Consider all that which is lovely about life. How great a list you can make! Tell Me, beloveds, what is beautiful, and what is extraordinary, and what is beyond compare? How about this morning right now? The sun plays with shadows. A flower pops up. The sky is dressed in blue and changes its appearance during the day, sometimes a brighter blue with clouds embossed on it, or the sky is shades of gray, and then at night it gradually grows to midnight blue with stars stuck to it.
What about a leaf as it turns from side to side in the breeze? What about the leaves, identical, yet no two the same. What about the tree itself that binds Earth to Heaven in one fell swoop? Deeply rooted, the tree knows to what heights it is growing. Tall or short, it reaches to Heaven. The sun calls to the tree, and the tree looks up. There is no stopping the tree.
No tree says it's not good enough. No tree says it's only a twig stuck in the dirt. No tree says, "Look at all those other trees who are so much more beautiful than I. Look at that tree; it bears blossoms and fruit, while I am just scraggly here."
No cactus says, "What am I but a thorny thing?"
The dandelion is happy to be a dandelion. No dandelion says, "Why can't I be a rose?"
No sun, no sky, no cloud, no tree, no leaf says, "Do I have to be me? Why can't I be something else?"
No living thing but man regrets yesterday or a moment ago or even looks back. No living thing but man says, "Why did I do that? Why didn't I do this? How could I have been such a fool, or so calculating, or so selfish? When am I going to learn?"
No living thing but man says, "I am not good enough. I don't know why I was born. I didn't ask to be born."
Every living thing flourishes, and every living thing but man knows he is here to enjoy. Every living thing but man knows how to enjoy without effort, without lessons, without worrying about it. A dog will worry a bone, and that's it.
When there is quiet in the house, or TV is on full blast, the dog enjoys his day. He takes happiness where it lies. Happiness is where he lies. When did he pout because he did not have steak? The dog knows he is supposed to be where he is. He knows he has every right to be right where he is. Where he lives is his castle. He knows his royalty. He never questions it. He knows he is here to love and to be loved. There is nothing to question. He doesn't stop and ask questions before he loves. He doesn't figure anything out. He doesn't feel he has to.
Why do My children tend to think they are in a plight rather than a castle? Why do my children tend to fuss and fume?
Is it because I gave you Free Will? Is it because I gave you this great gift? Is what you have secondary to what you don't have? I suppose you think so.
Without Free Will, you would not think so much. You would not think, "What do I do now?" When you would see three doors, you would not see it as a difficulty and have to calculate which is the right one or the only one. You would simply let go of the past and the concept that the past is essential to the present, and you would walk through one of the doors, knowing that you are you whichever door you go through, knowing that choosing which door to go through isn't much of a decision at all.