The Message

Now, you are the whole of Spirit, and individually members of it.
And Spirit has appointed messengers, prophets, and teachers;
then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance,
forms of leadership, speakers of the Ancient Language.
Are all messengers? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work miraculous things? Do all possess gifts of healing?
Do all speak in the Ancient Language?

But, yet, strive for the greater Gifts,
and I will show you a still more excellent Way.
If I speak the Ancient Tongue, but do not have Love,
I am a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.
If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all Knowledge,
and if I have Faith, so as to remove mountains,
but do not have Love, I am nothing.
If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my Self so that I may boast,
but do not have Love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient;
Love is kind;
Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its own Way;
Love is not irritable or resentful;
Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in Truth.

Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

Love never ends.
But as for prophecies, they will come to an end;
as for tongues speaking the Ancient Language, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;
but when the Complete comes, the partial will come to an end.


When I was a Child, I spoke like a Child,
I thought like a Child, I reasoned like a Child;
when I became an Adult, I put an end to Childish Ways.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly;
but then, we will see Face to Face.
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully,
even as I have been fully known.

Faith, Hope, and Love abide now... and the greatest of these is Love.

Know, then, that Spirit is Love;
and that as Spirit is in you, and manifested through you,
then you are Love, also,
and you are beholden to withhold that Love from no one.

Understand that no Race or Realm is separate, as much as it hurts your heart and ego. Spirit is in all and all is in Spirit, so what happens in the domain of Man, happens within you as well. No one asks you to interfere or intervene or be more than you are. Only that you seek awareness of the unity of all -- all -- harmonized, converged, and reconciled within you -- that is all that matters. Oneness is oneness - there are no ego boundaries - that is illusion. Chosen or not, all are one; rich, poor, well, diseased, sane or not, elf or human or other -- it does not matter -- all are one. There are no boundaries. Boundaries are ego constructions. Differences and perceptions, comparisons and collections -- all are ego constructs. I am not saying embrace your enemy, embrace the stranger, naively. I am saying not to let their difference delude you into thinking they are separate from you. All is one. Your actions need to come from the Awareness that what you perceive in your world is within you as well as outside. So how you respond to others sends ripples internally within all of your essence, as much as it sends ripples across the Spiritual Ether of all Life. Project your awareness as love and light - inside and out. Understand that others may not perceive at that level of awareness and their reaction to that may be the violent turmoil they hold within themselves. Keep the boundaries you need to protect you. As you grow in awareness, the boundaries will diminish. Be aware of who and what you are so you set wise boundaries and do not invade or violate others' boundaries, nor allow others to invade or violate yours. It is easier, I think, to see ourselves as one with the stars and trees and earth. Much harder to see ourselves as one with our enemies and all that we fear. Remember that Spirit is Love;
and that as Spirit is in you, and manifested through you,
then you are Love, also,
and you are beholden to withhold that Love from no one.
Ponder on that as you sleep tonight.