You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.“It is not the nature of love to force a relationship, but it is the nature of love to open the way.Love is not the limitation; love is the flying.Pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly.Forgiveness is not about forgetting, Mack. It is about letting go of another person's throat.Each relationship between two persons is absolutely unique. That is why you cannot love two people the same. It simply is not possible. You love each person differently because of who they are and the uniqueness that they draw out of you.Evil is a word we use to describe the absence of Good, just as we use the word darkness to describe the absence of Light or death to describe the absence of Life. Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence. I am Light and I am Good. I am Love and there is no darkness in me. Light and Good actually exist. So, removing yourself from me will plunge you into darkness.Forgiveness is first for you, the forgiver, to release you from something that will eat you alive; that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly.If a rainbow makes a sound, or a flower as it grows, that was the sound of her laughter."Does that mean," asked Mack, "that all roads will lead to you?"
"Not at all," smiled Jesus, "Most roads don't lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you."If anything matters then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will be the same again.You may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times the first day and the second day, but the third day will be less and each day after, until one day you will realize that you have forgiven completely. And then one day you will pray for his wholeness and give him over to me so that my love will burn from his life every vestige of corruption.Faith does not grow in the house of certainty.Lies are a little fortress. Inside them you can feel safe and powerful.True love never forces.I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day."Jesus?", he whispered as his voice choked.
"I feel so lost." A hand reached out and squeezed his, and didn't let go.
"I know, Mack. But it's not true. I am with you and I'm not lost. I'm sorry it feels that way, but hear me clearly. You are not lost."Religion, politics and economics... the man-created trinity of terrors that ravages the earth and deceives those that I care about. What mental turmoil and anxiety does any human face that is not related to one of those three?
Put simply, these terrors are tools that many use to prop up their illusions of security and control. People are afraid of uncertainty, afraid of the future. These institutions, these structures and ideologies are all a vain effort to create some sense of certainty and security where there isn't any. It's all false! Systems cannot provide your security, only I can.Let me say for now that we knew once the Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed- but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence.Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power is to choose to limit oneself- to serve.You cannot produce trust, just as you cannot 'do' humility. It either is or is not. Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that I love you, you cannot trust me.Don't ever discount the wonder of your tears. They can be healing waters and a stream of joy. Sometimes they are the best words the heart can speak.I don't need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside.So many believe that it is love that grows, but it is the knowing that grows and love simply expands to contain it.Forgiveness in no way requires that you trust the one you forgive.I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside.It is the human paradigm; it is like water to the fish, so prevalent that it goes unseen and unquestioned.It is so easy to get sucked into the if-only game, and playing it is a short and slippery slide into despair. 
