The Vessel

As I sit in silence this morning hoping for help from unseen companions, I am aware of heaviness and self-judgment….

    We are here. We are always grateful for the opportunity to share time with you in love and we are grateful for your willingness to offer yourself as a channel for healing guidance to come for yourself and the collective.

My “vessel” feels most impure and unworthy today.

    And of course the purity or worth of the vessel is not the point: it is the willingness to be an offering. This is all that is ever asked or required. Please understand that as soon as you invite us in we cleanse the frequency completely: this is part of our offering to you. Our presence offers an immediate shift … a lift. It increases the frequency of Divine Light, not only here in your heart and body, but also within this house, and on this earth plane. As ever we repeat to you: This is no small work. Every time you offer yourself and say, “Come”, the holy work occurs. Every time without exception.

    Of course, this is simple but not easy work. The world of humanity is charged  with difficulty. But the enlightened eye can see in every difficulty an opportunity, And here the smile of remembrance comes: Every obstacle is an opportunity for grace. An obstacle, lovingly attended, can be an opportunity for great beauty….

    There is something we wish to emphasize now: You have a tendency towards negative self-analysis: The cup is half full. What is required now is no self-analysis – none. Your mind has no measuring tools for this spiritual work which is your calling. And the heart, soul and spirit do not measure immeasurables like love. No soul is worthy; none is unworthy. Stop thinking that by analytical criticism you can make an iota of improvement. You cannot.

    Breathe. Breathe in, breathe out. Apart from that – and the upkeep of body and home – there is little you need to do. Remember when, in afterlife, your father observed that so little he had concerned himself about in his life was of any real importance? Consider the mystery that surrounds you in life: there are times of joy and sorrow over which you have little control … times of grace and times of upheaval. There are baffling cosmic mysteries and miracles of creation. There is life … death … eternity. Do you understand these things?

    The part of life over which you have control is very small indeed: “I may love in this moment, or I may not love.” That is about all. Love or not love.
In this part of the human dream the illusion of control is almost megalomaniacal. Your body is a small actor on a great stage. And in
some ways this is a great relief. Let God be great. And yes: align yourself with that greatness. Do its work and receive its benefits. Serve and delight in God’s presence. But do not torture yourself with delusions of individual power. No power exists apart from Source (the generator, if you will) and there is freedom in remembering this. Align with Source and then relax.
The rest will follow.

The Abiding Conversation

Every morning when I wake up some inner voice is saying: “Who are you? What are you doing with your life? Who do you think you are?” Having no good answer, I begin to sink into self-contempt. But in this conversation I remember: I am not on that carousel. I hear it, see its music, peruse the multi-colored horses, but this is not my milieu – it is none of my business. I’ve stepped off, though I hear the music loud and clear. Here – as I wait for the abiding conversation, for the silent voice – I recall myself and contentment returns. There is no earthly measure for what I do. I am waiting on the Beloved … offering myself as a portal for love and grace.

The Shepherd

The thought comes to me that I must learn to be a shepherd of my life and my resources: maybe this is my focus for the New Year. Perhaps as I cast about, doubting myself or my mission, or go off in search of new projects, I leave my sheep to scatter. The tending is so simple a task that it escapes my notice, and I suffer the consequences.

    This is good direction, dear one. Early on you were trained in self-criticism, and this is the part to modify. Now become aware of your goodness and sufficiency. Notice that you are loved and surrounded by meaningful work, friends, family and community. Can this feel like enough … like abundance?

    Sometimes the shepherd’s days are uneventful. Perhaps it feels dull…. But if she/he runs away in search of adventure or becomes consumed in worry or self-criticism, all may be lost. Some days are days of resting, maintaining, taking stock. In fact, most days are like that! Do you need to do more with your life, or is it simply a habit to keep pushing on for more?

    Now the call is to marshal your forces. A new stage of life is at hand. Now more will come to you – right to your doorstep. You do not need to feel that you are lacking in any way. Notice the resources that are already here. How can you know them if you do not spend time noticing them in love and gratitude? Every morning you may survey and begin to identify the flock: this is the work of a seasoned shepherd. Do not forget yourself and imagine yourself to be a poor, lost sheep! You have shed that identity long ago.

    This practice of shepherding will also align you with Divine Source. And power will come in gracious and surprising ways. This is the position of service and fruitfulness. This is the calling.

    Do you think to increase the herd by going out in search of sheep? You have not been the producer of this herd: They are God’s. You have been set in its midst, to appreciate and to do your part…. Here is also daily peace and joy. Here is abundance: right here in the midst of your flock.

Encountering difficulties….

Do you have guidance for me in these mornings when I wake up feeling dark and confused?

    This “pre-set” mode your mind returns to of self-punishment is not entirely bad. It can act as a spur to deeper questing … which in turn will bring greater clarity and peace. Finding your center and trying to be in communication there with Light and Love and Truth … this is all you can do. When thoughts come that this is not enough, remember – REMEMBER – where you are: at the center of the greatest military super-power the world has ever known … a place riddled with materialism, stress and sorrow. A Babylon confused and blinded by its own excess. A place where addictions abound: addiction to pleasure, productivity, accumulation, power, consumption … to more, more, more…. There are so many reasons why this is difficult and confusing. The things you consume often come from places where there is great poverty, but those places have things this culture often lacks: human community, humility, simplicity.

    So please recall all that is being transmuted and alchemized in your simple silence, in your quiet self-offering. Love is what you offer. What more is there to do? What is more precious on this earth? The shepherd offers love, patience, emptiness, time…. Thank you. We know how difficult this is.

Spooked in the night

What do I do with all these challenging internal voices?

    Still them. Imagine that the flock has been spooked in the night, and the shepherd needs to reassure them with simple signals that all is well … there is nothing to fear.

Why do the sheep get spooked in the night?

    Perhaps there is fear in the air, and they smell it on the wind…. Perhaps they had a fearful dream, or thought a predator was near…. Or perhaps they simply sensed the fear of a neighboring sheep and then began to imagine all of the possible reasons, rehearsing each scenario…. The point is that the shepherd knows his job: to quiet and reassure the sheep …to keep them contented and at peace. In this state they can serve their own life’s purpose. So it is with these human fears, dear Jane.

    We know that the entry and exit of this mortal life are framed in glory … The newborn child arrives with special magic, delighting us with her excitement. And the weary traveler often meets his final release with gratitude and awe, beholding Love’s greeting at the door….

    Who is to say what levels of light are revealed along the way, or at what moment in the path a pilgrim might round a corner to stand face to face with unmasked glory? Like a labyrinth the human journey seldom takes a straight path, its twists and turns too confusing for the linear mind. The journey is the thing: the willingness to humbly walk a confusing path with gratitude and joy – this is heroism.

    Trust the shepherd. And find the shepherd in you. Because you do not know the way. And the way is not of such great importance anyway. Try not to be overly concerned about landmarks and destinations. We are speaking here of relationship. The shepherd serves the sheep, and the sheep trust and obey the shepherd. Why? Because there is a mysterious, brilliantly symbiotic relationship at work: neither is intended to function independently.

    Dwelling in relationship requires abandonment of agenda – trust, patience and great hope. Discernment is crucial within this commitment to relationship: Is this path loving and good? Is the shepherd good? Where is my North Star?

My North Star is here, in conversation with you, beloved friends … dear helpers and emissaries of Light.

    So you may think of us as God’s shepherds … and in turn you may be conscious of shepherding your own internal flock – those feelings, thoughts, and fears – in love and contentment. All is well. Take time for peace and stillness … for simplicity and emptiness. Mission will always find you if you are available in this way.

    The shepherd gathers the day’s “Manna”, then – stilling and comforting the flock – offers them daily sustenance, as from the hand of God.

 

December 8, 2009

Words from unseen helpers to the seeking pilgrim….

    Please know that we are here with you in this room. You are not alone. It is good to seek centering, to seek guidance and comfort. You may look at this time as if you were traversing a high mountain pass in a sacred range. Your own vision is obscured by wind and weather, and you do not know the way to your destination. This moment on the path is the way. This is what we are trying to convey. You are right to seek and seek as you do. It does no good for the pilgrim to flay about and set out in every direction when the path is unclear. In spite of all the material comforts of your world, you are a pilgrim. And this is one of the things we love best about this journey.

    In this place where you live so many circumstances reinforce the demands of the material establishment. And in many ways this creates a tension that feels disagreeable. You often feel overwhelmed by the immediacy and seeming importance of these demanding physical surroundings.
See this as your training ground. How can you represent the pilgrim’s path within this consuming material establishment? The pilgrim’s path, that is, of waiting, seeking, serving … contemplation. A calling that involves waiting
on the unseen can seem lost and insignificant within “the dense din of planetary travail.”

    What we wish to underline is that this represents an extraordinary opportunity for spiritual growth on your appointed path…. Contrary to what your mind may repeat to you about slothfulness, worthlessness or inactivity, you are preparing in every way for a holy work: time set aside from the ordinary pursuits of sustenance, social discourse, livelihood…. A time of waiting and purification, the benefits of which are a clearer mind and simplicity of purpose: alignment with mission.

Waiting….

    It is a sweet time, the waiting. What is happening? Sifting … thoughts in fragments … some charged feelings: anger, sadness, self-criticism … but like clouds that gather and disperse you observe them . You are not the clouds. But you see them and feel them and let the air blow through them, waiting….

    It is a bit like expecting to meet someone at a terminal, when one is unsure of just who that person is, or even if or how they will appear … but one knows that this meeting is the important one, the central thing in the whole journey. Without it one is passing time. And with it, through it, one is connected to the grid of Love and Meaning. One is enlivened: one’s being makes sense.

    So waiting is the least one can do.

    And remember that your agreement is to be a servant of Light. So in the morning you gather and receive light. It is a quiet task. As the light comes in, it may illuminate areas of sadness, fatigue or discouragement. Remember in the serving it is the Light that does the work! You carry light, listen to it, serve its needs … but not independently.  It is a relational dance in which Light leads and you take up the rhythm with a willing step.  Try not to judge yourself. We never judge you. We are very well aware of the heaviness of this planet. Remember that to receive and hold this heaviness is a form of spiritual service or alchemy. Holding the darkness or the density in light … produces Light. Holding it in love … produces Love. Only light can produce Light; only love is the way to Love.

    Please always remember that we are here with you, seeking and serving in Love.
 

Greetings for the coming Autumn as we gather together in the strength of Spirit…. Here is a message I received from my unseen companions in answer to personal pain, but it pertains to all suffering, as you will see….

We are grateful for this time with you. How sweet it feels to join in conversation. Nothing is more precious than this.

Remember, please, that this is the Abiding Reality – this conversation. Nothing else remains, at the end of the day. Bodies will grow fat or thin, finance will be easy or difficult, children will have good times and bad….
Only this loving union is constant, joyful and unchanging in its fruitfulness.

Great tragedies occur through history - collectively, and at a very personal level. And it is appropriate to grieve them. But even as we grieve let us remember that for every cavity of dense suffering there is a great infusion of Light so healing that its beauty dazzles beyond all imagining. Such is the dance of life. This is the Abiding Reality, which sometimes finds its opening in adversity.

But what does one do with the temporal discomfort of suffering?

 We are here with deepest understanding of human suffering. That is why you are never alone. Human beings are not capable of this existence in a solitary fashion. Just as you cannot conceive of this life apart from friends, family and wider community, so you cannot function internally without spiritual companionship. The depth of disconnection with spiritual omnipresence that characterizes modern societies intensifies personal suffering, as fleeting pleasure is paraded as a universal panacea. Far greater pleasure can be found within spiritual consolation. It is when we stand in companionship to hold the tender human mysteries that we feel the deepest presence of Divine Love. This is part of the plan.

We wish to support you in opening to your difficulties and your suffering in dialogue with seen and unseen companions. In this way the human family begins to know itself in its true beauty and expand the Light in the universe. Each individual my do his and her part by holding tenderly  their portion of the pain and cradling the mystery of this condition within the awareness of community – seen and unseen, local and universal.

So when you feel these judging voices, offer the immediate reflex of tenderness. Soften. Say to them: We are waiting for another voice. And then do listen, until Love’s gentle song bubbles up from the streams of busy thought. The voice of Love is your truest guide.

I would like to hear the voice of Love now.

Love says:

Take comfort, mortal traveler: When you do not hear me, it is not your fault. My voice does not cry out in the busy marketplace. I do not wish to compete for your attention. But you must know that I am here. Everything you see, taste, touch has been born of my creative impulse. All of this world is part of my song. The key is to seek the singer of the song … then you will enter into the chamber of the Beloved.

And when you cannot seem to hear the voice of the Singer, do not try too hard. For it is Love’s job to find you. Perhaps a space will come, a pause in your day, and someone will touch your shoulder kindly, speaking with my voice … or perhaps sorrow will come, and in your wounded heart you will feel unexpected comfort, and that will be the comfort of my love. Perhaps you will be tired from all of your efforts and you will sleep and sleep so deeply that in the morning you will awaken refreshed. And the one who is refreshing your heart is Love.

I am not trying to hide from you, my dear one. In this game of hide and seek, it is I who am the seeker, and it is the confusion of this world which lets you think that you are hidden. So when you long for the comfort and the joy of Love’s presence, simply say: Here I am, my love! Here I am and I am wanting you to find me now … I am longing for you above all….

Before very long you will feel me: with you, beside you, within you …
for I am always here.
 

In this excerpt from my book, my father - in his “post-life” - addresses his bedridden widow, Angelika, and also the readers of our little book. He speaks about what is of real importance in this life in relation to the nature of Abiding Reality….

 Angelika: I’m speaking to you and to Jane ... and Spirit Guides are joining me in this message.

 You have graciously entered into this sphere of divine receptivity and we are very grateful for your submission and acceptance of this high level of human attainment. What these helpers wish to articulate is a sort of accolade for a level so little understood within our society. And so we are going to elaborate on this, even though you yourself must already know much of what I’m going to convey through Jane.

 Human life enjoys many phases, and in this part of the world vast over-emphasis is placed on the phase of material/physical productivity. That has certainly contributed to our society’s wealth and there is nothing wrong with it, as a developmental phase. Alas, appreciation of other levels of human advancement is often obscured by the abundant emphasis placed on material product. And so the abstract thinker, the artist, and the nurturer of other souls are far less valued than is healthy for a balanced and enlightened human system. But perhaps least valued of all is pure receptivity: the great art of allowing oneself to be still and enable other energies to communicate with and fertilize the self.

 A flower allows sunlight and rain to help it to grow and radiate beauty ... and then it offers its nectar to insects for pollination. This is a great and beautiful service to the heightened realms of earthly sensitivity.

 A tree allows itself to receive light and provide shade; it offers its branches as a home for many other creatures. Indeed, if we look around ourselves, we see that pattern echoed throughout the earth: self-offering ... patience ... receptivity. Even those creatures whose task it is to move or carry, hunt or gather, are heeding spiritual impulses which guide them in their simple tasks.

     In this evolutionary moment, there is no task on earth more imperative than divine receptivity. It involves a revolution of perception. Yet this wisdom is age-old.  Jesus said: “Consider the lilies of the field, who neither toil nor spin, yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.” He meant: Receive. Allow the universe to bless and endow your life as if there were a real and present God whose love is all-powerful and abundant.

     Here, in the realm of pure spirit, we can produce nothing that can be bought or sold.  And for some, arrival here can be a rude awakening. “What am I to have and do?” they wonder, feeling a bit lost. Certainly, helpers will guide them. They will not wander aimlessly if they are willing to learn. But why not learn the most precious lessons now? Tune your soul to the frequency of love and enlightenment.  Allow silence to blossom into wisdom. Train your heart to receive. How beautiful is the realm that waits to be received by you.

April 26, 2009

In the following entry from my book, WE ARE HERE, my father offers - from his new perspective in the after-life – a beautiful message about the nature of eternal life:

What I and the teachers here are stressing to you now is patient presence in this moment. It is only in this present moment that we exist. God is the eternal Now.  And only through this attitude of opening to present moment can we - any of us – experience divine knowledge or bliss.

 It is like a lovely box of sweets that can only be experienced as we take the time to sit down, open the box, and taste this delicious treat. It does no good to carry the box around with you, look at it ... study it. No good to think of it or even plan for or remember it. Taste it now, and see that it is sweet and delicious.

 As a culture, we are very much concerned with productivity, but not good, in general, with the simplest thing: tasting the nectar of life in this moment. We live as if there were too much to do and not enough time. When in fact there is so much time we cannot even imagine the vastness of it. All time is ours. And in fact there is not so very much to do. Not really. Remember when I said that none of the things I worried about while alive were of any real importance? That is true of most of the things I did as well.

Angelika exemplifies this truth: for in her stillness I believe she has never been more in touch with what is most important in life. It is a beautiful irony … and a good example to us all. (Even here many souls haven’t lost that imperative of busyness. It’s really funny at times, when we look at ourselves and consider that most of this activity is quite useless.)

 You can open that box of chocolates any time. Jesus exemplified this great teaching when he said: “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be given to you as well.” The sweet treasure is not only the doorway to present joy and true pleasure, but it is also the doorway to every other gift as well.

I think that is the teaching of today: everything you seek is here now. Open yourself to it.

I am here. And all my love is here.