Challenge
In a moment what was now is not. A city was here and now it is gone. A mother, father, brother, sister, strangers, friends once pulsating with life are in an instant dead, gone, finished—a heartbreak beyond any concept of heartbreak. The devastation in Haiti is simply beyond comprehension. Thousands of people are trapped in collapsed buildings and untold thousands more are dead or dying while countless bodies line the streets in what was on Monday a thriving vibrant city. The world is responding with what we all know as humanitarian aid, but the deeper truth is that the world is responding with the essence of life itself—the world is responding with Love!
Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 29:39) When an emergency arises you naturally you stop and simply love your neighbor. Love is natural in a time of crisis. Unless you are in Haiti, it is impossible for you to know what the people of Haiti are experiencing, you are simply a witness to the unfolding news of devastation and heartbreak. It can fill you with a sense of hopelessness or helplessness or it can be just another tragic news blip that you would rather ignore. Many Christians view this as yet another sign that the return of Christ is near and Pat Robertson went to the unbelievable extreme of saying that the people of Haiti made a pact with the devil—the most heartless comment that could be made in the context of this profound tragedy. His mind boggling comments and this unfolding tragedy in Haiti present you with the most profound challenge regardless of your religious or non-religious beliefs. What is this challenge and how can the heartbreaking events in Haiti help you to understand the teaching of Jesus on and even deeper level?
The core teaching of Jesus is Love. Love cannot be thought. It lives only in the eternal realm of your heart. Who you are is love, a Love so vast it is beyond comprehension. Most people on the planet have completely forgotten this fundamental truth. Many Christians miss this truth entirely because their attention is focused on an event in the future—the rapture, the return of Christ, and in this postponement fail to realize that he never left! Jesus is Love—Where could he go? He is here!
The events in Haiti are offering you the greatest challenge that life has to offer—to recognize the truth of who you are. It is extending you an invitation to meet death, to meet your own mortality, by inquiring deeply into the question, ‘Who is it that dies?’ This profound and often painful inquiry has the power to lead you into the depths of yourself. It is a sacred meeting of mind and heart in which you are given the opportunity to see that who you thought you were or who you are striving to be is unreal, changing and impermanent—this is a painful seeing.
If you continue with your inquiry into the emptiness of yourself, you have the opportunity to recognize the vast indescribable presence that you are—A Love so vast words fail to describe its infinitude. When you open to this Love, you are like a rose that has bloomed in the sunlight naturally exuding its sublime fragrance. Like an open rose the Love that you are is beacon of Light, the sweetest nectar, the eternal balm. The events in Haiti are calling you into your heart, calling you into the truth of yourself—in this recognition you will naturally love everyone as your very own self!
It would be easy to digress into a conversation about the end times or the strange perspective of Pat Robertson, but this has little to do with the core teaching of Jesus—A Love that has no beginning and no end. Love is simply always here, you are just so busy thinking that this fundamental truth is easily overlooked. It is easy to throw stones at Pat Robertson or people who have different religious beliefs than yours or a different nationality or politics and that serves no one and it most certainly does nothing to help the people of Haiti.
Pat Robertson is love at the core of his being—he has only forgotten this truth. What he thinks separates him from love and what you think has the power to separate you from love. Turning your attention to the truth of yourself releases this power of mind. It is simple, Pat Robertson’s thoughts and your thoughts are simply not lovable. Who he thinks he is, is not lovable and who you think you are is not lovable. But, and this is a very big but, who you are at the core is always lovable. How can you not love Love? It is impossible.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Stop everything for a moment and really think about this—Love your neighbor as yourself—is Loving as Love—it is the essence of life. Loving your neighbor as yourself begins with deeply knowing who you are. It is loving yourself, accepting yourself exactly as you are with all your perceived flaws. Accepting yourself is loving yourself right now—not waiting to achieve something or to be something—it is right now—it is shutting the door on all of the ideas you have about yourself, the good ideas and the bad ideas, it is shutting the door on both the future and the past!
Accepting what is, accepting yourself right now, opens your heart to the love that you are—it is not a postponement, it is not waiting for things to improve or achieving some ideal that would make your life better. It is stopping this endless conversation of ‘If then.’ You know this conversation well, ‘If only I had more money, then I would be happy’ or ‘If only I had the perfect job, then I would be happy’ or ‘If I find the perfect lover, then I would be happy’ or ‘If only this had not happened, then I would be happy.’ It is an endless conversation about the future or the past that hides what is here right now!
Once you fully accept yourself with all of your perceived flaws, it is natural to love and except everyone else just exactly as they are with no movement to fix or change them. Love is stillness. Love is silence. There is no movement in love. It is simply an opening, an intimacy, a vulnerability. The fear that arises is that if you open you could get hurt and it can hurt to love. Love is the essence of life, don’t miss the chance to love as love, because you are afraid, everyone is afraid, and everyone wants to love and be loved. Life hurts, your body hurts, it hurts to live—this is the nature of life. Don’t give in to the fear of hurt, you hurt anyway, so why not love and hurt?
Jesus says, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:22) What does ‘let the dead bury their own dead’ mean? How can someone who is dead bury someone who is dead? If you are born into this world death is certain. If you believe that you are your body you are already dead, you are a walking corpse—you are the dead that can bury the dead. It is your identification with and attachment to your body that is the root of all suffering.
Death is in the air in Haiti and death is everyone’s deepest fear. It is extremely uncomfortable to meet death on such a massive scale. At the same time the magnitude is so difficult to comprehend it can depersonalize death, which lives in the idea ‘Death is in Haiti, but it is not here.’ This is a mental postponement of death. Do you think that the people lying dead in the streets today thought last Monday they would be dead on Tuesday? Of course not! They thought they had time, they all thought they had a tomorrow, but tomorrow never arrived and in truth, tomorrow never arrives, tomorrow is always in the future—only now is here! As Jesus illuminates, “Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
One day your body will become lifeless as a stone. Naturally, death is what you fear the most. The ultimate challenge in life is to meet death before you die. To meet death is to truly live. Who is it that dies? Check it out and see. Ask yourself, “Who am I?” Ask yourself, “What is looking through the lens of your eye?” Avoidance of the deep-seated fear of death is the endless movement to the future. Tomorrow I will do this and that, or tomorrow I will have this or that, or be this or that, but what if tomorrow never arrives? What lives after your body dies? As Jesus explains, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)
Meeting death is looking into the profound depth of yourself. When you stop and look into yourself you can discover directly, immediately, openly, intimately that who you are at the core can never be touched by death. Who you are is pristine—it is a vast emptiness free of all definitions, the closest word to describe this emptiness is infinite Silent Love, but even your ideas of silence or love fall away in this vastness. Welcoming this death before death is a deep welcoming of Love—it opens the door of true fulfillment.
God is Love. Jesus is Love. You are Love—No separation! When you deeply know you are this vast love, it is completely natural to love everyone as yourself. This does not mean that you have to love what someone is doing or saying, it means that you have the power to look beyond the surface level ideas you have about yourself and the other and simply love as love itself.
When recognize that you are nothing, you are emptiness, you are this vastness, then and only then can you realize that there is nothing to protect, nothing to hide, nothing to fear. You are simply open and eternally free as Love.
The shock of the devastation in Haiti has worn off and people are faltering, they are suffering, one women in her anguish over the death of her children cried out, “God, I can’t do this anymore!”
Love has the unlimited capacity to bear all things. You can help this woman and the many untold thousands experiencing this same intense pain simply by opening to Love. Love uplifts you. It uplifts everyone!
The people of Haiti need your Love, your prayers, and your financial assistance. It is my deepest prayer that this article inspires you to stop, and open to the Love that has the capacity to bear it all—even this horrific and heartbreaking tragedy.
Jesus says, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ( John 13:59) The love of your heart is the Holy of Holys—pure consciousness.
It is the essence of Life. The pain we are all witnessing in Haiti is an opportunity to open to Love and simply love one another as Love.
How will you share the Love that you are today?
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JOHNSON says:
This is calling us te open our heart to Jesus and by this we are called te prove our love for our neiborghs as we are shaped by the love of the Almighty God. All christian as we are called gave to do our best to give help as the spirit move our herat to glorify the name of the Lord jesus. Let’s all pray in the favour of the survivors in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen
January 17th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
Jill Warner says:
Dearest Beloved Johnson,
Is Jesus really asking you to ‘prove’ your love or is he pointing more deeply to the truth that you ‘are’ this Love and so is everyone else? What does Jesus mean when he says, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’?
If Jesus is your savior, is your guide, than surrender to him. In surrendering to him are you not surrendering to Love? What happens when you open your heart and surrender fully to the vast indescribable Love?
Always Love is Here….
Yours in Truth
Jill
January 18th, 2010 at 12:38 am
Starina Makar says:
Dear Jill,
thank you for letting me know about this, your new blog.
Tragedies, like Haiti, have been occurring for centuries. Remember the Floods that wshed away and destroyed and scattered the early civilisation of the Sumerians. Many devastating floods have occurred since then. Nature has its own way of ‘clearing, separating and making human beings to move out of their stagnanat lives and to go out there and mix with their ‘neighbours’.
Then we have had earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamies, not to mention the man made disasters of wars.
Perhaps these natural disasters are trying to tell us to STOP destroying ourselves and this beautiful planet we have been entrusted with.
I do not know this person, Pat Robertson, or what he wrote about this Haitian tragedy. But the people and countries that have suffered these natural disasters perhaps are being sacrificed so that we who are the ‘onlookers’ may realise that making wars amongst ourselves for power, greed, manipulation and control of others, is not why we were created.
LIFE IS SO FLEETING AND VULNERABLE. But we take it for granted - and Nature is teaching us that worldy wealth is not going to save us.
Sadly it is not the wealthy or powerful who perish, but the ordinary people who only want to live in peace and comfort with their families and neighbours.
America now has a Leader who has acted as promptly as was able and I feel sure that all the other nations will and are responding equally as promptly in the Hatian tragedy.
BUT THIS IS NOT THE END.
We have abused this Planet Earth and brought these tragedies upon ourselves.
My heart goes out to the survivors who are having to witness death and injury of loved ones. I pray that relief in the way of food, water, shelter and security will soon come to them. This is the kind or manner of ‘love they neighbour’ they badly need.
STOP ALL THE WARRING AND INQUIRIES AND LIVE IN PEACE.
Perhaps then, Nature would not have to defend herself against the mad, destroying ways of humans.
I do not feel hate but Sadness for the spiritually dead who are not paying attention to what these disasters are trying to tell us. STOP the fight for material and START the PEACE that will bring neighbourly LOVE and then GRACE to all.
We need awakening to the Truth of Life and Light.
My prayers go out to all who live and are helping to recover the dearly departed and those who are still surviving under all that devastation. To the brave people who are putting themselves in danger by risking their own lives to pull out ‘bodies’ and to all the Aid workers of Haiti and visiting countries.
I feel very sorry for the looters…?
Peace, Love and Grace walsy to you and yours Jill and to all your readers.
Starina 18 Jan - 06.56
January 18th, 2010 at 6:57 am
Jay says:
It is definitely a reminder to us, the onlookers, to stop all the unfounded, meaningless hatred that exists in our species. Quote. Strange, that we find the time to hate, when life is so short for love! Unquote.
January 18th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Chals says:
We should be prepared at all times for the coming of our Messiah and Saviour Jesus Christ.Matthew 24:44
January 18th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Jill Warner says:
Dearest Starina,
Stop is a Holy word. To stop is to free yourself from the internal war. When the internal war stops, the external war also stops.
Peace begins with you, peace begins with me, peace begins with each and everyone of us. Not as a movement to fix or change, but as a deep stopping to see that Peace is your true nature, it is everyone’s true nature.
As you say, ‘We need to awaken to the Truth of Light and Life.’ Awakening requires a deep stop. Stopping to look deeply into your own heart. This stopping is a Holy moment of release.
Peace is Always Here….
Yours in Truth - Jill
January 18th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Jill Warner says:
Dearest Jay,
Yes, the horrific tragedy Haiti is a profound reminder to stop the meaningless hatred. It is a deep reminder to stop and love yourself, to accept yourself exactly as you are, right now in this moment.
Until you stop the internal conversation of negativity or hatred, the external conversation of negativity and hatred will continue in the collective consciousness.
Love is Always the Answer…
Sending you Love and Support…Always!
Yours in Truth - Jill
January 18th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Jill Warner says:
Dearest Chals,
Preparing for the return of Jesus requires action or doing. It implies movement that lives in the idea that you have to do something to be prepared. And it exposes the fear that if you are not prepared you might be left behind.
If you are always preparing you will never be ready, you will miss the entire point of the return–it is a postponement.
When you stop to see the truth of who you are you will see directly, intimately, immediately that Love never left and can never leave, it is simply always here.
Love is who you are. When you stop, are quiet, and still, you have an opportunity to recognize yourself as Love, and in this Holy moment of recognition, you will know without the slightest shadow of a doubt, that you are always ready for the return of Love, because you are that vast indescribable Love! Wow!
Sending you Love and Support…Always
Yours in Truth - Jill
January 18th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
leila says:
Vowwwwwwwwwwwww Bless you sister….You are such a blessing!!!!!! Thank you so mutch for such a powerfull statement….
Yours in truth…..
January 18th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Jill Warner says:
Dearest Leila,
Thank you! I am deeply grateful that the message of this article has landed in your Heart!
Sending you Love and Support….Always
Yours in Truth - Jill
January 19th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Starina Makar says:
Dearest Jill,
Last evening I was watching the news and learnedimpressively the blessing of ‘humility’ - how - in the simple word THANKYOU from each child as they were handed - what?! - A BOTTLE OF WATER!! Not fancy food, clothes, words of sorrow at their tragedy or praise for their faith, money, etc…etc… But a life-saving BOTTLE OF WATER and the plain one syllable word THANKS.
All we need to do and pray to the Lord is to say THANKS for so much that he bestows on us, just for being US. No trimmings, just as naturally as He created us.
I give thanks to the Lord for so much that He gives me daily - a humble lesson to learn from these brave Haitians, from the lovely people I meet each day (that He sends me) for the Blessing of your blogs which teach us, remind us and give us support and strength.
May the Love, Grace and Peace of the Lord be with you and yours and all your readers always.
Starina
19.01.2010 19.10
January 19th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Jill Warner says:
Dearest Starina,
Yes, it is deeply humbling. We take so many things for granted as we move through life. This unbelievable tragedy is offering us all so many gifts–humility and gratitude is a gift of pure grace.
Sending you Love and Support Always…
Yours in Truth - Jill
January 20th, 2010 at 1:47 am
VIJAY says:
Dear Sister Jill,
When I read the article “CHALLENGE”, the context of the article about Haiti really touched my heart by the words of lord. Really I think this is the sign to the seconding coming of Lord Jesus. At the same time first of all when I read article, I didn’t understood, how can I help to them, then after completion of reading all, Lord was realized by the deepest meaning of the article. Really this is challenge to me.
The description of the flower what you are narrated about love is very nice and I was said to my friends also. They will also say to me “we also join to me to pray for the needy and who are in trouble. The will also felt it is great challenge to out lives.
Till now I never forget, what challenge I was taken, through lords message
Yours
Brother
VIJAY
January 20th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Jill Warner says:
Dearest Vijay,
Yes, the rose is the perfect metaphor for opening to the infinite Love that you are at the core of your being….
I you continue with your inquiry into the emptiness of yourself, you have the opportunity to recognize the vast indescribable presence that you are—A Love so vast words fail to describe its infinitude. When you open to this Love, you are like a rose that has bloomed in the sunlight naturally exuding its sublime fragrance. Like an open rose the Love that you are is beacon of Light, the sweetest nectar, the eternal balm.
Love is most definitely the eternal balm!
Sending you Love and Support…Always!
Yours in Truth - Jill
January 21st, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Jill Warner says:
Dearest Brother Vijay and Everyone,
I am deeply grateful for your heart felt perspective on this latest article. Your perspective will help others to more deeply contemplate the message.
Knowing yourself as Love is the Challenge of a lifetime — the highest purpose of a human birth. The entire teaching of Jesus is simply to know that you are Love, a Love so vast it is the Light of the World.
The world does not support knowing this deepest Truth. Knowing that you are Love beyond any concept is a threat to the hierarchy of power on which the world thrives. It is a threat to anything that is not permanent. Fundamentally this was why Jesus was crucified and others who have followed in his footsteps have also been crucified — Ghandi and Martin Luther King are prime examples.
Love is eternal and can never be harmed by anything in this world. As Jesus illuminates, ‘Why worry about someone who can kill your body, when afterward there is nothing more he can do.’ Astonishingly knowing yourself as Love, can even be a threat to Christianity, which unconsciously postpones knowing this until the rapture, but the rapture is here, Love is here, it is eternal.
Sadly, there is a pervasive belief in Christianity that Loving your neighbor as yourself is difficult or impossible; how can you love a rapist, a murder, a terrorist, a tax collector, a prostitute, a betrayer — this is a challenge only when you don’t know who you are at the core and who they are at the core. When you deeply know yourself as Love than it is completely natural to love your neighbor as your own self regardless of the good or bad things that you have done or they have done.
Knowing yourself as Love is the Salvation of Jesus Christ. Knowing yourself as Love is Redemption. Knowing yourself as Love is the Rapture that is here right now. When you open to Love as Love you are like a rose or lotus flower naturally exuding the Grace of God — pure Being!
Love is the eternally reality!
Always Love is Here…
Sending You Love and Support Always!
Yours in Truth - Jill
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:03 pm