2001-08-05-Allow God's Love

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Topic: Allow God's Love

Group: Costa Rica TeaM

Facilitators

Teacher: Alana, Devina, Legion

TR: S. Butterfield

Session

Opening

David : (Speaking to the transmitter.) How about sharing some of those beautiful smiles and telling us what they are all about, mam? (laughter) Excuse me.

Alana : Yes.

David : Welcome, Alana. We knew you were there.

Alana : You continue with your boisterousness, yes?

David : Yes, if you mean playfulness and an overwhelming sense of joy at the idea of hearing from you again today. (Yes.) We have some dear new seekers with us today, Lucia, and Patrick. And Germann is here with us again, and Nena, and Sandy, and Mr. Practice, and me. And welcome, my dear, it is so nice to hear your voice.

Alana : Yes. And you have another you did not mention. Yes. Your transmitter, we would all be…

David : Oh yes! (laughter)

Alana : …we would all be out of sync without her, yes? (laughter)

David : She seems to be quite vital to this circle. There is no doubt about that.

Alana : Yes. And so my friend, you stand tall, yes? (TR : Alana was speaking to Germann.)

David : Is she talking to me?

Oliver : You stand tall, yes.

David : Oh. Well, Germann, when we hugged earlier said, “You’ve grown taller!” So evidently something has been happening in me that he perceived.

Alana : And in him as well?

David : Yes, yes. I felt that as well. (pause) I reminded him that was one of the first things Legion said to him, was for him to stand tall. (pause) I read the lessons, Alana, (laughter) and study them. I know nobody else does in this group (laughter continues) but I do (more laughter).

Sandy : David…(laughter blocks out her comment)

Alana : You would spank his little hand, yes? (more laughter)

Sandy : Well, there is no need for him to hog the group when you are here, Alana. We are waiting to hear from you.

Lesson

Alana : Yes. Shall we create the heart room together? (General agreement.) So, I ask you now to breathe, breathe deeply, deeply into your hearts. Breathe my love in. Deep, deep into your hearts. Open now. Open your hearts. Allow the love to flow through your hearts to the one across from you. Breathe it in. Allow. Allow love. Allow love to flow through you to the one across from you.

Open your heads now, the top of your heads. Open them. Allow. Allow God’s love to pour down into the tops of your heads, down, down through your throats into your hearts, out through your hearts to the one across from you. Yes. Open your heads. Open the space at the base of your heads. Open. Open the spots down your spine, and I shall blow love, I shall blow love in, in through your backs, filling your bodies now, filling you, filling you with my love. Yes. And allow my love to pour out through either side of your bodies now, over to the ones on either side of you. Flowing now. Allow the love to flow. Allow the love to flow, creating the walls of the heart room.

Imagine God’s love, God’s light, pouring down now, through the tops of your heads, down into your bodies, down, down into your pelvises, down through your legs, into your feet, out through your toes across to the one before you. Creating now the floor of the heart room. Breathe. Breathe my love in, deeply.

I welcome you, each of you. I welcome you into my heart room. I blow love upon you, each of you. I blow love.

Welcome now, welcome those you love. Welcome them. Welcome them into the heart room, and we shall blow love upon them.

And those, those with whom you have differences. Those whom you may call “enemy.” Welcome them, now. Welcome them into the heart room, and we shall blow love upon them.

And if, if this is too difficult, set them aside, and I shall gather them into my heart, and I shall blow love upon them.

And now, open your hearts. Open your hearts to my forgiveness. I blow love upon you. And allow. Allow my forgiveness to pour through your hearts to the ones across from you. And to the ones at either side of you. Yes. Receive my love. And give my love away. Yes? Thank you.

Is there any one who would speak now, to Alana? I am in the center of the heart room. I welcome you.

Dialogue

Patrick : Well, welcome Alana. You are in the center of my heart room, too.

Alana : Thank you.

Patrick : And I’m just seeing a lot of beautiful light.

Alana : Yes.

Patrick : And you feel real good to me, too.

Alana : Yes.

Patrick : Now, I have a neighbor that I would…that before you invited him into your heart room and into all of our heart rooms, I invited him into your heart room and into the heart room of all of you guys, because he’s been in my heart room long enough, so to speak. He’s still there, but I’d like to just get rid of him, basically. Disappear from my…whatever is going on there. I need more flowers to plant in the garden, so he sees them, and I need some help with that stuff, on a practical matter. I need some bamboo. (Speaking to David.) Can you send me some bamboo? That helped a lot, to fix the holes that were knocked in to the fence. The bamboo helped a lot. It kept this thing from bothering, bothering the vibration on this thing…so it helped a lot, it’s a whole lot better now…so thank you.

Alana : Thank you, my friend. Yes, I shall blow love upon him. Give him to me. Now.

Patrick : Thank you. He’s yours.

Alana : Thank you. (Pause. She speaks to Germann.) My friend, you are so quiet. You have gone through many changes, yes?

David : I’m not sure my friend knows to whom you are speaking, Alana. You seem to be turning toward Sandy.

Alana : It is the one to whom it was said, “Stand tall.” (Long silence.)

Sandy : Are you speaking to Germann?

Alana : Yes. He would raise his head, yes? Raise his head and allow, allow, allow his mind to be filled with God’s love. Let it pour down through his spine. Yes? That he may stand tall with his new understanding. You are well, my friend, yes? But you remain shy. I blow love upon you. So…

Legion : Yes. This is Legion.

David : Welcome, Legion.

Legion : I have returned, as requested, to speak to you of pride. Yes?

David : I’m a little worried about that. Not precisely. There was a phrase that Alana used the other day, she spoke of “the pride of joy.”

Legion : Yes, my friend.

David : OK, you’ve got it. I won’t worry about it anymore. (laughter)

Sandy : Are you managing Legion, too?

David : How about a little help from my crew here, you know I’m a little hard of hearing don’t you? (laughter) All right, Legion, you’re on. Thank you for your patience. (pause)

Legion : When you look upon the flowers turned toward the sunlight, perhaps moving gently in a gentle breeze, you feel joy, yes?

David : Yes.

Legion : These flowers, spread across the meadow, appear to dance in the sunlight, and you feel joy, yes?

David : Yes.

Legion : But you do not own these flowers, yes?

David : That is so.

Legion : Can you imagine these flowers filled with the pride of their joy?

David : Hmmm.

Legion : Sometimes, when you walk among your gardens, you see your flowers, yes?

David : Yes, I do.

Legion : Blooming. Blossoming.in the sunlight. Dancing as the soft rain falls. Yes?

David : Yes.

Legion : And you feel joy, yes?

David : Yes.

Legion : And perhaps you even feel pride with your joy, yes?

David : I’m having a hard time associating with that, Legion. It’s like, I’ve never…I mean it’s got to be a very subtle thing…I’ve never felt the pride in the joy. Can somebody else help me along here?

Sandy : I think it’s a semantic thing, the word pride has a lot of negative connotations to it. Maybe Legion can help us with that.

David : Thank you, Sandy.

Legion : Yes. And so, when do you feel pride, my friend?

David : (long pause) I feel pride, which I see now as another word for joy, when I’ve been able to love in a way that expands me, when I’ve been able to give love away in a way that I never have before…that makes me feel real good, yes.

Legion : Yes, and this pride that you struggled with, this word pride that you struggled with prior to this insight into joy…what was this pride?

David : Um, I’m not sure I’m tracking too well. Um, I know that I felt pride in my body when I did certain yoga things and my body felt strong, and I did my yoga in front of the mirror. I felt a certain pride in the power and my body and the way it looked. I see this in the rest of nature, when I see a deer, or a horse that is full of spirit. That’s the way my body felt, and I feel pride in that.

Legion : And do you feel joy?

David : Yes, I felt that. Precisely. It’s like the body feels like it could spring.

Legion : Yes. The pride of joy: to give, to give your love away; to give, to give your….one moment please. (Legion spends some time relaxing the tr.) You have been taught to be proud because you have a certain heritage, because you have a certain name, because you have a certain amount of skill, because you have a certain amount of intelligence, because you have a certain amount of money, because you have a certain amount of children with a certain amount of skill, with a certain amount of intelligence, with a certain amount of money.

Sandy : Those are all external things.

Legion : Pride without the joy of giving is not pride at all. It is a position, a point-of-view, a certain amount of self-satisfaction tinged with the capital A, for arrogance. The Olympic swimmer she (the tr) sees his face at the moment of triumph. The pride bursts forth in joy. Not a thought for “how special I am,” not a thought for “how far above I am over everyone,” not a thought for “me, me, me.” Only, only the pride of joy. Joy! Joy for giving, giving all he has received, giving, allowing, allowing, allowing. And what he has received, he gives away. And in that moment, that moment of golden victory, he knows only joy. Yes? And you, you who prayed to him, “Swim for Joy!” You, you feel proud for him, yes? And it is the pride of joy, yes? (David : Yes.) And you, you who have such a beautiful garden. You, you feel pride for the beauty, yes? (David : Yes.) It is the pride of beauty shared, yes? (David : Yes.) The essence of God’s love is joy.

David : That amazed me when I read that. I’ve been a theologian all my life and I’d never heard that before. (laughter) Excuse me, go on.

Legion : You have studied the books. You have practiced the art. You have seen many, like you, who study the books and practice the art, but without joy, yes? (David : Yes.) When God’s love pours through you to others, you feel joy, yes? (David : Yes.)

Sandy : Legion, may I ask a question?

Legion : Certainly, my friend. I am thankful for your thoughts.

Sandy : I am trying to reconcile the idea of the incredible humility that one can feel in gratitude to God, with the idea of pride. I know I feel incredible joy, marvelous, marvelous joy in my gratitude, but there is also a humbling aspect to that.

Legion : My friend, when you say “humbling,” do you imagine bowing down and putting your nose to the ground? (laughter) (Sandy : No, no I don’t.) Thank you.

Beloved, you have a beloved animal, yes? (Sandy : Yes.) A horse, yes? A beautiful horse. The beauty of the horse, do you imagine the horse feeling pride as the horse…(David : Prances?) …gallops across the meadow. (Sandy : I know she feels joy, I can see it.) Yes. And when she stands still, and raises her hoof and nods her head, do you see pride in her beauty?

Sandy : I’m still having trouble with this idea.

Legion : You see her joy, yes? (Sandy : Yes.) Pride is a word, yes? (Sandy : Yes. A very limiting word, for us, I think.) Joy is a word, yes? (Sandy : Yes, and with a whole new meaning for us, I think.) Yet you see joy in her beauty, yes? (Sandy : Yes.) She holds herself with the pride of joy. She gallops with the pride of joy. She whinneys with the pride of joy. (Sandy : Yes, I can see those two together in her case.)

Legion : Yes, I would have you understand we wish that each of you stand tall with the pride of God’s love within you, God’s joy within you. The essence of God’s love within, is God’s joy within. Is the pride of joy welcome, now? The pride of joy: the pride that does not belittle another, the pride that does not separate one from another, the pride that gives God’s love, God’s joy, away.

When I say to Mr. Practice, “you are worthy, you are worthy, you are worthy,” I do not feed the popcorn of pride, I feed his heart with my love. I wish for him to know my love so that he, at all times, may also know joy, the pride of joy.

So, my friend, does this satisfy?

David : A full plate, a full plate. I followed you carefully. You used some beautiful illustrations. I always think of a horse when I think of joy and spirit. A spirited horse helps me to understand the whole idea behind God as Spirit. So thank you for your very down-home illustrations. I’d like to read this and absorb it.

Legion : Yes, we will speak again.

David : One of the things that jumped out at me when you were speaking was this metaphor, that the God that dwells within us is the God of Joy. If the Spirit of God is attached to us in some way, it is simply a fountain of joy that resides within us and we ought to get in touch with it as soon as we can. It’s always there. Thank you, Legion, this was beautifully done. Perhaps we will have some questions next week. Would you like to stay and chat with us a bit longer?

Legion : (long silence) Yes. I converse with your beloved transmitter. She has her moments, you know, of anxiety. She worries that she has not been a good enough transmitter today. I tickle her now, for I wiggle my finger and say, “It is not you. I will speak again, and clarity will come.” She is nervous. She wants one of Sandy’s gold stars. Thank you.

Yes, you remember (Sandy had put her hand on the tr’s arm, a practice done regularly in the early days to help her relax and feel secure while transmitting, especially in front of new people.) So…is there further conversation? Or would you prefer Alana to return.

Sandy : Just a comment, Legion. (Legion : Yes.) I remember when I was a little girl taking piano lessons. If I really worked hard on a piece and played it well, my teacher would give me a gold star. She would paste it on my book of music. And I would take great pride in that. But on Friday, Alana gave me a gold star and I did not feel that same kind of pride. I just felt joy, because she talked about taking that gold star up…it was a gift from me to her, as well as from her to me.

Legion : Yes. And the little girl, when she had finally accomplished the piece, did she feel joy? (Sandy : Yes.) Yes. And when she played the piece for her teacher, did she feel joy? (Sandy : Yes.) And in that moment of final accomplishment before the teacher, and the teacher looked into her eyes, did the little girl see her joy reflected in the teacher’s eyes? (Sandy : Yes.) And then came the gold star. And she felt joy, yes? (Sandy : Yes.) And a different sort of pride, yes?

Sandy : Music is so wonderful in the sense that it is always a gift to somebody else, it is not just an isolated thing in which you can take pride, it is something you give away.

Legion : Yes, and the child with increasing joy felt increasing pride of joy, different from pride in a little gold star, yes? (Sandy : Yes.) Different from pride in a little gold star she should show her mother, or her father., yes? (Sandy : Yes.)

Legion : The child knows the pride of joy within. The child learns the pride of ownership, of skills better than others, of intelligence commented upon, even the pride of prayers said so perfectly, yes? We speak to you of a natural pride, the natural pride of the state of natural humility, which is the mutual gratitude of God’s love for you, and your abundant love for God. And in the very center of it all is joy. Thank you.

Sandy : Thank you, Legion.

David : Thank you.

Closing

Alana : This is Alana. So…I caress each one of you, now, with my love. This has been a fairly good trial run, yes? For a transmitter whose anxiety to see, to read, and to hear our words returned, but only for moments at a time. Thank you. Thank you for your welcome.

David : Thank you, Alana, for your presence today. We cherish your presence.

TR : Father, Mother God, I thank you for your love. And I thank you for giving me this opportunity to share with others the love you have given me. And I thank you for helping me to see that my love can expand, and expand. Amen.