Unpossessed.......

"Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything (Morihei Ueshiba)."

I hear this quote in my head at different points throughout my days, as a reminder. "Reminder of what?" you ask. Well, let me tell ya. The things that possess us, control us. If I am possessed by materialism, my life becomes materialistic. If I am possessed by anger, then happiness and peace, I may never know. If I am possessed by racism, then I am a racist and treat the world and all in it accordingly.

There are scriptures that say things along the lines of "as a man thinks, so is he" and "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." What possesses your thinking? What possesses your heart? Some of us are possessed by judgment, a right only held by the Most High, whom I prefer to call I Am. For us to judge and condemn is to doubt and deny the power of I Am. When I Am, takes a life you've judged and condemned in your own mind and heart, and fixes that person, redeems that person, and eventually says, "this is my servant with whom I am well pleased!", then what? Do you seek forgiveness for your stepping out of line, or do you shrink back and act like you never did what you did or said what you said? Humans, man!!

Expectation is what I REALLY want to talk about today. Some of us are truly possessed by expectations we have of others. Over life, I've learned to expect nothing from anyone, not even those I love the most. Being at peace with life is my desire. We are all human, not super heroes, and certainly not I Am, though we were created in the image and likeness of I Am. And if I AM understands our imperfections and inclinations to falling short of the glory, and is patient, forgiving, and ever-loving, then why aren't we? No one knows your mind, heart, and soul the way your Creator does. Same for all those folks upon whom we place expectations.

We often take it personal when folks don't meet our expectations of them. I will be bold enough to say that I am pretty sure that in these situations, 95% or more of these folks have zero knowledge or awareness of the expectations placed upon them. Except, maybe, for our kids. We are often as clear as transparency paper with our children on what we expect of them. In allowing ourselves to be possessed by expectation, we set ourselves up for heartbreak, heartache, emotional pain, and misinterpretation of love. We easily slip into the role of "ever-victim" and it's because of everyone else's failures to be who you want them to be, that your life isn't what you desire it to be.

Love! This love ocean, I've been swimming in for a long time. I have yet to reach the bottom, save a dream I had a couple of years ago. It was inescapable. I was in a panic as I stood on the ocean floor. The pressure was too great for me to swim back to the surface and I could hold my breath no longer. Finally, I gave up, succumbing to my fate. I inhaled deeply but I did not drown!! I was in awe at the fact that I could breath underwater!! If I had to drown in anything, I'd want it to be Love.

Love unconditional, is very similar to the ocean. It's always there. It's a powerful, peaceful, provider. Imagine being that prodigal son or daughter, coming home to that robe and ring, and a father's embrace. He gives you no reminders of your mistakes or failures. For he knows that they are sharks of the past and a detriment to your future.

Not letting go of someone else's past, is personal problem of your own. If you truly love, and if that love is truly unconditional, you do so without expectation. I Am is working in and on everyone of us. It is not us who decides or determines when and how another person should be what we expect. Funny thing is, I Am may have a totally different plan for said person and it has absolutely nothing to do with us.

Remember how I Am addressed Job, back in the day? I Am spent FOUR chapters, snapping on Job, hence mankind. Read Job, chapters 38 through 41. Here's a little bit of it (Job 38:1-21):

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2 “Who is this that obscures my plans

with words without knowledge?

3 Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6 On what were its footings set,

or who laid its cornerstone—

7 while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors

when it burst forth from the womb,

9 when I made the clouds its garment

and wrapped it in thick darkness,

10 when I fixed limits for it

and set its doors and bars in place,

11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;

here is where your proud waves halt’?

12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,

or shown the dawn its place,

13 that it might take the earth by the edges

and shake the wicked out of it?

14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;

its features stand out like those of a garment.

15 The wicked are denied their light,

and their upraised arm is broken.

16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea

or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?

Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?

Tell me, if you know all this.

19 “What is the way to the abode of light?

And where does darkness reside?

20 Can you take them to their places?

Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

21 Surely you know, for you were already born!

You have lived so many years......."

I could go on for much longer, speaking on expectations and unconditional love, but I won't. I simply choose to be UNPOSSESSED by all things, save LOVE! You can't base love on expectation. If you do, you will never truly know love.

Placing expectations on people is like tossing an unmarked blue ball into a massive ball crawl of nothing but blue balls, thinking that you will get that one specific ball back after twelve hours of children playing in the ball crawl. If you knew what it took to clean out a ball crawl, you'd certainly refrain from tossing anything into it that you expect back.......EWW!!

The truly cheerful giver, gives without expectation, without reminding the world of what he's done for so many, and without lording it over those she feels owes him something.

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.......

P.S. - That which possesses you, save love, dictates your love. Dictated love is conditional. Conditional love is not real love. Just as I Am, Love Is.......