Although time is not, there is a moment that comes when the Sun peeks its head up over the horizon. The Sun lifts up its shoulders at its inception over the crest of the earth. It is a steady motion, the Sun beginning its day on your side of the earth.
Of course, it is the earth that is rolling to the Sun.
You could say that the earth is the puppy that rolls over to be petted by the Sun.
The rolling over is surrender.
The earth surrenders to the Sun, and then the Sun becomes earth's, and the Sunlight on the earth and the earth's receptivity of the Sun are integral, one to the other. How innocent is the earth! How willing! How open! How ready! How unattached but all set!
And that is how Our love shines.
I shine totally, day or night.
Like the earth, you roll over.
You accept My light. You would say the beginnings of My light, but My light has no starting-place for it is eternal. So, therefore, it is you who begins it. You begin it by opening your eyes and letting some light in. It is so simple, our arrangement, our engagement in the exchange of Our love.
Love is not complete until it is received.
Love given is something other than love until it is accepted. Love cannot be halfway. It cannot be extended only so far. Part of its being extended is its being received. That is the freedom of love.
An overt attempt at giving love is not the same as love. A gift is not truly given until it has been received. You send a package in the mail. You have sent it. But on its way, it is not a gift. It is a package. It becomes a gift when the intended's hands open it, and their eyes light up.
You who have loved without return, that is not love. Giving something unwanted or unappreciated is not love, for love is a letting go. The giver and the receiver are true to themselves and aware of the other.
There are two parts to love then, the giving and the receiving. The receiver is as much a giver as the original offerer.
And that is how We exchange love, you and I. I am the Original Offerer. You are ever in My attention. When you receive My love, that makes you the giver of it. You give to Me when you accept My love. In truth, We cannot separate our love. Do you understand better now what Oneness means?
Love is not a tugging at the heart. Love is a filling of the heart.
That is why you give love to one another without attachment. Attachment is not love. Which one of My children did Christ, overtly or covertly, hold to him by force? Not one. From his side, he did not hold. From the point of view of those who held on to him, they were held by his strength of clear-seeing love. He attracted but did not hold. He was like a moon, and his disciples were satellites that moved around him. There was no force. There was no contract. There was not control. There was wisdom and love and strength and freedom.
It is the same with Me. That is why I gave you free will. What would My love be if I consigned you to a particular one-way street?
If I throw a party, you, as a guest, come of your own accord. If I, the Host, insist that you must come at the stroke of a certain moment and at a certain entrance and in a certain costume, and you must come, then you have not been invited but ordered. Then you are not a guest but an employee. It is not a party for you unless it is your choice to come. There cannot be acceptance without freedom.
I am the Greatest Giver of Freedom there is.
But that does not mean I do not invite.
I invite and invite. And I know you will attend My gathering, for it is a celebration of you. Sometimes you are surprised when you come, that the party was in your honor, but I am never surprised. I knew you were going to attend. I saw it coming. Once I saw you catapulting on your way to My house, I knew the exact moment of your entry, and I had the welcome mat out for you, swept clean for your arrival.
Some of My children like to attend My banquet alone, and some in groups, but, in truth, no one attends alone. When you are so lit, others will see you. They will note where you have gone and mark it down in some obscure place in their heart. That place will not remain obscure. It will start to grow, and that place in their heart will blossom.
When you avoid My party, it is because you are not listening to your heart. I am the most neutral party-giver in the universe. All have been invited. I have the staff, the refreshments, and programs enough for the entire population of the world. Nothing will spoil. It all waits for you. You don't have to wait.
I am the most cordial Host you will ever know. I invite and invite no matter how often you do not respond, and I let you go your way. My invitation is permanent. I never rescind it. My invitation is sent. It is sent again and again. Sometimes you just toss it out without looking at it. But one day you will open it. And one day you will read it. And one day you will come, but in your own way and your own time, and that is the freedom of your will.