Submit to LOVE and RESPECT

"Submission is not about authority and it is not about obedience; it is all about relationships of love and respect. In fact, we are submitted to you in the same way." (p. 145)

Sharing this journey together

"If you try to live this without me, without the ongoing dialogue of us sharing this journey together, it will be like trying to walk on the water by yourself. You can't! And when you try, however well-intentioned, you're going to sink." (p. 180)

What you're seeing here...

"Mackenzie, we have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or 'great chain of being' as your ancestors termed it. What you're seeing here is a relationship without any overlay of power." (p. 122)

Prepare the soil

"Like little cracks in the wall, one at a time, but woven together they prepared you for today. You have to take the time to prepare the soil if you want to embrace the seed." (p. 176)

Recognize my voice

"Of course you will make mistakes; everybody makes mistakes, but you will begin to better recognize my voice as we continue to grow our relationship." (p. 196)

Completely in my hands

"Don't forget, the story didn't end in his sense of foresaken-ness. He found his way through it to put himself completely into my hands. Oh, what a moment that was!" (p. 96)

Fully Equal...Not Power

"Our desire was to create a being that had a fully equal and powerful counterpart, the male and the female. But your independence with its quest for power and fulfillment actually destroys the relationship your heart longs for." (p. 148)

Where is your sense of safety?

"Lies are one of the easiest places for survivors to run. It gives you a sense of safety, a place where you only have to depend on yourself. But it's a dark place, isn't it?" (p. 187)

"What I do have is a constant and living expectancy in our relationship, and I give you an ability to respond to any situation and circumstance in which you find yourself. To the degree that you resort to expectations and responsibilities, to that degree you neither know me or trust me." (p. 206)

Sins are gone in our relationship

"Mack, I am God. I forget nothing. I know everything. So forgetting for me is a choice to limit myself. Son, because of Jesus, there is now no law demanding that I bring your sins back to mind. They are gone when it comes to you and me, and they run no interference in our relationship." (p. 224)

Where it belongs...

"That is in the past now, where it belongs. I don't even want your sorrow for it, Mack. I just want us to grow on together without it." (p 184)

Relationship without Power

"Mackenzie, we have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or 'great chain of being' as your ancestors termed it. What you are seeing here is relationship without any overlaying of power" (p. 122)

Forgiven Completely

"Son you may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times the first day and the second day, but the third day will be less and each day after, until one day you will realize that you have forgiven completely." (p. 227)

This works for forgiving others, but have you a need to use this on yourself as well? To forgive yourself? Try it. How freeing that can be!

A Growing Friendship...I like that!

"I came to give you Life to the fullest. My life... The simplicity and purity of enjoying a growing friendship." (p. 180)

No Pressure

"If you think about it Mack it should be very freeing to know that you can offer us nothing, at least not anything that can add or take away from who we are...That should alleviate any pressure to perform." (p. 200)

"Emotions are the color of the soul; they are spectacular and incredible. When you don't feel, the world becomes dull and colorless." (p. 196)

challenge yourself to feel...

Our Precious Earth

"Our earth is like a child who has grown up without parents, having no one to guide and direct her... Some have attempted to help her but most have simply tried to use her." (p. 144)

e a r t h = h e a r t

Circle of Relationship

"Because we want you to join us in our circle or relationship. I don't want slaves to my will, I want brothers and sisters who will share life with me." (p. 146)

Many Colors=Uniqueness

"As you near them you will see that they have many individual colors that have merged into white, which contains all. As they mature and grow to become who they really are, the colors they exhibit will become more distinctive, and unique hues and shades will emerge." (p. 212-213)

Together we...

"I want to be at the center of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you." (p. 207)

Presence of God

"I'm here," replied Jesus "I'm always here."

Mack nodded. This presence-of-God thing, although hard to grasp, seemed to be steadily penetrating past his mind and into his heart. He let it go at that.
(p. 108)

A speck of wholeness

"Son, this is not about shaming you. I don't do humiliation, or guilt, or condemnation. They don't produce one speck of wholeness or righteousness, and that is why they were nailed into Jesus on the cross." (p. 223)

"To force my will on you," Jesus replied, "is exactly what love does not do. Genuine relationships are marked by submission..." (p. 145)

You will see me

"So, will I see you again?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course. You might see me in a piece of art, or music, or silence, or through people, or in Creation, or in your joy and sorrow."

(p. 198)

I've been talking to you

"Have you noticed that in your pain you assume the worst of me? I've been talking to you for a long time, but today was the first time you could hear it, and all those other times weren't a waste, either. Like little cracks in the wall, one at a time, but woven together they prepared you for today. You have to take the time to prepare the soil if you want to embrace the seed." (p. 176)

"We don't need power over the other because we are always looking out for the best. Hierarchy would make no sense among us. Actually, this is your problem, not ours." (p. 122)

"Mackenzie, this world is full of tears, but if you remember I promised that it would be Me who would wipe them from your eyes." (p. 228)

True Love

"I understand how difficult it is for you, so lost in your perceptions of reality and so sure of your own judgments, to even begin to perceive, let alone imagine, who real love and goodness are. True love never forces." (p. 190)

Moving closer

"Will you at least consider this: When all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?" (p. 96)

In other words, this is telling me to take action to walk through the pain... and I will move closer to him as a result.

...and now for a little HUMOR!

"Jesus?"

"Yes, Mackenzie?"

"I am surprised by one thing about you."

"Really? What?"

"I guess I expected you to be more," be careful here, Mack, "uh...well, humanly striking."

Jesus chuckled. "Humanly striking? You mean handsome." Now he was laughing.

Well, I was trying to avoid that , but yes. Somehow I thought you'd be the ideal man, you know, athletic and overwhelmingly good looking."

"It's my nose, isn't it?"

(p. 111)