You are responsible for everyone in the universe because what you say, think, do, feel, etc. influences everyone and everything. Yet it is not for you to take charge of any individual except the one you call yourself. That gives you enough to do.

All individuals are responsible for themselves. It is not your place to run interference for all or anyone in your life. Bless them with your heart and mind and put them in My care. That is the responsible thing for you to do. That way you do not get more wrapped up in another's life than in your own. That way you do not assume the responsibility for another and wrest it from them. This does not mean that you are indifferent. It means that you give freedom. And freedom is a blessing. Do not try to save others from themselves. Do not in your caring so much forget another's responsibility for himself.

The way to be your brother's keeper is to keep him in your heart. You do not keep his life. It is not your mission to fend for him. You are not his social worker. Even though someone needs help of one kind or another, and you give it, do not assume a role that is beyond yours. You do not own another person, you do not own their suffering, and you do not own their outcomes. You are not the cause.

It is tricky, the difference between hands on and hands off. You want to be kind and helpful. Be so. Be kind, help another. Do not hold back, but do not overstep. Do not take over. Sometimes you want to take on another's burdens, but that is assuming a responsibility that is not yours. You are not anyone's representative on earth. You are not their agent. You are not their intermediary with Me. You are My representative on earth, not theirs.

Yet you are responsible for the universe. I do not suggest that you slough off responsibility for the universe. You are responsible for all of it. Not responsible for another's choices, yet responsible for the whole universe of the universe. There, now I have thrown it in your lap.

Lift the whole universe with your blessing of it. The cure for the individual and the cure for the universe are identical. Raise your picture of them. Lift the universe, not by hard work, but by dint of your love.

You do not yet know all that you can do from even the solitariness of your own home. You do not yet know that you can move mountains.

Do you accept that your thoughts contribute to the world? If you accept that, then perhaps you can accept that your thoughts already have. You have contributed. Do not cast stones at the state of the world, for you are party to it. Remove the turmoil from your own heart and from your own eye, and then you will cast light on the world. You tend to be amazed at the folly of the world and forget your own.

Raise the world the same way you raise a child. You do not harp on his errors. You do not keep chastising him. You see beyond fault. You see his capability. By your seeing, you raise him to greater heights.

The power you hold has not yet been tapped. Tap it now. The love in your heart has not yet been given. Give it now. You are the extent of the universe, and you are the extender of it. Extend the universe now.