Host to God

The first meditation that I had this morning I was given a new experience of the Light of God. It was not the same as I had seen before. I cannot even describe in words the beauty or even the feelings of Love that went with it. It was beyond all words, all symbols, and all forms. I relished in the beauty of His Love. He asked me to see this Love in everything and every person that I meet and know. A little later, I became afraid of this immense and powerful experience and I allowed feelings of rejection and unworthiness to seep in. These feelings stayed with me for a little while, but once I was able to remember the experience, the True Experience of God, I was able to relinquish those thoughts.
Later in the morning as I paused to enter into silence at the Pathways office, I was given the gift of remembering not only Who I Am, but Who Everyone Is. Some words came into my mind and I remembered that I had heard them from Rev. Bob Thompson at Bumpity. This was during the gathering that we took part of in early December. His words came through in clarity. "While you are here as a guest, I ask you to also be a host to everyone here. Be a steward to others." Perhaps those weren't Bob's exact words, but the meaning came through in this meditation. Be host to others and as you are host to others, you are host to yourself and most importantly, you are host to God. We are all One in God.
This reminds me of what Jesus said in the Bible in Matthew 25:43-45 (NIV):
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
So today, I now choose to look upon the world and my brothers and ask myself, "How can I be a host to them?" First, I must answer within myself, "What does being a host mean?" I went to the dictionary and found this:
host--n 1: a person who invites guests to a social event (such as a party in his or her own home) and who is responsible for them while they are there.
In my mind, I have imagined in this illusory world all these guests, my brothers, and because I have made all of this up in my mind, I am accountable to my brothers while I am still in this unreal world. By being responsible for my brothers means to me that I treat them with Love. I also treat myself with Love. I can ask myself, "What would be the most loving thing to do right now?"
This thought reversal I now see started last night. We were watching television and it was a movie that I didn't particularly care for since it was about war. It was "Behind Enemy Lines". Is that not where we stepped when we stepped into the illusion? Behind the ego's false boundaries? I had begun to feel a sense of resentment inside to watching this war movie when the night before we had begun to watch a old favorite movie of mine which we never finished watching. Plus, it was a movie about conflict and war! Egads!
The resentful thought creeped in oh so quietly, so covertly. Within a few moments I realized that I was not at peace. As peace is my only goal now, I offered these thoughts to the Holy Spirit. I said to Him, "What would be the most loving thing to do?" "How can I replace these thoughts of the ego with thoughts of God's Love?" Quietly I heard that I was to simply watch the movie and share in my partner's enjoyment of it and let Him, the Holy Spirit, show me a new perspective. Holy Spirit also suggested that I retrieve the laundry and so I did started to fold my partner's clothes. I also felt led to cleanup a little in the kitchen after our dessert.
The shift to expressing love instead of withholding it felt so much more peaceful. That was being a host to my brother who was in the form of my partner. Throughout the day, I will continue to ask the same. I want to be a host in service to everyone. Just imagine if we all came from that standpoint, as hosts in service to everyone, what this world would be like.
The world we know would simply disappear.
I am grateful for this wonderful lesson in love. I will also honor and be in service to myself. And so, let us all continue to be host to God by being host to ourselves and one another.
T-11.II.7. Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God? 2 You will accept only whom you invite. 3 You are free to determine who shall be your guest, and how long he shall remain with you. 4 Yet this is not real freedom, for it still depends on how you see it. 5 The Holy Spirit is there, although He cannot help you without your invitation. 6 And the ego is nothing, whether you invite it in or not. 7 Real freedom depends on welcoming reality, and of your guests only the Holy Spirit is real. 8 Know, then, Who abides with you merely by recognizing what is there already, and do not be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in you.
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Rev. Deborah Frantz, O.M.C.
Pathways of Light - www.pathwaysoflight.org