It has always puzzled and disturbed me why people lash out at one another, why they harm each other or do things to cause hurt or pain to another. What is gained from it?

     Bullying, torturing, tormenting, causing pain to another are actions that go against my grain and evoke more than just a lack of understanding — they evoke shock and, at times, terror. Earth humans criticize me as being too “sensitive,” yet I do not enjoy fighting scenes in movies. Often, while sitting in the theater and a scene of graphic violence is spread across the screen, I will yawn and doze off. When video games display such gore, in the guise of “entertainment,” I leave the room. In real life I’ve always avoided brawls and have found that hot-tempered disagreements, whether I am involved or not, leave me drained.

     Those of us who know we are Star Seed came here with the intention of spreading our Light and sharing our Love with all along our paths. It’s no wonder so many are warped by the trauma of enduring the repercussions of anger, fear, ridicule, resentment and jealousy from Earth humans.
We came into the earth plane innocently enough, hoping to change the world, to make it a better place for all to dwell, and to show by example how to live in peace and in harmony.

     And it didn’t happen. We were kids who got our feelings smashed by other kids on the playground or at school. Teachers disciplined everyone for one pupil’s deviant behavior and all had to suffer, even when we did nothing. Our parents put us down for being too imaginary when our angelic friends came around to comfort us. Siblings crushed us with the idea, “You can’t do that!” Our friends betrayed us, our peers rejected us for being a little “different,” and then we had to put up with those people were couldn’t handle our special gifts and reacted out of jealousy.

     We Star Seed grew into adulthood, having learned to restrain ourselves — big time. We learned early on to shut up or be labeled. We soon forgot that our mission was about sharing our Love and our Light, because no one seemed to want it. No one seemed to care that we had something precious to offer.
Yet Love is never lost. It may seem to leave us at times, just as the candle flickers and gets extinguished. But Love never dies. There is always that small particle of Light — that photon — that remains and can be rekindled into a flame again.

     Love is the greatest force in the Universe. Love is the key to happiness, to abundance, to Inner Peace. Without Love there is a void, an emptiness, a hunger that is never satisfied.

     Love has many dimensions. What is a dimension but another state of reality, of being? There are levels of Love that range from the love of a favorite dish of ice cream, to the love of a child by her parent, to the love of a dear friend, to the love of a soulmate and spouse. Then there is the most potent love of all — love for one’s fellow being, a total stranger.

     There is the Lover and there is the Beloved. A relationship develops between Lover and Loved One. Love flows from one to the other and reflects back again. When Love is pure and unconditional, it is returned simply because it has to. It is a law of nature. When you feel Love for some one or some thing, you receive it as well as give it, whether that person or object acknowledges your love or not.

     There is no such thing as unrequited love. Not really. If it is truly Love, you will get it back. And if you merely desire someone’s attention (for example, lust), and you don’t get it, it was never really Love to begin with. True Love is understood and felt when you come to realize there are no conditions and no expectations from the Loved One.

     Can we truly love everybody? Can we honestly confess that we have love for the murderer, the rapist, or a world leader who sends innocent young men and women to war? What about those individuals in our lives who have in some way caused us pain? How can we say we love All That Is when we secretly harbor that seed of resentment, of remembered hurt or anger of which we just can’t seem to let go?

     We all know how easy it is to love a precious baby, a cute and cuddly puppy, a fluffy kitten, a gorgeous flower growing along our sidewalk, or that special person in our lives who attracts us. But for most people it is difficult to admit that you love a criminal or a rapist, or someone who has committed dastardly deeds, or even a leader of our country who lies to us and leans toward destroying us.

     From my own experience, a powerful woman in my community almost ruined me, and the agony of that experience, even after seven years, still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Can I love her? A man I hired once to work for me knew how to twist things so that he could intimidate me into having his way over the other employees. He verbally abused me, even threatened me — can I love him? And how can I bring myself to love our president when I have such rebellious feelings of disgust for the damage he has caused our environment and the lives lost from a foolish police action in a part of the world that sees us as nothing more than bullies? How can I love him?

     How do we get past the ickiness in life and move on to finding Love and Inner Peace that is our birthright? How do we deal with those individuals and those things in life that fill us with dread, with remorse and cause us to wish they would simply go away?

We must remember that those people are in our lives for a reason. Basically we recruited them to participate with us in the Grand Plan. They are here to challenge us, to help us grow, to teach us about Love. And what have we learned? When we grovel in self pity and crawl away to lick our wounds — still harboring our resentment — have we learned anything from it?

     Once we realize we recruited them and they are doing us a favor — the whole outlook changes! Yes! You are not here to make my life miserable — you are here to teach me Unconditional Love! It doesn’t matter that you lashed out at me, caused harm or became a thorn in my side. Because I have a tool — the one secret ingredient that I use that allows me to love you.
And what is that secret ingredient? Suddenly, it’s as though the room has become hushed.

     Compassion. Compassion is the one thing that can allow us to love — fully. Compassion will neutralize the bitterness we carry deep inside. It will nurture the desire that we as Lightworkers have to reach out and embrace a lost soul.

     We may not approve of what our president is doing. We may have strong opposing opinions regarding his actions and his policies. We may not appreciate being yelled at by a foul-mouthed employee who threatens to sue us over some ridiculous whim or another. And we may still allow ourselves to be sad when we think of someone we once trusted and looked up to, who turned against us. But despite these feelings — which we acknowledge and accept — we can have compassion for them. And because we have compassion, we can love them.

     Compassion is being able to embrace another with unconditional love. In other words, no matter what their shortcomings are in our eyes, they are Beloved in the Eyes of God. We can love and accept those whom God loves. Yes, that includes a Hitler or a Saddam Hussein... or a Bush. It includes the child molester or rapist or drug peddler. Whatever misfortunes or misdeeds have arisen because of their actions, we can still love them because God does.

     Namasté is a word that says it all: “The Christ in me acknowledges the Christ in you.” Compassion is the key that opens what is blocking us from experiencing complete, unconditional Love for our fellow beings.

     As Lightworkers on our way to experiencing True Love, we can begin with ourselves. Do you love Your Self? Try a little experiment. Go to the mirror and stand there a minute, staring at your image in the glass. What do you see? Do you love that person? Can you look that person in the eye, smile, and say, “I love you. I really love you!” Do you mean it?

You might discover this exercise is harder than it sounds. Try it. If it’s awkward for you, embarrassing, or conjures up negative feelings or inadequacies, then you’ve got some work to do about learning to love yourself.

     Until you can love Your Self, totally and unconditionally, you cannot truly love others, or God for that matter. The Law of One states: Love God, love your neighbor. You can’t do one without the other. And since God resides in You, when you say to Your Self “I love you,” you are saying it to God. Love God, love Your Self. It’s one and the same... Love your neighbor as Your Self. It’s one and the same. How much simpler can it be?

     So, is Love really the answer? What is the question here? Can Love change the world? Can it take care of all the suffering, needy people in the world? Can Love make everything better? I believe that if everyone used compassion — the gateway to Love — the answer to the question is yes — yes, Love is the answer. No matter what the question, Love is the answer.

     But let’s face it, not everyone knows this. So many people are stuck in the idea that revenge is the only justification. How can we as Lightworkers change this? We start with ourselves. We start by loving ourselves, and then by reaching out to others.

     No one promised it was going to be instantaneous. No one set any deadlines either, at least that I remember. But the sooner we put compassion into practice, the sooner our lives and our world will improve.

     Let’s begin today, at this moment.

     If you don’t know where to start, try this exercise. Get a piece of paper and write down three people you know that you have trouble loving. It could be someone you know personally or it could be someone in the news. Then, under each person’s name, list three things that block you from loving that person. Next, look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Have I ever had that quality?” Look deeply within. You might be surprised to discover the answer. Finally, begin to list qualities about that person that justify why God loves him or her.

     You are now on your way to having compassion... and knowing the true meaning of Love.

     Ann Ulrich Miller is publisher of The Star Beacon.