I bequeathed you to the Universe, and now you bequeath yourself.

I gave a gift, and so it is given. I handed you over, and now you serve. What a blessing it is to serve. I serve you. And now you serve others. You serve others in service to Me, and so you serve. I gave you in service, beloveds. I gave My heart to the world. I gave it freely. I gave it in the form of you. I did not make conditions when I gave you to the world nor did I make concessions. There was nothing to concede. You might say that the need for you to give love is a condition, and that’s partly true in that love is a condition for your happiness. And yet, as I gave you life and presented you to the world, I also gave you the freedom of choice. You can love now, or you can love later. Whatever you do or not do, I do not hold it against you. I don’t hold anything against you, beloveds. I hold everything for you.

Whatever happens, My love for you is complete. And, little by little, you learn that your love is complete. Little by little, you love as I do love. The time comes when you recognize that, although you have free will, you also have no choice but to love. To deny another love from your heart is denying yourself and denying Me. And so you come to the point where you will love and let it go at that.

You will love those it is easy to love, and you will love those it is not easy to love. Consider yourself like a pot on the stove that cooks soup. The steam rises. It matters not to the pot for whom the soup is made. It is made the same for everyone. Near or far from the stove, everyone feels the warmth of the stove and the aroma of the soup. And, of course, you may also go around and serve the wonderful soup from this pot. It is not a production, this soup cooking and your serving it. It is not a decision you have to weigh the pro’s and con’s about. You just keep a pot of soup simmering on the stove. You can always add a potato when guests come.

Your love will not be a big thing. It will just be in your heart, quietly simmering. Sometimes it will bubble, but most of the time it is just quietly there.

Or consider your heart a big samovar filled with tea. And people can get up and go to it at any time. The samovar is strong and full. It stands sturdily, always ready to pour its tea into every glass that comes to it. It is not particular.

What is it that your heart cannot be for My sake and for the sake of all who come to it or pass by?

When all can enter your heart, then you know love, not as a bonus someone has to earn, not as a forfeit you have to make, but as love rolling over in joy at the exuberance of itself. Let no one be a stranger to your heart. Let all be welcome. You require nothing. There are no prerequisites to your heart.

Imagine your heart like a fat shining Buddha, silently welcoming all. Or perhaps your heart is a laughing Buddha. Or perhaps your heart is a Christ who walks the world. Let your heart be an open gate. No key needed. You have thrown all keys away. They were never real anyway.