Beloved, what if you would stop seeing life as it appears to you possibly as an outright challenge? Life isn’t meant to be seen as a duel you are offered. Life is meant to be, if not a piece of cake, at least a peace-offering – certainly not a boxing match in Madison Square Garden.

What if you didn't put on your boxing gloves in readiness? What if you could see a new offer in life – not as a confrontation, yet more like a handshake or a step toward progress? If you would, if you did – wow, how differently you might treat life! Do you see this?

Life today, as it may appear to you – often at the last-minute as a guest who doesn't give you prior notice – may indeed make you feel off-guard. If life would have given you some advanced notice, you might not have felt left so high and dry with dishes in the sink. You might have had a nice dessert baked to welcome life with rather than a last-minute dash to the store feeling empty-handed.

Of course, you would rather be gracious. So, note, I do not tell you to be prepared. No, I tell you to be simply gracious.

Imagine yourself now as the Queen of England. You would never close the door and tell your guest – life – to stay away or to come back later.

You would smile and say: “Please come in.”

You might think inside: “Hmm, what will I serve?”

You might remember that you have a carton of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream in the freezer, and you would take it out, or you would buzz a servant to put this joyous ice cream in your best dishes with your best silver.

Of course, your guests would never plan to come at the wrong time or not well-dressed.

Beloved, you never know who is going to knock on your door or how dressed up or dressed down your guest may be.

What you can know is that you will open the door and say: “Oh, please come in. Please sit down and rest your feet. Let’s see what I can get for you. You have gone to all the trouble to come and see me. How may I help you?”

If the Queen of England arrives to tell you that you lost the latest rugby match, you would remember your manners. You know that tomorrow is another day. You may receive heavy news that leaves you crestfallen, yet you will be patient. Life may be the messenger at your door, yet, as it is said, you don’t have to shoot the messenger.

Perhaps you say to Me : “Oh, please, dear God, give me a chance to swallow this news,” even as you may regard today’s rugby news as a noose around your neck.

“Forgive me,” you may say to your uninvited guest. “Excuse me a moment, please. I will be right back.”

Now, consider yourself as the Queen of England receiving an unexpected guest. You take the rugby news on the chin. You may well be astonished, yet you also know deep down that this news is not the last news you will ever receive. You also know that you are a hardy flower who will recover. Yes, you may feel deeply stunned, yet you will not always feel stunned.

Life also gives you the opportunity to recover. The same life that delivers the hard news will also soothe your brow and make you strong and resilient and help you find ways to honor life on your behalf with the good grace worthy of one who is a guest of Mine in this world no matter how zany the world may appear to you, Beloved.