(But not the kind of love that comes and goes. Real Love is eternal and wholly consistent.)

Yes, everything is Love. A limitless, joyful, gentle certainty comprises the core of our being. This Goodness encompasses all that we are and all that we see in full and complete wholeness and unity. This Truth cannot be described in words or understood by our reasoning. It lies well beyond the realm of nouns and verbs, subject and object. But, strangely, it is the sum total of our reality. The gentle, luminous majesty and glory of Love shines continuously in pristine silence within us and within all worldly phenomena. (Here is a photo.)

All is One, and All is well. Reality is all God, all the time. God is Love, and I am That. Glory be. Amen.

You may well ask how the above can be true, when the "normal" world we think we see, touch, hear, smell and taste appears infinitely diverse and mostly far from glorious? The answer stems from the remarkable fact that God actually did create us in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26), and that God is Love (1John 4:16). Since God is Love, then so are we. Love extends Itself in us and through us. We are the spirit of Love. This is Good News, indeed!

And God's creative spirit is our inheritance, as well. But herein lies the rub, for we have misused our creative abilities. Millions of years ago (as time is measured) we imagined ourselves to be separate from God, and we took that thought seriously, instead of laughing it away. And out of that mistaken thought has come the "normal" world, a world in which separation rules, and God can enter not. We have justified the thought of separation by making up a world where nothing is joined, except in the most superficial way.

And it's actually even worse than that. Because we know underneath that we have turned our backs on God, we are experiencing profound guilt and then overwhelming fear of God's retaliation. In turn, we project these internalized feelings outward, so that this world becomes a place of judgment and condemnation, of attack and counterattack; a place where no one is safe, there's not enough to go around, nothing is permanent, and everything dies or dissolves in the end.

This cold, cruel Godless world is not real, but we think it is. It's the projection of our fearful thoughts. It is the maya described in ancient Hindu texts.

In truth, the world is actually a place of which God knows nothing. It is a bad dream. We don't live in separation from God. We are still one with Him and with His Spirit. Reality is infinite Oneness, not separation and conflict. As such, reality lies silently beyond and underneath our everyday thoughts and limited words. (Even the idea that "Everything is Love" is limited, because it still includes the concept of "things.")

In truth, as spirit, we live in a state of limitless, eternal perfection. And, just as we shared the thought of separation, so can we jointly change our minds, and unreservedly and wholeheartedly accept and honor the dynamic, gentle, deep peace and heartwarming joy that is our true Self as God created us.

Self identification as eternal, unchanging, all-encompassing Love need not be a mere statement of belief. It can be a deep, uplifting, totally comforting understanding and state of being. It is a gentle, joyous, direct knowing, available to all who are willing to stop all little thoughts, be still, and accept freedom here and now.

This joyful knowing can, and ultimately must, be shared with all the world. And this sharing is effortless, because all minds are joined in Love.

The words that follow may appear to amplify the idea of all inclusive, infinitely gentle, unlimited knowing and being... but it is impossible to amplify the Everything That lies beyond words. These words can merely point to Eternal Truth, yet Eternal Truth asks to be fully known.

Are there any questions?

Perhaps you have a heavy heart or some anxiety. Perhaps the statement "Everything is Love" seems meaningless or objectionable. Perhaps it seems too all-inclusive, or doesn't match a world where heartbreak, disaster and loss, competition, betrayal, and pain and death appear compellingly and undeniably real.

Well, you are indeed correct. The statement that "Everything is Love" does not describe or fit with the world we see with the body's eyes and interpreted with our little private thoughts. Instead, it points to a different way of seeing -- of seeing with a joyful heart. The statement actually overlooks the surface of the perceived world and points to the deeper Eternal Truth. Underneath the world we see, in a place of infinitely deep and holy goodness and peace, there is no scarcity, no contradiction, no opposite, and no conflict. This is the universal Eternal Truth of Love.

This fundamental fact brings with it four corollaries:  I am Love.  You are Love.  We are joined in Love; Love is our Self...  and, since God is Love, we are joined as one in God. God has created us in Her/His/Its image! Our essence is vast, powerful, unified, boundless and timeless... most holy, most joyful, and most generous -- extending without limit. We live and move in It. We are One. There is nothing outside us. The Kingdom of Heaven is where we are and What we are and What God is. And this means that there actually is no possible justification, no space whatsoever, for doubt or judgment or fear of any kind. And this Goodness is What we always are and just What we all richly deserve.

I am deeply grateful for the guidance and practice of the Text, Workbook, and Teachers Manual of A Course in Miracles (ACIM), to the many teachers who have appeared in this life stream, and for the visions which have come to me to support my awakening to our Reality (and for constantly calling me back when I forget and fall into painful sleep).

My learning and experience have taught me that the direct experience of Love calls for a quiet mind that doesn't plan, doesn't "object," and accepts no fear as real. No protection is needed against Eternal Truth, but most of us are caught in a cloud of fearful thoughts that tell us otherwise.

So, the essential teaching is to allow mental activity to cease, and simply be still in the present moment. ACIM Lesson 189, and ACIM Text.31.I.12-13, are prime examples, along with: "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10).  Really, it's that simple. It's that easy. No effort is required.

To actually accomplish this, we are being asked to carefully look at all our fearful thoughts - to bring them into full awareness, even write them down. And become willing then to question them, to not know anything based on our own past learning, and to become willing to release the world -- and everyone and everything in it -- from every judgment and every evaluation we might have had.

Given our usual habits of thought, this might seem scary and even treasonous. Who would willingly abandon his judgments? Or the statement "Everything is Love" may not appear to be practical or down to earth. One of our fearful thoughts might well be, "But... But who's going to pay the rent?" From that level of thought, "Everything is Love" might appear to be the height of insanity, or, at least, gross irresponsibility. Well, the fact of the matter is that Love has always paid the rent - and provided for all our real needs, despite our impression that we have had to cope with the world on our own, alone.

But we will likely need help all along the way to learning to trust in Love. Fearful thoughts from the past and of the future often arise, and we can expect them to continue to some degree as long as we are here. And the Course emphasizes that this applies particularly to our relationships, to everyone we meet or think of. But we can cultivate our awareness of the painful presence of our judgmental thoughts. We can consciously allow them fully into our awareness without any avoidance or justification - we can write them down if that helps clarify them - and then we can ask for help from the Answer - the Holy Spirit's all-knowing wisdom and vision. We can ask to see things differently. And then we can patiently await fear's passing and the advent of a new way of seeing and being. In serene stillness, free of denial or rationalization, the wisdom and glory of our universal Self becomes known to us, and we find ourselves safe at Home. (Here's a graphic representation.)

This is a practice of deep forgiveness, of gentle and complete not-knowing - of abandoning our cunning strategies - of asking for help with our unpeaceful thoughts and perceptions. This forgiveness frees us from the concepts and experiences that have ensued from the pivotal, insane idea of separation from God and from each other. We are freed from our ideas of specialness and littleness, and from our worldly strategies for getting our needs met for survival and for care of the body. We are freed of any need to plan and decide using our small-minded, individual resources. The Holy Spirit will lovingly guide our every thought and our every step. We are thus freed to walk this world of apparent duality and separation with an open, non-judging mind and a peaceful, joyful, loving heart in the endless present moment. Humbling as the thought may be, is not needful to do anything. We can safely overlook the world in joy. "To be in the Kingdom is merely to focus your full attention on it" (ACIM T.7.III.4.1). This, dear friend, is a miracle, indeed.

Here, in this moment, this holy instant, lie the Love and peace of God. All that is required is to be willing in this eternal present moment to accept Eternal Truth, Love, Self, the Light of Heaven within us. In this way, our purpose in life is magnificently fulfilled, for we are simultaneously also able teach Love to the entire world. No individual judgment, anticipation, or evaluation is of any help or meaning. The words used in teaching, if any, do not matter; they will be given us if, and as, needed. All that is important is to be quiet and receptive, to resist nothing.

Joy arises naturally in peace. The healed mind - the mind that does not judge the past nor plan the future - is the eternal home of the ever-present Love which permeates the universe and constitutes ever-extending Life.

See others as innocent as morning sunshine.  Arise in peace, teach peace, and rejoice -- and ask for help when this is not the apparent reality. And, yes, the rent will get paid.

I am very, very grateful for this precious understanding and experience, and I am committed to allowing it to deepen and fully blossom. Nothing else is important. Perhaps you are joining with me now and relaxing in this quiet, wordless moment -- this window on Eternal Truth. Through total forgiveness, we find shared, eternal Life.

This path Home is available to us all, and we're all going Home together.