Time for a Change

It's been fun working on this blog.

It's time for further expansion and another way of being.

My new blog is called Home Sweet Home!.

Cheers,
EJ

MESSAGE FOR READERS

Welcome to my new blog.

It is a place where I share my experiences and insights.

Life, for me, is about play: playing with new ideas, consciously playing with Energy, and playing at being who I am.

Please note that these writings are based on realisations I have and not meant to be taken as instructions or teachings. We all have the answers within us. (See also Maps)

Unless otherwise stated, all articles are copyright © 2005-2012 Enocia Joseph. You have my permission to copy and distribute articles for personal use only. Please include the link to the particular blog. For any other use other than personal, and any comments you might have, please email theoneinall@googlemail.com.

Much gratitude and love to Ben Gilberti for designing the Light fractal.

Thanks for stopping by.

All the very best.

Love Enocia

Articles in Alphabetical Order

Great news readers!

I have listed all the articles and pieces here in alphabetical order, which should make things a lot easier for all of us. I shall continue to update the list as I add more articles.

New entries will be posted in date order as usual.

For my current and previous blogs see My Other Blogs.

Unless otherwise stated, all articles are copyright © 2005-2012 Enocia Joseph. You have my permission to copy and distribute articles for personal use only. Please include the link to the particular blog. For any other use other than personal, and any comments you might have, please email Enocia.

Enjoy.

Love always,
Enocia

-- A --

A Christmas Message - Cold Turkey
A Fun Reminder
A Jolly Ride
A Life to Remember
A Lot to be Grateful About
A Love Shared is a Love Shared
A New Day, A New Blog
A New Phase
A Prayer for Women (and Men)
A Reminder - There are No Missed Opportunities
Acceptance
Advertising
After You
An Ocean of Universal Energy
Anomaly or Reality
An Open-and-Shut Case
Are You Normal?
Art Imitating Life; Walking Dead
As Easy as Anything

-- B --

Being a Ship's Captain
Being in the Present
Birds of a Feather Flock Together

-- C --

Captain One Love to the Rescue!
Christmas Decorations
Co-Creating with God
Come-back of the Day
Cor Blimey, Guv'nor!
Core Beliefs
Curiouser and Curiouser

-- D --

Dancing Queen
Déjà Vu
Diets, Diets, and More Diets
DNA
DoBeDoBeDo
Doing What Comes Natural
Don't Know, Don't Care!
Don't Worry

-- E --

Ending Duality - Same Old, Same Old
Excellent Advice, Not!
Expectations
Extras

-- F --

Fast Forward
Fasting
Fear of Being a Clone
Flying with the Wind
Following My Own Rhythm
For Trekkies
Forever in a Moment; When Things Fall Apart

-- G --

Gently Does It
Giving and Receiving
Giving Credit Where It's Due
God Will Fix It
Good Business Sense or What?
Good Intentions
Grace
Great Actors Know How to Be
Guilt Complex

-- H --

Hahaha!
Handle With Care
Hello Love
How Big is Your Cup?
How Do I Feel?
How Lovely to be Proven Wrong!
How To Avoid Blocks

-- I --

I am Alive
I Would Rather Be Grateful, Thank You
If What You're Doing isn't Working
I Have Never Left Home
I'll Be There No Matter What
Information Overload
In the Know
In the Presence of Love
Inner Silence
Intelligence, Intent and Being a Willing Instrument
Is There a Devil?
Is Your Enthusiasm Getting the Better of You?
It is Impossible for Anyone to Be Lost!
It's a Done Deal; Just Say Yes
It's All Happening
It's All You
It's Only a Love Game
It's That Time Again!

-- J --

Joke of the Day
Just Because

-- K --

Knowledge and Freedom

-- L --

Let Yourself Go
Let Yourself Go - Part 2
Let Yourself Go - Part 3
Life is a Game
Life's Purpose
Living in the Eternal Now
Living in the Moment
Lonely Heart
Looking For Love in All The Wrong Places?
Love
Love is All There Is
Love is Always Present
Love is Meeting All Needs Perfectly
Lucid Dreaming - An Alternative View

-- M --

Making Love
Making Something Out of Nothing
Manifesting by the Balloon Technique
Maps
Memories are Made of This
Mind Meld
More Debunking - Energy
My Life Partner

-- N --

New Year's Resolution and Perfection
No Agendas
No Leg to Stand On
No Place Like Home
Nothing But the Best

-- O --

Of Beliefs and Chasing Tails
Of Channels
Of Friendship and Events Beyond One's Control
On Boredom
On Dying
On Perfection
On Supply
Only Love is Shared, Not Problems!
Out of Body Experience (OOBE) - A Breakthrough

-- P --

Phlegm
Plug In
Plug In - 2
Poignant Thought of the Day
Practising Transparency
Practising Transparency - Dissolving Programmes
Pregnancy and Rebirth
Priceless!

-- Q --

Quip of the Day

-- R --

Receiving Unlimited Good
Relative Truth versus Absolute Truth
Retort of the Day

-- S --

Self-Inquiry
Shock Horror!
Some Thoughts About Manifestations
Song of the Day
Sorry!
Soul Mates
Staying Focused on the Mould
Staying Awake to My Real Self
Sweet Enough

-- T --

Text Message
That's Life!
The All There Is
The Art of Letting Go
The Best I Can Offer is To Be Myself
The Biggest Mail Merge Ever
The Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer
The Death Penalty
The Future is Joy
The Game of Life
The Game of Politics
The Game of Receiving
The Hero Within and Without
The Joy of Giving
The Light Versus Darkness Baloney
The Living God
The Myth of Personal Power
The One True Cause
The Pedestal
The Personal and Impersonal Nature of God
The Purpose of Life - Revisited
The Real Purpose of the Senses
The Significance of the Number 40
The Timeless Now
There are No Miracles!
There are No Missed Opportunities
There are No Rules!
To Believe is to Agree With
To Eat or Not To Eat?
Trusting in Divine Order
Two Little Boys
Two Short Planks

-- U --

Umbrellas
Unity Consciousness

-- V --

Vest

-- W --

Water Off a Duck's Back
Ways of Being
What an Idiot!
What Blesses One Blesses All
What is a Human Being?
What is Good is Good For All Time
What is Infinity?
What is Intelligence?
What is Service?
What is Spirit?
What is Time?
What is Truth?
What is Omnipresence Really?
What's It All About?
What's the Magic Word?
What You Believe is Possible is What is Possible For You
When Being Good is Not Enough
Who are You Really?
Who is Thinking Whom?
Win-Win
Without a Cause
Without Love, It is Nothing
Wow! It's Magic!
Wow! It's Magic - Part Deux

-- X --

Xenophobia

-- Y --

Yoo Hoo! Is Anybody Home?
Yo-Yos and Drama Queens

-- Z --

Zenith

How to Avoid Blocks

I believe God is the Source of All There Is that is Good. God has devised a way to express all Goodness by appearing as infinite instruments that are meant to receive/express all the Good that He is. Thus, God is playing two roles: the Source and Giver of Goodness and the Receiver and expression of all Goodness.

Since God is all there is, this means that we are all playing a dual role: the Source/Giver being expressed through the infinite instruments/Receiver.

While I am playing my part as Source, it doesn't always follow that what I express always comes through my personality; most of the time Source expresses through other instruments appearing as people, objects, books, animals, nature, experiences etc. My role, therefore, is to realise that there is only the one Source and then let the Source flow effortlessly through whichever instruments He chooses.

Blocks sometimes occur when one expects Source to flow in a particular way when there are unlimited channels Source can flow through. For instance, the other day when I was working on the piece, When Being Good is Not Enough, I found the words weren't flowing and it seemed like a lot of effort. I stopped for a few seconds and realised that All is God. When I resumed writing I was able to see how the Source of all had arranged for the various instruments to play their parts, which unfolded the idea. The story wrote itself in no time.

To avoid blocks I live with the realisation that:

Source/God is all there is; and
Source/God expresses Self through limitless instruments.

Can you imagine what this means? Let's say you are looking for healing. God's limitless healing instruments could be the chair you're sitting on, the computer screen, the people around you, the air you breathe, the ground you're walking on, the clothes you're wearing; everything and anything could be God's healing instrument.

Incidentally, yesterday I noticed this woman on the bus who looked really down. She kept swapping seats. We all got off at the same stop. This morning I saw her near where we live, which is a mile away from where she got off yesterday. I thought to myself, there's probably a reason why our paths have crossed. Maybe, God/Source is working through me to help her or vice versa.

I am open to the limitless ways God is expressing Self.

With love,
Enocia

What's the Magic Word?

A child says to his mother: "Can I have some chocolate?"
"What's the magic word?" his mother says.
"Now?"
"No, it's please."

After the child has been given the chocolate his mother says, "What do you say?"
"More?"
"No, thank you."

Well, most of us have gone through this programming. You learn to say "please" and "thank you," or you go without.

While the words "please" and "thank you" can help you get what you want, I believe the real magic word is "love." I'm not just talking about the word but the feeling.

It is Love that brought the world into being. I believe we are here to live as our real Self that is Love. While we are here to be love the irony is that we are also here to love what we love. Put another way, I am here to experience life from my perspective loving what I love.

I have observed that what I love is drawn to me like a magnet. How it happens is beyond human understanding; Love has His own ways. I have also observed that I can't fool Love meaning I can't pretend to love what I don't love. For instance, I love Vimto, Weetabix and chocolate; but I don't love avocado. When I am loving what I love I'm being true to myself.

Yesterday, I wrote in a forum about accents. I said while I love accents there is something about the Italian language or people who speak with Italian accents that appeals to me. I could listen to Italian all day. Later in the evening, my mother and I watched a film called Johnny English. I thought because it was a secret agent spoof with Rowan Atkinson, I would love it. After watching it for a few minutes I wasn't impressed. I just wasn't feeling the love. So I left my mother to it and went to have a bath. When I finished having a bath, I saw my mother had abandoned the film for The Godfather that was being shown on the other channel. I started watching it after Michael Carleone had carried out his first hit and was sent to Sicily to cool off. In one scene, Michael was trying to get permission from a girl's father so he could take her out. They were speaking in Italian. I was entranced. Mama mia! It didn't matter to me what they were saying, I just loved how they were saying it. After that scene, I fell sleep. Besides, I had had my Italian fix.

Many people pooh-pooh reality TV shows. I can't say I love all of them but the ones I have enjoyed have had something special. The last one I watched was Soapstar Superstar, where a group of soap stars were competing in a singing contest for the coveted title. The winner, Richard, was so talented he could sing any song. The judges were amazed how someone so young, (17 I believe), could be so talented. It's not one's age but how open one is to be or feel love. Richard talked about how much he loved playing the piano, his guitar and music. For Richard, it was not just a career but a way of life. And the viewers mirrored his love back by making him the winner.

Each of us has been given the same gift: love. The more you love the more that is mirrored back to you. Life is that simple.

"Can I have some chocolate?"
"What's the magic word?"
"I would love some chocolate."
"You've got it."

All my love,
Enocia

Related articles: A Love Shared is a Love Shared; What You Love, Loves You Back

Win-Win

This morning I saw the neighbour I wrote about in the piece, Is Your Enthusiasm Getting the Better of You?

She was all smiles and thanked me for helping her the other day.

She said "There was no need for me to worry. I had lots of time to even meet my friend for a cup of coffee."
"That's excellent!" I said.
"I mustn't get myself flustered," she said.
"I'm glad to hear that."

We wished each other good day.

Well it's a win-win for both of us: she has a great day and I have a great story.

Have a wonderful day, everyone.

Lots of love,
Enocia

Unity Consciousness

On one level we all look different. We have our likes and dislikes; we have stuff we feel passionate about. We are diverse and we are proud of it.

On another level, we are made of the same stuff, Love. We are Love.

All is one.

When you realise you are made of the same stuff, you can look at the moon and know that you are made of the same stuff as the moon.

You can look at your neighbour and know that you are made of the same stuff as your neighbour.

All is one.

So when I get a twinge in your body, I don't try to fix it. I look up into the sky at night. I observe stars in the Milky Way. The Intelligence which makes the stars appear; that which makes the Universe appear in its infinite manifestation is the same Intelligence that is quickening my body.

All is one.

That's unity consciousness.

Enocia

When Being Good is Not Enough

"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (John 7: 24)

"The Lord is everywhere
And always perfect:
What does He care for man's sin
Or the righteousness of man?" (The Bhagavad Gita - The Song of God translated by Swami Prabhavananda & Christopher Isherwood)

Yesterday, this man joined me at the bus stop. I said hello. He asked me if I was going to a certain area and I said yes. He was also going to the same place. I said I was either going to catch the bus going the direct route or the one going via the scenic route. Besides, I was in the mood for the scenic route. The first bus that arrived was the scenic route. Before I said goodbye to the man he told me I was a very "good girl." I didn't know what he meant but I thanked him all the same.

I was also pondering about what a friend had said recently about his experience with spirituality. He was frustrated about knowing truth but not seeing this truth being demonstrated in his life.

How does one walk the spiritual talk? Do you have to be a good person?

On my scenic bus ride, I observed how on one level there appears to be nice areas that are clean and have great recreational facilities; and not so nice areas that are deprived. Some parts of London have people who are friendly; other parts have people who seem hostile.

Another way to define these areas or people is by vibes. You are drawn to people who have positive vibes or have similar vibes as you; and you recoil from people or areas of negative vibes. This way, you choose what areas you wish to live in and others you won't be seen dead in.

Going by appearances or vibes is what I call surface mentality. When I lived with that mentality, there were areas in London I couldn't stand. At one point I so hated London I wanted to emigrate to Australia so I could be away from the stench, pollution and chaos. I was also very sensitive to negative energies. I practised psychic self-defence by creating energy shields around me to protect myself from negative thoughts and emotions, and from electromagnetic waves and pollution. The more I defended myself the more there was to defend myself against.

Many people survive by surface mentality. They focus only on being good, law-abiding, citizens. They live in nice areas, have lovely friends and lead charmed lives. In that case, how come so many good people end up being attacked, involved in an accident, get sick, or affected by some natural disaster? This suggests being good or choosing good experiences doesn't always cut it. Positive thinking is not enough. You have to step out of the surface mentality of appearances and delve deeper to the substance of all appearances, which is Love. Love is Reality.

When you live from Reality, you are no longer distracted by appearances because you know there is only Love. It doesn't matter what's going on around you; you focus only on Reality.

Back to my friend's question about how to walk your talk. I believe it is about walking by faith and not by sight/appearances. For me, it is about realising that Love is all there is. I don't try to figure out how Love is but I trust that the Love is alive and let it be made manifest in His own way. When I find I am in an area that the surface mentality objects to, I remind myself that the substance of everything is Love. Then I observe as Love unfolds in ways that astound the surface mentality.

You know you are walking by Love when you stop trying to defend yourself against anything. Love needs no defence.

Perhaps when that man called me "good" he was seeing me as I really am. Who knows?

With love,
Enocia

Related articles: In the Presence of Love; Ending Duality - Same Old, Same Old

Only Love is Shared, Not Problems!

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy. Joy to the World

They say: "A problem shared is a problem halved."

The way I see it, your problem has to be big enough for you to want to share it. In other words, a problem shared is one BIG problem.

Instead of focusing your attention on your problem why not focus on the solution?

I believe there is only one solution to all the problems mankind has dreamed up: Love. We are all seeking to be Love. It is that simple. So why not focus on the feeling of Joy, which is how Love expresses self? Joy is the feeling that unfolds creation.

Did you know that the universe is singing with Joy? It's true. Joy has a signature tune. Granted, Joy doesn't sound the way our voices do, but it resonates as some kind of light frequency. I hear Joy in my head all the time.

Joy is not something you try to create. it's more a discovery of what is already present. I remember I used to do a lot of space clearing by blessing the room or area with Joy. I would think "I bless this room with Joy" and then observe what happened. Suddenly, people in the room would start making jokes and having a laugh. I would find this quite entertaining. The Joy would soon dissipate and the vibration of the room would appear to return to normal, as in doom and gloom. I later realised I was trying to create Joy. What is created has a beginning and ending. Joy is limitless. Since Joy is always present, this also means that Joy is also alive in me. I only have to remember/discover that I am Joy.

If Joy is our true nature, how come we don't always remember to feel joyful?

Imagine you go to sleep one night on the 24 January 2006, but when you wake up you find yourself in pre-historic civilisation. There is no electricity. People are eating raw meat. While you can no longer remember what life was like in 2006, you have a knowing that there is a better way to live. One day you are inspired to start rubbing two pieces of sticks together. People in your tribe think you are crazy but you ignore them and keep on rubbing. You rub and rub until you see smoke coming out of the sticks. Then the smoke disappears. This inspires you to keep on rubbing. You persist until you see some more smoke. You have a knowing to put some dried leaves on top of the smoke. Soon there is a spark that ignites into a flame.

Though it might seem as if you invented fire, you have actually discovered fire. Now you can have your steak rare, medium or well done; you can keep yourself warm; and you can even have light.

Just like the prehistoric folks who had a knowing of fire and followed their intuition, so do most of us have a knowing that our nature is Joy. To ignite the Joy that we are, we have to persist by remembering who we are until it reaches a point when the spark catches fire. Now that you can feel the Joy within and without, you simply let the flame spread of its own accord like wild fire.

I no longer focus on problems but on Joy because I know Joy has the power to transmute all experiences of fear into experiences of Joy. The only time it's worth sharing a problem is when I want to have a good laugh at the problem.

In Joy,
Enocia

Related articles: Is Your Enthusiasm Getting the Better of You?; Smile Please!

A Love Shared is a Love Shared

Yesterday evening I was browsing in a bookshop. They started playing compilations from Michael Jackson's albums. There are some of his albums I love such as "Off the Wall", "Thriller", and "Bad." There was a time when I couldn't get to sleep without listening to the "Off the Wall" album. It felt like a love connection. I'm not too keen on the others. I decided I would listen to the songs from the albums I love and then mentally switch off.

I noticed that as soon as the song started for the later albums they stopped it. Then they started playing the album from scratch. I was curious about this so I went to the information desk to ask what was going on.

"Are you the one playing the Michael Jackson album?"

"Yes," he said with hesitation. "Why?"

"I was just thinking how much I love Michael Jackson's first three albums and not too keen on the others," I said. "I noticed you didn't play songs from his later albums."

"That's because the rest of them are crap!"

I wouldn't have put it that tactfully, but I could understand where he was coming from.

Also, while I was listening to the songs, I had a thought that nowadays people are taking the piss dumping magazines on chairs and not returning them to the shelf. I made a mental note to return the books I was browsing back where I had found them. The next thing I knew an announcement came on requesting customers to please return magazines and books back to the shelf. They made another announcement later.

Blimey! We really are sharing the one Love!

With love,
Enocia

Is Your Enthusiasm Getting the Better of You?

It's good to have enthusiasm. This shows you have passion for life. When I'm feeling really enthusiastic, it's as if I'm going to fly off. It's a wonderful feeling. There's only one catch: if you don't use enthusiasm correctly, it will get the better of you.

Yesterday, I clocked our neighbour on the bus I was getting on. She was busy talking to the driver so I didn't think she'd noticed me. She has a reputation for complaining about her aches and pains. I sat right at the back of the bus but she made a beeline for me. She asked me how my mother was. Then she started telling me about her aches and pains. She lifted up her skirt and showed me her swollen knee joint.

"You still walk really fast considering," I said.
"Yes, but my legs really hurt. I can't walk very far."
"It doesn't seem to be getting to you," I said. "You seem very happy."
"I can't let it get to me," she said.
"Well, good for you!"

She said the doctors have got no cure for arthritis and she has to keep taking pills. I could only wish her the very best. She resumed her conversation with the driver, telling him about her aches and pains.

On my way to do my mother's shopping this morning, the same neighbour met me at the bus stop. This time she was very flustered. She complained how she had to walk to the next bus stop because our local bus hadn't turned up. She said she had so much to do in such a short space of time. I told her to stay calm. My bus arrived. It wasn't the one she wanted but she said she'll get on it and change a few stops down. She wanted me to sit next to her. She was on her morning errand for the elderly in our neighbourhood and she was worried she wouldn't be able to achieve all she had set out to. I patted her arm and told her to relax. I thought how wonderful it is that love is all there is and there is no need to worry about a thing.

"Isn't that just typical?" She pointed to the bus she wanted overtaking our bus. "I'm never going to catch it now."
"You'll catch it at the next stop."
"No I won't, she said. "It's way ahead of us."
"Yes, you will."

At the next stop we both got off. I ran in front of her to stop the bus so she could get on the bus.

I believe my neighbour is a classic example of misplaced enthusiasm. One definition of enthusiasm is

"Great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause." Dictionary.com

My neighbour has bundles of enthusiasm. She's always rushing about running errands for her neighbours. The problem is how she's directing that energy is giving her what she doesn't want instead of what she does.

To manifest anything you need to feel enthusiasm. There are two types of enthusiasm: fear and love. Are you thinking you wish to experience such and such and yet you keep getting the opposite results? It could be your enthusiasm doesn't match your intent.

When you are enthusiastic about fear it "empowers" you to dream up worse case scenarios; and that is what you experience as your reality. This suggests that it is not your actual intent that matters but your feelings about it. You could have the best intention in the world but if you're coming from fear, it's down the plug hole.

How do you get your enthusiasm to always be in alignment with your intent?

You have to feel joyful. Joy is the Universe showing enthusiasm.

How do you stop attracting situations you don't want to experience?

Realise that you have enthusiasm and your enthusiasm is a feeling of joy.

If you have a thought to achieve something, feel the joy of getting the thing done and then let it go.

Trust in the process.

Always remember that worry is fear's way of showing enthusiasm.

Be enthusiastic; be joyful.

Love Enocia

Fast Forward

Imagine if you could manifest your thoughts and desires instantly? This means all thoughts that comes to mind, yours or the whole of humanity, are instantly manifested. How would you cope with this?

Well, you could develop discipline so you're not able to consciously pick up on all thoughts; or

You could raise yourself to a level that is beyond duality, therefore, any thought that comes to mind is always going to be good.

What if you decide to exercise your freewill and your choices instantly manifest in your life experience? What if it is something you don't really want to experience but it remains in place because sometimes things take time to undo?

I remember a while back when I was sitting on a park bench. I was all alone. I imagined light around me and a light being beside me. Before you could say "speed of light" a young man appeared on his bicycle. He looked in his early twenties, over 6 feet tall with blond hair, and the bluest eyes. He said he was from Italy. I never realised there were blond Italians. He said his English wasn't very good; his English was a lot better than my Italian. He sat beside me and we chatted for a while. He wanted to hold my hands and I let him. He wanted me to go out with him but I said I just wanted to be friends. When I got up to leave he asked me for a kiss. I gave him a peck but he wanted a full-on snog. I refused. He decided to accompany me on my walk. He kept asking me to go out with him and I kept saying no. I even told him I was a Born-Again Christian who only dates Born-Again Christians, but that didn't work either. He was now getting angry. There was only one thing to do: in thought I called out "God help!" My Italian friend abruptly got on his bike and rode off. He didn't even say goodbye! Cheeky!

Last night I got this brain wave to play with Light. As I walked from the bus stop home to my house, I thought "I am Light; I see only Light." My eyesight got blurry. The next thing you know I could see only light. I had a thought that I was getting a migraine attack. By the time I arrived home, I had lost my vision, in the human sense. I went to lie down. Before I closed my eyes, I realised that all is Love and thanked God for His Presence. Then I lost consciousness meaning I couldn't think or understand anything. This is not the same as being in silence when I can still have understanding. In this state, I cannot string sentences together because I see no connection between words. Everything just is. I did have a bit of a headache but it only felt like a slight thud. After a couple of hours or so, I was back to normal.

Formally, when I used to have migraines, I would have the sight-loss followed by nausea, and stomach upset. When the headache finally arrived, it would last for hours, sometimes days. Thank God for a speedy recovery.

It seems to me that there are times when I make choices, freewill choices that have to be played out. I accept that as I have used my freewill, it's up to me to undo what I've done. But there is no reason why an exercise of freewill has to last longer than necessary.

Imagine watching a video or DVD of your favourite film. If there is something on the video you don't want to see, you fast forward it to a part you do want to see, right? Why not treat one's freewill choices like a video by fast forwarding an experience you chose but no longer wish to experience. How? By realising that God's Love is all there is. Love fast forwards unnecessary pain and suffering. If the experience doesn't go away then Love shows His presence in the experience.

I can choose to exercise freewill or be All the Love There Is.

Love doesn't judge; Love doesn't hurt; Love accepts all my choices. Love is always there waiting for me to realise His Presence.

Love is all there is.

Enocia

In the Presence of Love

[DIVINE LOVE] is my shepherd; I shall not want.
[LOVE] maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
[LOVE] leadeth me beside the still waters.
[LOVE] restoreth my soul [spiritual sense]:
[Love] leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for [LOVE] is with me;
[LOVE's]rod and [LOVE'S] staff they comfort me.
[LOVE] prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
[LOVE] anointeth my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [LOVE] for ever. (PSALM 23 as Adapted by Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health)

Yesterday morning I met an old college friend at the bus stop. It turned out she was waiting for the same bus I was waiting for. She was on her way to work. She said she was late for work but she wasn't bothered. She was sick of working for other people.

On route, I told her I had recently made contact with another college friend who now lives in Australia. I shared with her my experiences in Australia. I said I intend to go backpacking in Australia again as it is a wonderful country. She said she couldn't imagine going travelling on her own, especially in a country where she doesn't know anyone. She said she would have no problem travelling in America as she has friends she could call if she got into trouble. I said I have had lots of wonderful adventures on my own. I told her it helps that I believe in God and God is Love; and Love is everywhere. Sometimes, when you are not aware of this love life can seem scary.

I told her about how when I used to share a house with some girls, the girls were scared to walk down a local alleyway late at night. Two of my flat mates had been mugged on that same alley. I still used to walk down the alley late at night as it was a shortcut, and I was not scared.

"Surely, you should have listened to your flatmates who had been attacked," my friend said.

"I only listened to what I knew to be true, that God's love is ever present, and Love doesn't hurt."

"I think I understand where you're coming from," she said. "But surely, Love gives you the wisdom to know when to walk down a dark alley late at night, particularly when you've heard of people being attacked on the same alleyway?"

"That's not how I see it. There's no point me knowing God's love in theory without testing it. Don't get me wrong, I don't deliberately set out to test God's love, but it was a toss between using the alley and arriving home in a few minutes, or using the scenic route and taking ages. Why should I go round the houses when I can trust that God's love is ever present?" I said.

"Maybe, God arranged for you to walk in the alley at a time when no one was around."

"All I know is that God's love is ever present. Love can even change one's intention from attack to love so all is in harmony."

"You have to be careful, you know. Just because you believe in Love doesn't mean you have to put yourself at risk."

"The way I see it, Love is all there is. You can't have fear and love in the same space. Either you believe in fear, or you believe in love; not both."

Like I said, I don't set out to put myself in difficult situations for the sake of proving love's presence. There is no need to. There are only difficult situations if you think there are. To see one road as safe and another as unsafe is opening oneself to being attacked. With that kind of thinking, you could be attacked anywhere, even in places others consider safe. I would rather take my chances in Love.

Later in the evening when I was coming back home on the bus, three lads sat in front of me. One had his music blaring away. I was in no mood to listen to music; beside, it sounded like a lot of noise. I decided that instead of resisting the music I would simply accept the truth of what is: Love is all there is. I went back to the book I was reading. The music was still blaring away. Then I peeked at one of the lads facing me. He was the spitting image of Matt Damon, one of my favourite actors. When the lad smiled he looked so much like him. Why hadn't I noticed this before? Now I could see that Matt and his friends were having fun listening to their music. They even played a few songs I liked. They also kept me company for the rest of my journey.

Love is truly all there is. All I have to do is constantly remember Love's presence, and stay open to the limitless ways love is being.

With love,
Enocia