It isn’t a color like green or blue. It is not a color that you as human beings have any concept of, but it is an energy that is absolutely recognizable. Each individual, each item of creation has its own color, has its own way of being identified and therefore its own validity in the creation of God. All of you, therefore, are related closely to one another, to all that is seen and all that is unseen. 

The question was asked about the gaps in knowledge in the life of Jesus. We can say that the energy that surrounded Jesus, as is the energy that surrounds you, was an energy characterized by love, by a mutual understanding. As you know, there are many who are unaware of the presence of their own guides, but the energy of that presence continues. You are in a place of your own spiritual development that you acknowledge the reality of spirit that surrounds your life. So it was with Jesus. His own spirit was particularly aware of the presence of Spirit with a capital S, the presence of a God, the presence of a supreme entity whose sole purpose was the expansion of love. 

Jesus, even as a young man, was particularly attuned to that presence and to others who shared that same sensitivity. He learned from many who experienced that sensitivity, and that experience awakened and strengthened what was already within him. He grew, therefore, in a direction that enabled him to be an example for many others of a selfless and sacrificing presence that was dedicated to the elevation of all. Jesus experienced a youth that on the outside appeared little different from that of many of his contemporaries. The appearances that others saw was not a direct reflection of his growth within, but that growth flourished and ultimately expanded to become more than his mere physical presence would suggest. 

Your relationship with others can also expand to become more than what is apparent to others. This expansion, this reaching out, this desire to serve others, either in concrete ways or through prayer or other quiet means, is part of this energy that reaches beyond who you are. 

You wonder about being self-serving or altruistic. The difference between the two is very narrow and ultimately can be resolved by acknowledging who benefits most. Is it the recipient of your efforts and thoughts and prayers, or is it primarily for your own benefit? 

When you give of yourselves to others, it is always gratifying, because you recognize you are doing the highest good, and for that there can be much pleasure. You receive inner peace because of your relationship with others, and the peace, the satisfaction, the affirmation you receive is a byproduct of what you do. That is unquestionably in keeping with the will of God. When you act in such a way that you disregard others, that you refuse to acknowledge the validity of others and pursue an objective that is only for you, that is not in itself part of the path that points in the direction of God. 

Yes, you have needs. You have needs that wish to be met, and that is fine and that is human, and there is no negative energy. But the negative energy that does become broader in its scope is when you follow a path that consciously attempts to disregard, to forget, to eliminate the existence of others. 

There are few whose lives are totally for themselves. You may observe the actions of many that seem self-serving, but that is what is seen on the surface, for part of that self-serving appearance is often the result of the need to be affirmed of one’s own value through impact on others. It is a crying out actually. It is a statement that says in effect, “I need you. I need your acknowledgment of me. I need your affirmation of me.” Even that is an acknowledgment of the place of others within that life. 

It is easy to criticize what you can see. It is something quite different to fully know what cannot be seen. Therefore, do not be quick to judge what is difficult to understand. 

You are asked in all cases not to be quick in judgment but to be patient and to observe and be aware of all that is good that may come from what appears initially not to be. Fires in the forest appear to be totally destructive, and yet in many instances it is through the presence of fire that the nutrients of natural propagation are released, and life is affirmed and supported. In the end, fire in the forest is never total destruction, for even the most destructive flame holds within it the nourishment of creation. 

So it is, so it must be as you contemplate your own challenges, there is nothing that you face in life that holds within it only total destruction, for within those challenges are released the seeds for growth, for change, for evolution, for expansion. In the presence of hate, grow the seeds of love. Find evidence wherever of those seeds of love. You can recognize the flame but deny its total destructive impact, for out of those challenges, there is always growth. 

There is nothing you face, there is nothing you experience that totally destroys who you are. The death of the body is the release of spirit. The death of the body is not the total destruction of all that exists. The seeming death of justice holds within it its own seeds for justice. The most bitter argument can sow the seeds of the most tender reconciliation. 

The growth from seeming destruction may not be immediate. It may not be within a lifetime, but remember you cannot judge the direction of humanity from the perspective of such a brief moment of existence as one human life. Your soul does not grow only through the challenges of one human life or one other life-form. The soul continues to grow. Your spirit becomes more loving, and that is not measured in human or other lifetimes. It is simply the nature of God’s creation. Growth of what is good, growth of what is loving is constant and certain and it is totally indestructible. 

You are part of that process. You experience growth. You experience the flames, but within you the seeds of all you pray for that reflect the God that you know will bear fruit, will expand, will multiply and gather together in the ultimate oneness of love. 

We bless you in your place of that creation. We bless you as you struggle, as you learn, as you expand, and as you become fully the God to whom you pray. 

Amen.