Free Will for All

Heavenletter #4769 Published on: December 15, 2013
God said:

The peace of non-resistance. You are not strong to fuss and fume. Did you think you were? It is not strength to protest. It is not strength to huff and puff. It is not strength to judge. From peace comes strength.
 
Outrage is not strength. Superiority is not strength. Self-righteous anger is not strength. Rising above is strength.
 
Quietude is strength. What is it really that you have to defend and protect?
 
If you would like to live in a peaceful world, then peace must abound.
 
Who can walk over your emotions without your consent? If others seem to make you dance to their tune, who has acquiesced? Who has given permission? Who has gone along with someone else’s say-so?
 
Again, I say, what do you have to defend?
 
Defending is not peace nor is it defense. It is conciliation. Having to defend is a form of weakness, not strength, beloveds.
 
You know you make errors in your interpretation. You interpret that someone insults you. Even if someone does, you don’t have to bow to their insult. You are not insulted when it rains or there is a hurricane, even when you wanted sunshine and blue skies.
 
Because others have difficulties, you don’t have to make their difficulties yours.
 
Look, here’s the thing. Life does not have to be orchestrated the way you would like, nor does any other person have to be as you would like him to be. Everyone has free will. You can despair of another’s proclivities all you want, but to what purpose? Save your breath. You are not the orchestrator of the world. You are the orchestrator of yourself. You are the diviner of yourself. It is not up to you to decide the cards that other people play. Somehow you may have thought you are the dealer.
 
Give an inch, beloveds. This does not make you less. It makes you more. Who is the rich man? The one who is irate or the one who stays on an even keel? It is not your business to set everyone straight. You are not the governor of other people. Everyone has every right to live his life as he chooses. And so do you. And so do you. It isn’t an accomplishment for you to be affronted. Anyone can do that. Anyone can erupt.
 
It is a huge event when you come to the place where you do not have to take offense. This is indeed accomplishing something. Not taking offense doesn’t mean you are letting yourself be walked on. It means that you take responsibility for yourself. It means you stride across the Universe. It means you are the opposite of being taken advantage of. You are beneficent to yourself and, therefore, to another.
 
No one has rights over you, nor do you have rights over others. If you are to teach anyone a lesson, it is yourself. If you must set anyone straight, it is yourself. You are your own business. You are not to dance to another’s tune, nor are others to dance to yours.
 
Because someone may yell at you doesn’t mean you are obligated to yell back. Because someone is angry with you doesn’t mean you have to keep up in your anger. Life does not have to be even.
 
You may like to think of yourself as cool. Then be cool rather than hot under the collar.
 
According to the world, no one is perfect. And, yet, time and time again, you expect perfection from others and deny your own strength and your own free will.

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The peace of

On December 15th, 2013 Uta Steger... says:

The peace of non-resistance.
What a great lesson how to use our free will.
Thanks & loads of love,
Uta

Here is a sincere question that came to me this morning:

On December 15th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Dear Gloria,

I hope this finds you well. I haven't connected with you in a long time, but I read the Heavenletters every day and really appreciate them. But I am puzzled by the one for today, Dec. 15, about Free Will.

Is there never a time to stand up against injustice, oppression and the killing of innocent people -- such as in Syria? Isn't that all of our responsibility?

I hope you can help me understand.

As this year is coming to an end I send you my wishes for a wonder New Year full of all blessings, Love and Light. Thank you for being on this earth as a messenger of God.
Please tell me again where I can mail a check as I don't do financial transactions on the internet. Thanks.

Love, Kay

This lady has subscribed to Heavenletters from almost the very beginning. More than one person has asked this question.

Meanwhile, what do you think?

Kay, I am not getting a

On December 15th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Kay, I am not getting a clear answer from God. He seems to be saying that he wants me to answer. Sometimes I don't know what is from God and what is from me. I'm thinking God wants me to ask you what it is you would want to do. If you were a head of state, what would you propose? I believe this question is not to you alone, dear one, but to anyone who would answer. Let's start here. I'll come back again later or God will.

Thinking more about your

On December 15th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Thinking more about your question, Kay, and rereading this Heavenletter, my impression is that God is talking about individuals here. I begin to see why you were prompted to ask your question, Kay. It cannot be that God is referring here to a conflagration such as war. Please, everyone, read this all the way through.

God says in this Heavenletter: Because others have difficulties, you don’t have to make their difficulties yours.

God can't be speaking about a lack of responsibility or caring for others. God tells us all the time that we are ultimately responsible for everyone and everything. There is a Heavenletter (can someone find it?) in what God says clearly that we are responsible for something that happens ten thousand miles away even if we have never been there or know anyone there.

God is talking in this Heavenletter about when a friend, family member, or even a stranger is rude to us. He tells us we don't push back, defend or protest, for we may well escalate the whole thing. We've done that often enough, haven't we? At least, I have.

There is a difference, as well, it seems to me when we are in the middle of a war or thousands of miles away. I know you, Kay. If you were in the Syrian trouble, I know you, you would stand in front of a child to save his life.

Do you remember when a few years back, a man out of the blue shot innocent children in an Amish school? A fourteen-year old child went in front of the younger children and said to the man: "Shoot me and let the younger children live." Something like that. And the man did shoot her, and she died. She was in a position to make a statement. She certainly made a stand.

Soon after, the man who had no beef with the children or Amish shot himself soon after. The daughter's beautiful father went to the killer's funeral to comfort the wife who was as shocked as everyone else.

Beloved Heaven Admin was a high school student when he saw some big bruisers attacking a high school girl in an alley. He rushed in and fought these three or four big ruffians. He is someone who had to do something. He wound up unconscious and missing some front teeth. He didn't save the girl, nor did he ever regret what he had tried to do.

Kay, what do we do when we are so many miles away?

I think you would give your heart of gold.

To me, it's like the union strike that was at the apartment building where my daughter lived in Chicago. My heart was with the union. They were great people. However, they called out a chant that called the owners' names.

When I asked God about your question, He told me to answer you myself. This never happened before. Maybe my answer was to put this Heavenletter in context.

Enough good will, and there will be no wars.

You might say: “If an

On December 15th, 2013 Uta Steger... says:

You might say: “If an explosion goes off three thousand miles away, how am I responsible?”

http://www.heavenletters.org/who-is-responsible.html

The world and how the world appears are your responsibility.

http://www.heavenletters.org/the-camera-of-your-mind.html

There are many Heavenletters referring to responsibility. To take responsibility I think is really worth to ponder about and to try to adjust yourself always anew. This is really a huge change that is needed for me, to feel responsible to everything, that is happening in the world. But it seems to be so. If we are the creators of the world with our thoughts, we are responsible, how the world looks like and it is up to each of us, to change the view. If we are all one, we are responsible for our brothers and sisters in the world and for ourselves. If we assume what is said in HL is true, then I for myself assume, that it is better, not to judge easily, but to help. To not give the blame, but limit the damage, whatever this means in each situation. And maybe most important and the most difficult, to live my life aware and in fullness out of love, peace and confidence, and not out of fear, loss and lack. I do believe, this would have the most power.

Beautiful, dear Uta. I am

On December 15th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Beautiful, dear Uta. I am trying to keep quiet and let all these beautiful answers come.

There is no "they."

Loving you, Gloria

Great Question!

On December 15th, 2013 john_h says:

This is a great question!

Gloria, I feel you are correct to say that each person has to decide for themselves. We have free will. This means that there are no ready answers to a question like that. If one feels that they should stand up for those people then they should do that. However, one should also be able to accept somebody else's decision to not help those people or not to want to get involved. One should also be able to accept that sometimes their help will not be wanted. What one person might think of as oppressed could mean something entirely else to another person. Everyone's way of looking at the world is different. You honor both yourself and the other person by allowing them to make their own choices, even when you feel it is the wrong one. You can offer advice but if it is not taken then you let it go. This is what I feel that God is talking about in this letter. Interested to hear what others think.

Love to all.

Beloved John, were you

On December 15th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Beloved John, were you seeing this Heavenletter as specific to individual encounters?

There are many layers to this question, dear friend. Thank you for bringing them up.

Thank you so much for your comments.

Love, Gloria

Yes, Gloria, I do feel that

On December 16th, 2013 john_h says:

Yes, Gloria, I do feel that this Heavenletter is specific to individual encounters. I feel that most Heavenletters can be taken in this context. All of our interactions are person to person. Every interaction is different from the previous one. It is easy to group people and situations together however this hardly ever does justice to the people or situations encountered. For example, take the situation of one person killing someone else. Now is it right or wrong?

Three scenarios:

1. A person kills someone in a robbery. They shot the person in the face after they took his money.

2. A man kills an 18 year old boy. This boy had tortured the man's young daughter to death. However the boy had been released from jail on a technicality.

3. ( This one happened to my family. ) My grandmother is at the hospital getting some regular tests done. While in the bathroom she passes out. The nurse finds her on the floor. Her heart has stopped, but they revive her. What the nurses and doctors did not know was that my grandmother broke her spine when she fell. When they moved her they severed it and paralyzed her from the neck down. She could not breathe on her own and was on life support and would be that way for the rest of her life. She asked my family to take her off of life support. They did and killed her.

My answers to the question: Is it wrong to kill someone; are different depending on the scenario given. Others answers may not differ at all.

This question of free will is an important one. I am not surprised that you get asked it a lot Gloria I am also not surprised that you did not get a specific answer in response to Kay's question either.

God gave us free will..

For God to give a specific answer would be to abrogate that free will.

Kay you are the only one that can answer your question. And your decision will depend on the specific situation you encounter when making it. Every time you make this decision it will be different from the one beforehand as the circumstances and people involved will be different.

Thank you so much for your

On December 16th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful caring response.

Of course, individuals make up a group. So much does come down to individuals. I remember reading this about the holocaust. There were so many individuals who were not in favor of what was going on, and they were silent.

This may be the crux of Kay's question. When and how can people speak up effectively on behalf of humanity?

A very good question

On December 16th, 2013 john_h says:

A very good question Gloria.

When and how can people speak up effectively on behalf of humanity?

I feel that this question has been answered by Heavenletters. However people don't see it because they do not like the answer. The answer is that you cannot speak up on behalf of humanity or any group of people effectively. Humanity is a group of individual people. Each one of these persons has their own unique situation. I feel to group them up, while easier for the mind to deal with, does those people an immense disservice because it does not acknowledge their unique situation. A solution tailored to a wide group of people rarely actually helps anyone in that group very well. You can easily see this in the laws that have been passed in different countries, for example the health care law in the US and the fiscal policy used in the European Union.

Take your example of the holocaust. Many people did not speak up against it even though they did not agree with it. Every person in that example had a unique situation. Some may not have spoken up because it hadn't affected them enough yet. Others because they were afraid they would be targeted next. Maybe some had family members involved in some way and would not speak up for fear of what would happen to them. The list goes on and on. How could you speak up for them when their situations are so different? You could not do it as a group, at least not without possibly harming some of those in the group. You could only do it individually on a case by case basis.

This is the danger of putting people into a group. They become faceless. You have to remember that a group consists of individuals with unique situations. When you speak up for a group of people you are presuming to know all of their situations and what is best for them. This is information that you do not have. You are also not honoring their free will. If you truly honor a person's free will you have to let them stay in situations that you feel are bad if the person chooses to do so.

This does not mean that you do not help people. If it is an obvious situation such as them getting mugged or the person is drowning then yes, of course you help. However in situations where it is not obvious, the best you can do is offer help or advice.

In the case of large groups of people, I feel that Uta gave the best advice. Offer love to them in your heart.

Thoughts?

Love to all.

Ah, beloved John H., you

On December 16th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Ah, beloved John H., you make good points, yet those individuals did not stand up for humanity or themselves. They were protecting their own families etc. I don't know that I would have been brave in the face of things and put myself, my family and child at risk. Does anyone know ahead of time what he or she would do?

Yet Carrie Ten Boom in Holland and her whole family had no hesitation whatsoever in endangering themselves to take in 30 people at a time and housing them and caring for them hidden in their house. Indeed, they were found out and arrested. Her father died in concentration camp, her sister, and Carrie Ten Boon survived ostensibly because of a clerical error. After he war was over, she continued to do as she saw to do, and what she did was help those officers who had gotten swept up in giving so much pain and helping them re-enter into regular society.

I don't know what I would ever be, but I know I want to be like Carrie Ten Boom and not like those who kept quiet.

Thank you for your reply

On December 16th, 2013 john_h says:

Thank you for your reply Gloria. I've been enjoying the dialogue.

As far as the people in the holocaust, I'm not exactly sure how you can say that the people that kept quiet did not stand up for themselves, since it is impossible for you or anyone, to know the situation that they were in. Whether they kept quiet or helped those in need like Carrie Ten Boom, everyone in that situation did the best they could with the information they had.

Should those people that kept quiet during the holocaust not have done so? On the one hand history says yes because we know what happened as a result. I myself however, find it impossible to make a judgement call on them without being in their shoes.

As far as standing up for humanity, yes Carrie Ten Boom did that. She did it the only way possible to, by helping individuals out. So in that sense, yes you can stand up for humanity, but once again it comes down to helping out individuals in their specific situation.

Love to all.

Beloved John H, who am I to

On December 17th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Beloved John H, who am I to say what someone else should or shouldn't have done? I know this well. It must come across as haughty. I am sorry. There is no way I can know the good that others do and perhaps do in a way we would not know. God knows.

When I say the people who didn't stick up for others also did not stick up for themselves -- the others are themselves. There is no them.

Even as a child during the war. learning about the holocaust after the war as I remember, it was after the fact, and I, too, felt guilty for my good life as well.

I hope Kay will come and say something.

Hello Gloria. Thank you for

On December 17th, 2013 john_h says:

Hello Gloria. Thank you for clarifying what you meant when talking about people sticking up for themselves. Those statements make sense to me now.

Thank you also for the dialogue Gloria. I always learn a lot when attempting to explain my thoughts on these subjects.

I hope Kay shares her thoughts with us as well.

Love to all.

Thank you for understanding,

On December 17th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Thank you for understanding, dear John H. Kay certainly got the ball rolling!

a time to stand up

On December 15th, 2013 Jole (not verified) says:

The question, Kay, is probably one we all have in one form or another. Not being too sure about my own answer and not wanting to speculate, the best I can do is quote passages from Heavenletters that feel like answers to me. The final answer, I suspect, is short. It is oneness and it is love. Syria is you.

"Everything is Oneness, not just you. It is like your fingers are long and reach everywhere and contain the whole world. You contain the whole world and its whole landscape and everything in it. This is one dream you dream. Everyone is in it. Everything is in it."
.....
"You think you go into the cupboard to get something, and yet you are the only thing in the cupboard. You may have the cupboard labeled otherwise, and you think there are varied goods in the cupboard, but you are the can of soup, and you are the box of spaghetti.

"I know this makes no sense to you [...] but we are not talking about sense whatsoever, not sense as you know it. We are talking about Reality. There is no end to the questions you can ask on the field of Earth and about existence." (Heavenletter #2936, "The Truth of Life")

"All the perceived trouble on Earth reads as a headline on a tabloid, nothing more. Read between the lines, however, and you will find another drummer beating a merry tune. The chords of Truth ring loudly. Hear the bells you ring now. You are the bell-ringer of Truth. You are the one who knocks on every door. "Time to love," you say in My Voice." (Heavenletter #2095, "God's Messenger")

Concerning responsibility, my feeling is that we do not fully understand the concept yet. In Heavenletters there are more layers to it than we commonly acknowledge. I think we can safely say that vis-à-vis oneness, responsibility can hardly have the same meaning as in the context of perceived differences and opposites.

This could well be. Must be

On December 16th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

This could well be. Must be so. And thanks for all these wonderful quotations. Indeed, this would be a great topic for an ebook. What might a title be, do you think?

across the Universe

On December 16th, 2013 Jole (not verified) says:

"From peace comes strength."

"Rising above is strength."

"Quietude is strength."

"Having to defend is a form of weakness, not strength, beloveds."

"It is not up to you to decide the cards that other people play."

"Give an inch, beloveds."

"It is a huge event when you come to the place where you do not have to take offense. ...you stride across the Universe... You are beneficent to yourself and, therefore, to another."
 
 
This Heavenletter strikes me as quite simple and straightforward. And it doesn't demand that we see and grasp, much less that we agree to, its simple message. It reiterates something that has been said many times and likely will be said again, and the only reason seems to be that we hear it again and again until we have a first inkling and then a second one that "you stride across the Universe" is not a metaphor. Let's heal the holocaust now then and afterwards, striding, Syria and whatever we believe needs healing.

Ah, yes, healing.

On December 17th, 2013 Gloria Wen... says:

Ah, yes, healing.

 

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