Gloria to God:

Dear God, I have two thoughts this morning. One is I could see how something innocent in Your words could be taken out of context and made a rule that wouldn't be what you meant at all. I was thinking of yesterday's Heavenletter when you advised us not to be rock stars! Maybe some day there would be a literal interpretation of that, taken out of context. It might say with authority: God says, "Be not a rock star!" and no one would dare get up there and rock and roll!

God:

That is just about right. I always speak truth, but I am not always literal.

Gloria:

Karen shared an email with me, and asked me what I thought. I said I thought I would give the person the benefit of the doubt. And Karen suggested I look at it differently. I realized I have often or always given someone the benefit of the doubt, and sometimes again and again. I have done so much bending over backwards that I feel foolish. I don't want to be sucked in anymore to something that isn't real.

God:

I do not bend over backwards. I love, I give, I do much, but a heart has to step up to Me. I do not step down. I help, I pull My children up, but I don't help anyone further a dissemblance. I am the Great Giver, but I am not an easy mark.

It is not words that matter. It is the truth behind them.

That particular email you refer to, it was a ploy.

Gloria:

I can think of situations — minor things, dear God — where someone said something to me, and I knew it was just words and they didn't mean it and I said words back that I also didn't mean and knew I didn't mean, and I suppose they did too. I'm not going to do that anymore. I am going to say what I feel or say nothing. I'm going to be truthful.

God:

There are levels of truth.

Even in dissemblance, there is a level of truth.

That person who wrote the email was truthful in that he did want contact. That was true. But he was not honest in the words that led up to it. He was trying to make a bridge but not a steady one. A pretend bridge. One he knew wouldn't hold up. He didn't mean it. But he did mean to make the connection. It was his premise that was not his truth. He was trying to give a password that would get him in. His heart was not connected to his expressed words. Thinking of what he wanted is not the same as his being connected to his heart's truth.

What we are talking about here is the truth that is connected to the heart. You want your words and heart to be aligned.

Even in internal conversations with yourself, you want to be in your truth. You don't want to kid yourself.

Ask yourself, What does my heart want?

Don't betray yourself and ask, What do I want my heart to want? What would be a good thing for my heart to want here?

Be kind to your heart. Bend over backwards for your heart. Give your own heart the benefit of the doubt.

Do not control your heart. Do not dictate to it.

My children have chosen careers in the world that will not make them happy. Their reasoning may have been sensible, but reason without heart is not reason.

My children have chosen marriage partners for exterior reasons that are not meaningful to their hearts.

Perhaps they did not follow their hearts. Perhaps they did not know what their heart spoke.

Following your heart is not a weak thing. It is a strong thing to do. Following your heart is integrity.

How many people do you think told My son Jesus to take the course he did?

I am the only One I can think of.

Gloria:

Dear God, how do we know what our heart wants? How do we know the difference between what we think we want and what is the truth?

God:

Practice. Have the intention. Know the difference between "What if I could, wouldn't it be great?" and "I must."

Once you choose Me, there is no going back.

Truth is your path. You walk on it. Truth is where you are going. It is a simple journey. No detours. No wrong directions. Truth is one-directioned. Climb the mountain. No need to circle around it. You will find it is not a mountain at all.

Gloria:

I think of the expression: Put your money where your mouth is.

God:

Yes. Put your mouth where your heart is. Do you mean it or not? I think it is well to mean it. Mean what you say. Say what you mean. Anything else is demeaning. Truth alone is worthy of My children.