There is a song entitled “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” It is a lovely tune. And yet, the truth of the matter is there is no lack of love in the world. If you take a breath, there is love. If you smile, there is love. If you allow yourself to enjoy being alive, there is love. There is a shortage of the truth of love and of people willing to bring it. The world does not need more love. What the world needs is people who are honoring the design of love. Love is so much more than romance, so much more than adoration. It is a reality to be known for what it is.

There is a place to go where we welcome the truth of love. It is a place in consciousness. In that place resides our guardian angel, that aspect of ourselves that protects the space so that the magic of Creation can occur. The guardian angel honors the way love works. That is its job. That awareness does not bow down to the distractions of mind and heart. Those capacities are a means of connecting us to the world consciously and creatively, not to boss us around.

I had an experience this morning that had me reviewing my own thinking. I realized that the brilliant things that have come to me through other people—people who had vision or passion or understanding beyond my own—came to me through the awareness I had at that time. Those ideas had to move through my best understanding at that time. There was and still is—hopefully, less so now—a space in which I lived filled with old concepts and ideas that I have understood at the best level I could. So, when a new idea came in, it had to sit amongst the furniture of the things that had become familiar and cozy.

I think of the word obedience. I was raised in a culture where obedience to the rules was a significant part of who I became as a person—probably to save my own hide, considering that in school or in my house you did not get away with much if you were not obedient to the people who created the rules. When I was young, if I came home and told my parents the teacher yelled at me, I would be disciplined again because the teacher was always right. So, my own thinking about whether or not something was right or wrong was not as developed as much as my ability to be obedient. My own experience of heart and mind was often not reflected on deeply. I hadn’t developed a way to use my heart and mind as a tool of perception when new information, new perspectives, or new vision came in. The habit was just to be obedient to the old, leaving out the vital questions: How does that feel, Jane? What do you think? Does that make sense? These inquiries seemed heretical.

When the guardian angel is acknowledged and allowed to do its work, these questions are welcomed. The guardian angel has the responsibility of protection and clarity of consciousness. If honored, the question could then likely arise, Says who? Not just to challenge or be unkind but in a spirit that says, Let us check this out. 

The Bible says that cherubim stood at the edge of the Garden of Eden with a flaming sword that turned every way. I see this as a symbolic representation of the guardian angel within you and who questions, Does this ring true? 

If it does, it will get past the flaming sword of truth. It becomes part of our awareness of reality. We have the choice to let the truth of love penetrate what is coming so that the garden that is on the other side of that sword is left pristine, and so that the things of love have a place to be without all the old thought and culture pushing it out or telling it to go elsewhere. The flaming sword of the cherubim is the representation of the truth of love. And who is wielding that sword if it is not you and me? It is our responsibility to think, perceive, and feel deeply so that what comes in and resides in the holy garden within us is a blessing.

At times there is a disregard of this guardian spirit, and a person allows something to come into consciousness that doesn’t belong. The mind decides it is a lovely bone to chew upon. This is different from utilizing mind and heart as a means of radiant perception and expression. It is distracting yourself from the garden that is within you. You have the opportunity to reside in this garden and invite the world into it. And if the mind is like a dog chewing on a bone about something that is in the past—something you can do nothing about now—then how can you maintain the heavenly space where your consciousness rightfully resides?

I’m not saying that there is no place for an internal conversation that allows new light to come in and lets the factors appearing in life to be bathed in love. I call this “ventilating upward.” I let what is in my heart and mind, which might be cluttering up the space of the garden, be spoken into the vastness of love that is larger than who I thought myself to be as a human being. I find it incredibly helpful to speak the things that need to clarify—to hear them in an open space. The universe already knows those things anyway. It knows what is at work in my mind. It is no secret what is going on there. Saying it out loud and offering it upward creates space in me for creative thinking—for my own mind to think differently, for my heart to be able to feel what is real. My mind and heart can then think and feel in a clear space, so that the factors presenting themselves have light shone upon them, perhaps to be shared with another person for the sake of the creative magic that is possible. If I do not ventilate upward on occasion to dissipate some of the structures in consciousness that no longer serve, then the old culture that resides in my mind and heart can take up the space that would otherwise welcome what is bright and beautiful, and new.

When we are present as the guardian angel, we are open. We let ourselves surrender while maintaining our ferocity for accuracy and for keeping the space of possibility clear for the things of life waiting to be born.

The guardian angel carries the flaming sword. This is us as the Sovereign Soul who chooses what we will entertain in the Body Temple. Once we have discovered that we have the choice as to how we are going to think, how we will live our lives, how we are going to express ourselves, we eagerly wield the flaming sword. There is no fear, for the sword serves the truth of love. We honor this authority. We embrace it.

I represent the current of love that animates this universe and this world. I am here to make sure that what I bring forth is of life, and life more abundant than what has already come before me, and address the things that are oriented in death.

There are things in consciousness that are familiar yet untrue. There is an expression, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” But the truth is that the devil you know can’t compare to the love you are in a position to birth. The love you are is powerful, creative, and a blessing. That “familiar devil” is causing you suffering. You have to ask yourself, Are my heart and mind serving me, or am I serving them and their limited understanding? Do I keep giving my life energy to the things that reside in my heart and mind, disturbing me? That are old and ready to pass away?

In this part of the world, it is Colorado at harvest time. The smell of autumn is in the air. When I go for a walk in the morning, I always have a plastic bag in my pocket for all the apples, peaches, and pears I find on the ground. And today I found some concord grapes. I do not mind taking them off the vine, because next week the raccoons will steal them all anyway! All that produce is the result of a creative cycle of fertilization, blossoming, and birth.

The true nature of our consciousness is fertility. Our consciousness is a place for a communion in which the seeds of life are sown in the fertile places of heart and mind. This is what allows heaven to be brought into the earth. When we share this precious opportunity with another, we bring forth the presence of heaven. We provide the means for the possible to manifest.

 It is a simple formula, but not if you are giving your mind and heart over to that juicy bone in the corner of the room that thinks it needs a lot of attention.

The guardian angel sees what is of the old culture and says, Give this to me. Just give it to me. I am here for you. It is not for my mind or heart to figure it out. And then, when we reside in the place where we know the authority of the guardian angel, we are in the world to say to another who is struggling, Give it to me. Give me your heavy heart, and free yourself. And then, we have the privilege of holding and lifting the circumstance. We can surround the person with the creative energy that encourages them to rise out of the old culture and into the glory of life.

The guardian angel shines the light on the place where new thought can come, and deep, loving feelings find a home. In the face of what is old, the guardian angel says, You have a choice.

Even when things are difficult, we have a choice. We can maintain an atmosphere of heaven within ourselves. We have the opportunity to place complexity on the altar of our consciousness, where the fire of love burns so that whatever is true remains and whatever is not needed is either lifted up or turned to ash that fertilizes the garden.

We serve this world when we are the guardian angel who keeps a clear space for the possible—the majestic, mysterious, magical things of life.

Let us be about that together. We ain’t seen nothin’ yet.