06/28/15 Rev. David McArthur
A Greater Love
This place that has been prepared for us by prayer and caring and it’s easier to enjoy the beautiful heart-field we are in when we are here. We do that for our families, too—create those heart-fields.
What’s challenging is when something disturbs this field. For example, when someone is in the pain of addiction it is so difficult to draw the boundary of safety and care for the family and say, “no, you have to take this elsewhere.” Such abuse often ends relationships, but there are times when, for self-care, a person has to say no.
In this pain when your love cannot care for the other there is a movement in spirit which shows there is a greater love. Dr. Emilie Cady, in How I Used Truth, tells of a time when someone in her life struggled with alcohol addiction. She went to Spirit and asked, “What do I do?” It took hours of surrender, but the answer was clear: “Lose him. Let him go… God is leading your friend in a way you cannot know. The Christ presence at the heart of every soul is working just as hard to bring your friend to it.”
I worked to heal a situation here with someone who was increasingly angry with me. My guidance said, “This is not yours. Let it go. Any more you do is co-dependancy. Lose her and let her go.” This raised my vision to that greater love/presence. Then the husband threatened my life and that of a board member. The board and I sought guidance and I have been so impressed with their care for me and particularly their love and compassion for these two people. That’s what we are here for, and it is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees to care for our community. We called the police.
These difficulties call us to love and trust beyond what we see or understand. They open the door for us to step into forgiveness and go forward. It is so freeing. When these things happen my head wants to figure it all out, but we are being asked to step into that greater love for someone who is in conflict with himself.
The Prodigal Son “came to himself” and remembered he was a son of the father. That awakening is within each of us. When we touch it the judgments, right/wrong and the need to figure it all out just fades away. Who knows what is good and what is bad?
What we know is there is a presence, a greater love, in that person’s life and in ours. Know that. Keep opening to the awareness that “God’s goodness fills my life right now.” It’s beautiful, powerful, the very fabric of our lives. There are families here who have had to draw boundaries with someone caught in that pain. Hold for them, “God’s goodness fills your life right now.” We discover it in our lives and in others’ lives, and in those who don’t know. We discover it’s everywhere. “God’s goodness fills our lives right now.” Let that awareness fill us. Create a field which uplifts all of us way beyond what we know. For that I thank you!