Serve by your presence.

March 30, 2010

God surrounds all that is created. God surrounds all human beings, all stones, all rocks, all spheres, all planets, constellations—all the universes that exist. Indeed, God surrounds your individual lives, not just the life of the moment but the constant changing that life means. God surrounds because God is. That is what God does. You are enfolded. You are filled with joy. You are filled with a rapture in all its meanings. You are filled with hope. You are filled with all that is light. 

This light that we speak of so often is actually a light of communication, not specifically a light as you think of it. Light is an energy force, and you are a part of that force. Because of your connection with light, you share in a kind of communication with all that light contains. 

If you are in water, every motion you make radiates in all directions. You can see much of that. You can see the waves that you create. Even when they are small, when the water is calm those waves are unmistakable and in actuality reach the far shore. You may not see that. You may not be aware of the waves’ presence at some distance, but the energy that you create indeed reaches as far as possible. 

The light that you all share is much like a calm pond. You move and the waves begin. You provide loving thoughts to another—the waves radiate outward. Those loving thoughts are not unidirectional. They are not focused only toward the recipient of those thoughts. Loving thoughts reach everywhere. That is part of the light. 

When you pray for another, that prayer is a wave in a calm pond. It makes no difference whether you are aware of the far shore, whether you are aware of another’s actions, whether you see another. It makes no difference whether that individual for whom you pray occupies physical space or spiritual space. The communication does continue. 

When you pray for someone who has joined with us, that soul of course acknowledges, recognizes, and feels blessed in being recalled, in being thanked, in being prayed for. There are no prayers offered to the spirit that are not acknowledged, that are not recognized. Every spirit is like a companion in the water who recognizes the source of the waves. 

You pray for parents, you pray for relatives beyond the family, you pray for those for whom you have no personal connection, but those prayers are indeed recognized for you all occupy the same space. You are connected. You are never isolated. You are not so unique that you cannot feel the presence of another.

When you pray for us, we are immediately illuminated. There is an energy that we experience. We do know the source of those prayers, but that is not what is important. What is important is the growth, the increase in spiritual strength that results from prayerful remembrance. You may sit next to someone who is a complete stranger on a bus, and you can offer supporting, loving prayers for that stranger. Although that stranger may not recognize in a concrete way a reality of what you pray for, the stranger benefits nevertheless, and that benefit continues the natural growth of spirit. 

You wonder about whether and how your friend who died from ALS recognized and benefitted from your presence, your concerns, your communication whether verbal or otherwise. His condition was such that he could not respond, and yet in his heightened spiritual state, he knew. The presence of all who were with him brought comfort—brought comfort to him and brought comfort to those who were present. The sheer effort of communication when there is no response is inspiring and promotes faith and unselfish love. Giving with no possibility of receiving in response is the ultimate kind of gift, for you are giving because you are responding as your spirit, your inner soul, responds. It is the purest act of love when you offer your concerns, when you offer your support, and you know there is no response. 

So often individuals give to others solely because they think they must, and they expect the recipient also wishes to receive. Some give out of guilt, some give out of compassion, but giving realizing there is nothing in return and realizing there is no expectation that such giving take place is in fact giving from the spirit center. It is being godly for God does not provide support in light because you deserve it. You are the recipient of light, you are the recipient of love because that is what God offers. 

Each of you must work toward a willingness to receive. None of you feels you are entitled to the gifts of others, but abandoning entitlement as a possibility, you are left with a state of vulnerability where you receive not out of entitlement but rather through love. You receive through the love of another. You are given strength through the love of another. You are blessed when you give with no hope of receipt, but you are also blessed when you receive with no current hope of giving back. 

The blessing of light, God’s light, exists on both sides of this balance beam. The love you feel is the love that is given. It is not the love that is deserved. Whenever one feels entitlement, one never grows through what is received. On the contrary, when what is received is done so openly with humility, with vulnerability, with gratitude, there is the point of spiritual growth. There should be no doubt that when you reach out to another, even when you fear there is no chance that the other may be fully aware of that reaching out, you are enhancing, strengthening, comforting, and warming. You are by your presence loving, and that love is always recognized. 

Life is filled with the contrast of giving and receiving, filled with the contrast of guilt and humility. Give always with humility; receive always with humility. Be humble to those you love. Be humble to those who express their love to you, and always interact with that humility, that grace, that peace. It is not natural to accept when you have been learning all your life to give, to be in control, but you are required ultimately in spirit to live your life selflessly, to live your life vulnerably, and when you can to live your life lovingly. 

When the cup is filled, allow others to be nourished. Don’t feel you must nourish another, but allow yourself to be present for that nourishment to take place. Merely your presence allows for God’s nourishment. When serving others, it is often most helpful to just sit and be, sit and listen, sit and watch. You offer nothing but your presence, and your presence is the most loving of acts, for you expect nothing in return. 

When you attend a service of worship, you often want to receive something spiritual in response, but many are consumed by what they want to get from being in worship. What is most important is not the concern of what you will receive but rather being there, being open and ready. That readiness prepares you to receive, but prepares you to give—giving in compassion, giving in love, giving through your listening, giving through your presence. 

All these interactions are part of the impact of the waves in the pond. There is absolutely nothing you can do that has no meaning. All has meaning. Action has meaning. Listening has meaning. Just being present has meaning. Observing has meaning.

You are the hands of God, not because of what you do but because of who you are. Spend less time being concerned about doing something. Spend less time consumed by making a difference. Rather spend time being in the presence of others listening, watching, just being, always with compassion, always with a loving approach that is never critical, that is never judgmental. Your presence says as much as your actions. 

Yes, your relationship with others is like creating a wave. You know not how far it will go, and yet you have absolute faith that your presence is important and will influence and interact, will be acknowledged, will be recognized. When you are surrounded by suffering, there is value to you and to those who suffer. You learn what it means to need compassionate loving, but others who are suffering learn simply by your presence. Spend less time making a difference and more time being the difference. 

You are loved for who you are. You must love others for who they are. Just as you do not deserve God’s love, no one else deserves your love. God loves you because you are, and for the same reason you love others because they are. When they realize your approach, they will know what loving really means, and they will see the hand of God in their own lives. 

Yes, blessed are the peacemakers, but that is a peace, that is an inner peace with understanding, an inner peace illuminated through the love of others. You are blessed as you are present to others. You are blessed as you listen and watch. You are blessed just being.

Amen.