CHAPTER 1
Forgiveness Is a Gift You Give to Someone Else
The first message I wrote seems kind of basic, even elementary to me now, but when I first wrote it, I thought, Wow, someone is on to something here. It is not much more enlightening than anything I've read elsewhere, but it is enlightening nonetheless. It started as a dream a few weeks after my vision of Cathy's grandmother.
July 24, 2009—Dream
I was in a class with Cathy. She did her assignment; I forgot. I was mad she didn't remind me. It was almost my turn. I prayed for some kind of help. This is what I got.
Who do you love the most? My answer is myself. If you can't love yourself, you can't love anything or anyone else. The four most important things, in any order, are as follows:
1. Life is our opportunity to evolve, to become better.
2. Problems—there are none; they are opportunities to learn.
3. Souls—as humans, few are capable of such evil, but in all cases eventually humans, guided by their souls, will achieve goodness. Your soul only uses its body on earth. The body itself is only important as a vehicle. We are responsible to care for this vehicle so it can last long enough to learn the lessons we are here to learn. The care of our bodies should never be rooted in vanity. In that sense, our appearance is not important. It may matter to others, but that's something they're going to have to work on.
4. Earth is our classroom. Even with all its issues, there is a direct connection between heaven and earth. Earth is our training ground. Heaven is part of earth, but earth will never be heaven.
One footnote to the four most important things is forgiveness. You can't evolve until you can truly forgive. Forgiveness is a gift you give to someone else.
I read this message over, and I gained a new outlook on other people in my life. If we are all here to learn and evolve and people are not just here to irritate me, I can look at others through new eyes. Though it is difficult at times, I try to have patience and understanding in dealing with others, but it is most important to make the effort. As written later in this book, God is more concerned about perfection in our efforts as opposed to perfection in our results.
The next day, there was another message. I saw myself in it, and I'm sure you'll see yourself in it as well. This message addresses the way we view others' actions and our responsibility to each other is very important.
July 25, 2009
Judgment of another soul is God's job. Judgment of a person's actions is our job. We have no idea for what lessons or reasons a soul chose to come to earth as a human. As such, we have no idea how to judge that soul's reasons for what it does. We do have a responsibility on earth to punish those actions appropriately. These punishments will aid in this soul's "education." We cannot ignore another soul's actions, good or bad, or we too have lost a learning experience.
The earth is like a pond. Every one of us, no matter what little thing we do, creates ripples in the waters of life. These ripples reach out in all directions, and how they affect others may be unknown to us. We must help others in many ways. It may be financially or through words of support, actions, and even punishment. Only they will know what needed to be learned. Even the one offering the help will be benefiting.
When we leave for earth, we are all given gifts—gifts that are not to be used for our own benefit but for the benefit of others. The gifts may be certain skills, abilities, or insights. These gifts may materialize in the form of money, talent, or work skills. These gifts are to be shared. Know your purpose in life.
In hindsight, after getting more messages, I realized that the word judgment should be replaced with discernment. I write only what comes to me without giving much thought to the message received in an effort to keep my own mind out of it. As the messages progressed, they became much deeper with a language that was not mine.
I had a short break from receiving anything new, and during that time I took a Qigong class and regularly visited a Shiatsu practitioner—all of this with the intention of opening up whatever needed to be opened so I could become a clearer channel for the messages.
My first Shiatsu experience was totally emasculating, to say the least. I left there after sobbing like a baby. Pat, the practitioner, another angel I've met along the way, said, "That's great. You had an emotional block ... You had a release."
I left there planning to never return, but years later I am a regular client, and thankfully nothing like that has happened since. Hopefully she's forgotten about the whole episode.
I tell you about this first Shiatsu experience because I use it as proof that something bigger is going on here, bigger than most of us realize. Energy work, meditation, and the acceptance of the possibilities of past lives are integral in understanding our spiritual connection. Reincarnation is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome, and I believe there is more evidence of reincarnation than evidence in the belief that we spend eighty years or so on earth and end up in heaven for eternity. As the messages progressed, this idea became much more prevalent.
As I said before, I was brought up Catholic; the prospect of reincarnation is not part of the holy belief system. Your religion, in most cases, has been chosen for you by your ancestors, and that's fine for most. If you use your religious convictions as a moral compass, that is great. Unfortunately, religion itself is another form of man trying to control man: believe in this or else, worship this or else, wear this or else, do this on this day or else, etc. If you don't follow the rules, you will suffer the wrath of God for eternity.
This is not the God I ever wanted to believe in or the one I've come to know. Various religions have been practiced for eons, and not one has brought about the peace and harmony our human existence seeks. I still attend church, but I don't feel obligated to attend only a Catholic church. Any place where God is worshipped has an energy that cannot be found elsewhere. All religions have positive aspects, but the one true religion is love. This is...
