Duty without Love creates annoyance

Truth without Love creates addiction to criticism

Education without Love creates contradiction

Cleverness without Love turns cagey

(Intelligence without Love turns dishonest)

Responsibility without Love turns inconsiderate

Justice without Love creates hardness

Politeness without Love creates hypocrisy

Order without Love creates pettiness

Knowledge without Love turns obstinate

Power without Love turns violent

Honor without Love creates pride

Possession without Love turns avaricious

Belief without Love turns fanatic

Careful those, who are greedy with Love!

In the end, they will be guilty of the breakdown of the world due to self-poisoning.

What are you living for, if you cannot love?

~Lao Tzu

So why would a soul like us leave the divine’s embrace to experience covid-19 and the current craziness on earth? Creating love in the physical world, mastering illusions and returning home again with the wisdom gained from the experience holds our attraction. Leaving Oneness to experience a physical body and duality demonstrates a significant amount of trust on many levels. Perhaps Peter Pan, the leader of the Lost Boys in J.M. Barrie’s wonderful play said it best, “All the world is made of faith, trust and pixie dust.”

Infants instinctually trust their caregivers at birth. If the family home is safe and secure, children will develop trust in themselves and the world around them. Trust is earned through time and behavior. If they experience betrayals, traumas or security violations, trust is quickly withdrawn. Lady Gaga, a victim of early trauma, describes trust toward perpetrators in her unique way, “Trust is like a mirror, you can fix it if it’s broken, but you can still see the crack in that mother fucker’s reflection.” “Once bitten, twice shy” is a more polite way to say the same thing, but it doesn’t quite address endured suffering as powerfully. On a positive note, when we outgrow our reliance on others, heal wounds and consistently manifest a satisfactory lifestyle, trust can return. So how does trust return during a crisis like covid-19?

On Tuesday May 5th according to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer spring update, which surveyed eleven countries in late April…trust in government globally is at an all-time high during the pandemic. At 65% this percentage made government the most trusted institution for the first time, ahead of businesses, non-profits and the media. Usually the least trusted of the four, the rapid shut downs eased safety concerns, while businesses were slow to react and partisan media cried, “fake news.” Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman said, “This is really like World War II. This is a different time than in 2001 after 9/11, and 2008 after the Great Recession. This is a global pandemic, it is across industries, it is having an economic and a health effect, and therefore government becomes the last bastion of trust.” In this survey Americans trusted their state versus federal government 66% to 46% respectively.

Trust operates like ballast stabilizing a ship during stormy seas. Successfully navigating through life’s difficult challenges deepens its calming effects. Many people make the mistake of trusting illusions that by definition are temporary in nature. Trust is the quality that gets us through the temporary earth storms of hardship and resistance. People who trust are more free, dynamic and powerful in the truest sense. They tend to thrive in the world, because all the forces of the universe often unite to help create a trusted dream. Trust invites support. Happiness and freedom are the result. The universe will always assist an honest and sincere man or woman who embodies integrity, love and trust. Trust the divine, others and yourself before addressing any additional ideals on your plate. Prioritize your needs and your soul’s guidance first. Trust the universe secondarily. No matter how difficult the obstacle, trust that the divine supports your efforts to manifest your dreams. Once the first two steps are accomplished, you can never go wrong if you trust in others as your third step.

During these trying times, many people are praying.  Unfortunately, many of the prayers people are  offering in the wake of the current events have no effect towards their desired intention. In order to pray properly one must know that we are an aspect of the divine ourselves. With that in mind prayers of supplication, adoring and begging for some desired event or outcome do not carry the punch people desire. Here are five steps for a powerful prayer.

  1. We need to focus our intention clearly in our mind, while our emotions send the prayer bursting out into the universe from our passionate heart. The universe hears all prayers. Visualize the desire approaching, gathering energy and momentum to arrive. Imagine the optimal outcome and feel the positive feelings of the desired event manifesting just in the way we want it. We aren’t manipulating events, we’re reprogramming our belief system and sending a message to the universe that we wish to hold a new vision or focused desire. Give up planning the method, timing and avenue of the desired manifestation. This allows the universe more room to work. The creative spark of the prayer can fit into more places never dreamt of in our mind and do more good this way.
  2. Calmly hold the knowing that the universe heard us. Let go of wanting to thank the divine before the prayer is answered since this smacks of manipulation. Surrender to the understanding that we may not know our soul’s plan or the soul path of others. A prayer can never override someone’s soul directive or a group soul agenda. They will always take priority over personal prayer.
  3. Trust that earth and the universe will respond to our prayer. Watching water boil doesn’t make it happen any quicker. Vigilance engenders fear and doubt which causes your result to move away. Fear sends the following message to the universe and can undo a prayer, “I now wish to manifest fear.” The universe will match the core energies of your heart, mind and soul in the moment we feel it. By preparing and expecting positive results from our prayer, our seeds of passion and intention grow quickly.
  4. The universe provides the sun, water, the pixie dust within synchronicity and the power of creative thought to mirror the creative impulse of our heart, mind and soul. The intensity and sincerity of our prayer is paramount. If we are confused, the universe will match our confusion and return more confusion to us as if our prayer was a request for more confusion.  The universe doesn’t react to our intention, it responds to our whole being. A powerful prayer is one of absolute, heartfelt, passionate desire. We need to let go of any attachment to the perfect way our prayer should be answered. Know that whatever happens will be appropriate spiritually even though our personality may think otherwise.Sending energy to others needs to be done carefully if they are ill or need help. Visualize the individual or group solving health issues, finding strength and achieving security. We are in effect sending them a vision to stimulate the health, wisdom and wholeness already inherent inside themselves. We are all perfect at the soul level. Pray for the individual’s personality or group to remember perfect health. Hold the vision of serenity and security located in their soul’s individual or collective template. When praying for individuals or groups in other parts of the world hold the image of infinite wisdom and compassion filling the hearts of others less wise or full of hatred. Do not assume they are empty and we or the universe must fill them up. Remember, they are divine beings experimenting in illusion just like everyone else. Earth is a free will planet and some individuals and groups experiment in pain and suffering to blow up rigid belief systems. Love requires we don’t take lessons away from others. If the painful lesson is removed prematurely, the soul will be drawn to manifest it again. There are no exceptions to this truth. This is why it is tricky to pray for another with our vision in mind as well as our pixie dusted outcome. All souls want peace, love and their security needs met. This is why connecting to these positive images are empowering prayers. There are individuals and groups with wonderful agendas but pain, suffering and pandemics are the tools to get the job done. Thus surrendering our personality’s sense of timing to another’s soul timing is critical. Prayers designed to steer them away from their agenda would dishonor them.
  5. When we pray for ourselves, we focus our awareness on good health, happiness and inner peace to remember these desired states. If this doesn’t work, it would be wise to meditate deeply to discern our soul’s spiritual agenda around the problem we want changed. We and/or humanity collectively have beliefs buried deep in our subconscious manifesting these undesirable series of events. If this is true our soul will assist the negative outcomes until we are motivated to revisit our core beliefs so we and/or humanity can change them.

Since this pandemic is so pervasive and affects all of us, this questionnaire may be helpful to explore trust more deeply to help everyone looks at possible solutions. The following set of questions come from the Trust Alliance Principles (TAP) Assessment from M.C. Bligh’s book, Leadership Today: Practices for Personal and Professional Performance (21–42), Springer International Publishing. I adapted some of the sentences to include personal relationships.

Which principles do you believe are a strength or weakness in your personal relationships, organization or workplace?
(Select as many as apply and consider whether it’s a srtrength or weakness for you)

  •  Truth – We are honest and humble – We put the truth ahead of personal or professional gain.
  •  Accountability – We hold one another accountable – we each take responsibility without regard to level or role.
  •  Purpose – We engage others and our stakeholders to build shared purpose – we avoid short terms “wins” that undermine future success.
  •  Integrity – We do what we say – our everyday actions and talk are consistent.
  •  Notice – We seek out and listen to diverse perspectives – every voice can matter.
  •  Talent – We reward moral character – we seek friendships, hire and promote in alignment with our purpose and values.
  •  Openness – We are open and ready to learn – we can be vulnerable and not have all the answers.
  •  Transparency – We reject hidden agendas – we are transparent wherever and whenever possible.
  •  Respect – We respect each other – we encourage questioning and create a “zero fear” environment where innovation can thrive.
  •  Understanding – We celebrate our successes – we acknowledge and examine our failures with empathy, and learn from both.
  •  Safety – We call out unethical behavior or corrupt practices – we make it safe to be honest with no fear of reprisal.
  •  Tracking – We define and scorecard our performance against our value and values – we measure both.