Gloria:

Dear God, there has been such a wealth of questions for You that I have had hardly a chance to pour my heart out to You or to type out things from my notebook when I was in California or at the last Ask God Workshop. But right now, I want my heart to be open to You, this minute. God right now, not even from yesterday. You, pure God, God of this instance.

God:

God right now I am.

And you are learning and yearning to be Gloria right now. Not Gloria past, not even Gloria as recent as yesterday. But Gloria new. Fresh. Awake. Pure Gloria.

What if My children did wake up like innocent babes without the past staring them in the face, without past recollection, without past encumbrance?

For thinking of the past is an encumbrance, the past beautiful, or the past horrendous. Past association is like undoing stitches that were sewn yesterday, retracing for no reason but to go over them.

It is like you walked a path, and then the next day you think you should go over the path where you have already walked. But today you are blind, and must feel the path with your hands to know what it was like.

The path, and past, have brought you where you are today. Somehow it did. So today is where you are now. Never mind yesterday. Mind today.

Mind today. Have your attention on today. Well, have your attention on this present moment of today. This to-minute. This to-second. This moment of today.

Eschew the past.

You cannot retrace it.

Even embracing it is looking back.

Don't look back.

Don't turn around.

Face front.

Look to Me.

Gloria:

Dear God, it became clear to me when I woke up this morning that hurt feelings are nothing but ego. The sensitivity that lends itself to hurt is no more than ego. The sensitivity of an artist is a different thing because that is creative. My awareness on hurt feelings is the same as my unawareness of You.

Something hurt my feelings yesterday. Hurt feelings seem to be about what someone else thinks of me or doesn't think of me, so hurt feelings are from the world and what I make of it. And, of course, some expectation on my side, or else, how would my feelings be hurt?

God:

Hurt feelings are like sensitive skin. The skin reacts to temperature, to the wind that blows, to the sun that shines. Sensitive skin is certainly concerned with itself and not much else. Your hurt feelings are nothing but skin. And your knees get skinned every once in a while. So pick yourself up, and know you have been looking in the wrong place for love or admiration. You have been looking outside you, away from Me. You have been looking somewhere outside of Us.

Please yourself. The world is not here to please you. The world is here for you to notice Me in. Even in hurt feelings you can notice Me, Gloria.

In your practice of emulating Me, surely you see that I am not thin-skinned. I am not thick-skinned either. I am skinless. My eyes have not boundaries. My eyes see far and within. There is no place or time in this moment of life to be self-centered. My eyes are not lidded.

Gloria, do not blink at life. Look at Me. Feelings are such a little part of yourself to be concerned with.

With others too. Be not so concerned of others' feelings. Be concerned with truth. That is all you need to be concerned with. What is truth? What is your truth today?

Gloria:

I want to say that You are my refuge. But that implies that I need refuge.

God:

I am your truth.

You can be concerned with dust in corners, or you can be concerned with Me.

Hurt feelings are like dust in corners.

What does dust in corners have to do with you?

Gloria:

Nothing at all.

God:

Only as you attend to it.

Consider events in your life like sculptures in sand. The tide washes over them. And each day the sand is new and malleable.

Create some life today.

The tide will wash it away.

And you arise from the tide, washed of the past.

Gloria today. New Gloria. Fresh Gloria.

Not a painting from the past.

But what you are.

My child of love.

Not even one who gives personal love or receives it.

One who gives My love.

Attend to My love, and feelings do not get hurt.

Your ego is being scraped away.

Do you need it?

For what?

To promulgate itself?

Better promulgate Me.

I will never hurt your feelings.

The world always will if you expect love from it.

My love is the only love you can expect, for it is already yours.

* * *

Annette to God:

Dear God, thank You for Your July 29 reply to my question about following my heart and making money. I really like Your answer, as always. I will let it sink in. Thank You, dear God.