Change the Filter: Walk It Back!

In this week’s Change the Filter, we will be looking at unconditional love and how it’s achieved toward those who have given themselves over to “the dark side”. In all things we should strive to get understanding of people and that will lead us to a proper perspective and a clearer picture of the situation. Before we judge others, we should pause and consider their past and the things they are currently going through. As we have discussed previously, the soul is the real you and YOU ARE LOVE(d). But the soul is also reflective and it reflects the things it chooses to focus on. In other words, if we focus on hateful things, we will hate. If we focus on divisive things, we take sides and separate from one another. If we focus on scary things, we will be scared. But if we focus on unconditional love, we will love unconditionally. Remember the “looking glass”? Our perspectives are shaped by our FILTERS or the so called “glasses” we see things through. What are we choosing to focus on? The answer to this question makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

I was sharing this Unconditional Love message with a coworker and I was immediately rebutted with the question, “How can we possibly love murderers and rapists?” Great question! How can we possibly love those who have embraced the things of hate, greed, and cruelty? Hate only happens when we do not choose to embrace Love. Hate is “Misplaced Love” and it leads to the deformity of the soul. It’s unnatural for people not to function in their true nature. We were born to love unconditionally but there are those that give themselves over to the darkness of evil and become lost. These are “the monsters among us”.

So how DO we love the unlovely? How do we love someone who’s beast nature is raging? How can compassion be found for such evil? Walk it back! Walk it back to before the darkness took over. Keep walking it back to before they misplaced their love! Cruelty, abuse, neglect, and wrong teaching can be devastating to a child’s initial love they were born with. The depth of the outside action is often a reflection of the depth of the inside damage and pain. Walk it back to that helpless child who suffered at the hateful hands of misplaced love. If we walk it back to the innocence, we will find the compassion because that innocent child is still in there, alone and crying beneath the layers of all that darkness. Only Unconditional Love can see past the layers, hear their desperate screams for help and soothe their pain. Only Unconditional Love can save them and bring them home.

Change the Filter: Misplaced Love

“Love is patient, caring. Love is kind. Love is felt most when it’s genuine. But I’ve had my share of love abuse, manipulated, and it’s strength misused.” (Hezekiah Walker, God Favored Me)

The STRENGTH of Love can be seen in the Light of all that is good; but it can also be seen in the devastation of it’s dark misplacement. Hate. Evil. Cruelty. These are words to describe “misplaced love”. Hate only happens when people do not choose love. Let me say that again: Hate only happens when people do not choose love. Hate has no power because hate doesn’t exist on it’s own. Only LOVE. Therefore, we say that only the Strength and Power of Love exists, even when it is brought into the “other side”. Think of this concept like fire. Fire provides us with warmth and light. It is used to remove impurities from our gold and food-poisoning bacteria from the food we eat. But that same strength and power, when misused, can also melt the skin off the body and burn away all that is precious to us. When we choose to love unconditionally, the hardest hearts soften and the wounded hearts heal. Those who find unconditional love find the peace and goodwill of heaven. Likewise, by the same measure, love abuse, misuse, and neglect can cause the soul to fall into the endless depths of despair, grief and heartache that we call hell.

What shall we say then? We have two paths we can go down. Each path leads to destinations that are as far away from each other as the east is from the west. One path is the path eastward to unconditional love and peace and the other is westward to the hellish pain and grief of fear and misplaced love. Each direction is as powerful as the other; one that gives life and one that brings death. I’m not going to hell with you so you might as well come to heaven with me. Choose the way eastward. Choose Love!

Change the Filter: You Are Chosen!

You are a male by birth; You are a man by choice. You are a female by birth; You are a woman by choice. What kind of man or woman have YOU CHOSEN to be?

The body does not define us. The body simply reflects the expression of the soul, which is the real you. The body is nothing more than a temporary robe of flesh and bones. It is the wearer of that robe that gives expression. Without the body, we wouldn’t know you exist. And for the record, the soul has no gender. It just is what it is so express yourself YOUR WAY! (choose Love)

Likewise, the past does not define us either. The past was just a series of life lessons designed to lead us to the discovery of Unconditional Love if we are open to it. Only the “present you” has the power to define who you are because you are NOW, not then. Don’t allow your soul to be predefined by your body, your past, or by anyone else. Who are you? Only YOU can answer that question.

Change the Filter: Get the “hell” out!

There is a great misconception that one has to die to go to heaven or hell but the truth is that heaven and hell are products of the way we LIVE. It is worth pondering the thought that “where a tree falls, there it remains”. Hell is as dark as heaven is light. Hate is as evil as Love is good. Hell is the ongoing creation of hate. Heaven is the ongoing creation of Love. The more we HATE, the more HELL we create. The more we LOVE, the more HEAVEN we create. We can live to “raise hell” or we can LIVE to pull heaven to earth! Hate is simply misplaced love and leads to the dark death of the soul but unconditional love is LIFE more abundant. Get the “hell” OUT of your filter!!! May our filters be so saturated with the things of love, kindness, and compassion until HEAVEN covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.

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Change the Filter: “Through the Looking Glass”

What are we looking at? How do we SEE the world we live in? Do you feel the urge to FIGHT or do you feel the urge to Love? Life is like looking through a lens or a pair of glasses. The “glasses” we are looking through change our PERSPECTIVE which in turn changes US! We are reactionary to the things we SEE because our thoughts and actions are motivated by our FILTERS. Our filters are the way we process things; and they were influenced greatly by teachings, doctrines and outdated ideas. IT’S TIME TO CHANGE THE FILTER! I don’t know how you SEE the world but I do know it has everything to do with the “glasses” you are wearing. Today, we have “red” glasses and “blue” glasses and Christian glasses and Jewish glasses. We have Muslim glasses, and Wiccan, and a whole slew of other glasses. What “glasses are you wearing? There are so many DIVISIVE ideas (glasses) that tell us we can’t Love Unconditionally but they are wrong! We CAN Love Unconditionally!!! CONCEIVE IT, BELIEVE IT, RECEIVE IT! There’s a saying, “The eyes are the gateway to the soul.” The SOUL is the REAL YOU and it’s as reflective as a diamond. You may be a diamond in the rough but you are a diamond sure enough.

Our souls reflect the things our eyes are fixed on. What are you looking at? What lenses are you looking through? Racism, homophobia, religious intolerance, etc. are all divisive lenses we need to change because they darken the reflection of our souls. Our souls are meant to reflect Love because that is our source. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE is like the sun and we are the rays that light the world. Don’t let divisive clouds darken your Light. Let’s get back to loving one another unconditionally. Are we looking through the Lens of Love? Are our eyes fixed on the unconditional kind? Only THEN will our souls reflect the attractive fire, and brilliance, and clarity that IS Unconditional Love.

I can see clearly now the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright) sunshiny day! (song by Jimmy Cliff)

Change the Filter: Simplifying Our Belief System

Change the Filter: SIMPLIFY

Welcome back to another Change the Filter. Our “Change the Filter” series will expose and deal with divisive issues that get in the way of Unconditional Love. We were born with Love and it’s still in there; the unconditional kind. In fact, it is easier for us to love unconditionally than it is for us NOT to love unconditionally, for THAT is our true nature. What frustrates this and makes it challenging are the issues and divisive doctrines that pollute our hearts and separate us to take sides against one another.

“it is easier for us to love unconditionally than it is for us NOT to love unconditionally, for THAT is our true nature.”

The easiest way back to unconditional love is by SIMPLIFYING our belief system (change the filter). Faith and Truth is what we choose to believe in. Like the song asks, “Do you believe in love? Do you believe it’s true. Do you believe in Love, cause your making me believe it too.” I can’t think of a better thing to believe in than Unconditional Love. If we can all get on the same page with this, Unconditional Love would solve every world problem. There would be no poverty because the wealthy would have compassion for the poor. World hunger would be eradicated from the face of the earth because everyone would have more than enough food to eat. Love would see to it! Crimes would be replaced with acts of kindness and prisons would become schools and day cares, because Love violates no one.

Love is the answer! But it starts with a willingness to admit that not everything we’ve been taught, as sincere as it may have been, has been from the realm of Unconditional Love because Love unites and validates everyone regardless of anything. Ask yourself the question, is there any person I do not feel like I could love unconditionally? Then explore the question, “Why?” People are different in race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status as disability, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, economic and social situation. Can you love everyone with the same measure of love? If your answer is no, then it is time to free yourself from what is clogging your filter. What you are willing to walk away from will determine what Love will bring to you. Love will see your courage and reward you with the peace and happiness that you have been craving in your frustrating conditions. Walk away from divisive doctrines and affiliations and simply just disagree with anything that doesn’t look and feel like Unconditional Love. Choose to Love Unconditionally. Love is MY religion

Love Connects Us All

If possible, we should try to live peaceably with everyone because we are all connected in the “corporate consciousness” of LOVE. WE are alive so LOVE is ALIVE. Every living thing on the planet gives Love it’s unique expression and together we give Love it’s full expression. We are all connected by it thus creating a oneness in Love. That makes us all an extension of the same source. When we show Love, we become part of the ongoing creation process of Love. Love cannot express itself by itself. We are all channels of Love’s expression. Each one of us displays a unique side of Love that only we can show. That truth makes each one of us essential and special and unique. We would never know that side of Love if it wasn’t for YOU so be YOURSELF, shine and BE LOVE(d)!

It’s Time to Change the Filter!

Welcome to our new blog, Change the Filter. Our challenge isn’t learning how to love but rather removing the obstacles that keep us from it. Change the Filter will help us identify those obstacles so that our hearts can breathe easy and love freely.

As a general rule, it is essential to replace your air filters in your car and in your home. The longer the filter is in place, the more dirt, dust, and allergens are trapped clogging the filter and thus decreasing efficiency. If you don’t change your filter, it will fail. It will no longer be able to filter the air properly, allowing dust and contaminants to get in to the AC. Dust jams the moving parts such as fan motors and valves. In other words, the AC begins to suffocate because it can’t breathe the way it was meant to breathe. In much the same way, so it is with our hearts and our ability to love unconditionally.

We were born with Love in our hearts; the all-inclusive kind. As we grew older, conditions were thrown into the filter of our hearts that caused our love to be conditional and our hearts were then not able to “breathe” the way they were meant to breathe. Whether it be a misinterpretation of something taught that caused division or an offense that caused bitterness and un-forgiveness, the heart has been limited in it’s efficiency. Our hearts are suffocating and we don’t even realize it. We have forgotten how free it is to “breathe easy” and “love freely”. IT’S TIME TO CHANGE THE FILTER!

How do we change the filter of our hearts? You change it by SIMPLIFYING. We must decrease so that Love can increase. Our filters that we process things through need to be pruned of the “conditions” that weaken our love muscle. Let us put away our self-righteousness judgements and resolve ourselves to say, “My job is to LOVE… JUST LOVE!”

The Reduction: “Love…Just LOVE”

In cooking, reduction is the process of thickening and intensifying the flavor of a liquid mixture such as a soup, sauce, wine, or juice by simmering or boiling. In other words, you turn up the heat and stir things up. Reduction is also the act of decreasing or reducing something, a simplification or the act of reducing complexity. There are some things in life that are just so easy that you don’t have to think about it to do it. You just do it because it comes natural, such as breathing or feeling an emotion. One of those easy, natural things is LOVE. But Love is more than an action. It is a state of being from whence acts of love flow. So BE LOVE!

At birth, we were born with unconditional Love in our hearts. It was simple. There were no issues for us to take sides on. No criteria for judging someone unacceptable. We looked at everyone the same. It didn’t matter what color the finger was when it was extended to us; we grabbed it anyway. Love was in there when we were born and it’s still in there. Unfortunately, as we grew older, we became indoctrinated with faulty ideas of how to love through wrong teachings handed down to us from others. We were taught that we can love and accept others as long as they fall within “the criteria” to receive it. Our easy, natural and unconditional love was marred and smothered with obstacles such as racism, religious intolerance, or judgments against others who are different from us. So we say, the challenge isn’t learning how to love but rather removing the obstacles that keep us from it. Simplification is the easiest way back to unconditional Love.

The challenge isn’t learning how to love but rather removing the obstacles that keep us from it.

Allow your Love to be put into “the reduction”. Turn the heat up on the issues that separate us and don’t be afraid to stir things up in your reduction. SIMPLIFY! Shed the complications and free your heart to love the way it was born to love. Gardentopia’s motto is “Love … just LOVE.” It is the kind of love that’s been put in the reduction. It is the removing of conditions allowing our love to be free and more appetizing to the world around us. The ellipsis, also known as dot-dot-dot, is a series of dots that indicate an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text. Have you put YOUR love in the reduction? Is your love still suffocating with other people’s hang ups and misguided doctrines? It’s time for an intentional omission of anything that doesn’t look like your original love. See the wine in others and unsee the labels. YOU ARE ABLE to return to your FIRST LOVE and EMBRACE EVERYONE in spite of their differences. When we love unconditionally, it is NOT a declaration of you deserves it, it’s a declaration of WHO YOU ARE! This kind of Love celebrates DIVERSITY and it’s one of the most freeing and satisfying things a human heart can embrace.