Aloha.
I'm Reverend Cindy Palos and I wanted to talk about something that I think sometimes we all might face.
It's a very difficult subject.
It's about guilt.
Now this came up because I have a friend who has a son with multiple sclerosis and she was trying to deal with it all of her life and it was very hard because actually she had two twin sons.
And she was trying to help take care of all the different expenses and things that happen when you have this situation that comes up.
She even started a non-profit organization.
She just had contacted me and was in tears and let me know that her son,
One of her sons,
The twin sons,
Passed away.
And I tried to talk to her about how life goes on and spirit,
But we talked for a while about how life goes on after death and it's easier actually for someone who's had a very difficult life to leave the body and move on and she knows all of this.
But she said,
I feel so guilty.
And it made me really think that this is something important to discuss.
There's times in our life no matter how much we try that sometimes we will feel we could have done more.
And I think the people who are really good people sometimes have a harder time because they think they could do more.
They think that they should have tried harder.
It's a very hard thing feeling this guilty.
And we all I think can go through feeling guilty.
And it's really sad when it happens when someone dies.
I can't help but think of what it must be like for someone who has a child that commits suicide.
How difficult that must be.
Especially if they felt that they could have done something more,
You know,
Maybe stopped it or recognized the signs.
It can go so deep.
It can actually consume you.
I feel my heart goes out to anyone that has lost a child.
And it can be even more than that.
There's things in our lives that we set high standards for and we often don't make the mark of what we do want to do.
And then maybe even feeling guilty about not sticking to your diet or maybe even feel guilty about not doing more for someone.
But,
Oh gosh,
Alan Watts said,
No work of or love will flourish out of guilt,
Fear or hollowness of heart.
Just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.
Now that brings up an interesting point.
I've always liked Alan Watts.
If you are living in the now,
If you really are living in the now,
Perhaps you won't feel so guilty.
If you're just in this moment,
Just here and now in this moment,
Then you won't be worrying about what happened and just consumed by you could have or might have or this or that.
Which really gets you absolutely nowhere.
Being consumed by what ifs or could I have are interesting things that sometimes you can actually go beyond if you do stay in the moment.
And go to a higher place inside where you can look at what you're doing and what you're putting yourself through in a higher perspective.
There's another quote here.
It says,
Guilt isn't always a rational thing.
And that is the truth.
We may know something in our mind,
But guilt is not rational.
Guilt is a weight that will crush you whether you deserve it or not.
So my beloved friends,
If you have done something you think you need to make amends for that you can change,
You can make a plan of action and you can follow that plan as best you might.
But if something has occurred in your life that you cannot change,
That has already happened,
That is already over,
Such as someone who's passed on and you thought maybe this or maybe that or I could have,
I could have or what if.
All of that really needs to be put to rest.
And you know that comes down to a couple of really important keys.
One of the keys is forgiving yourself.
Now you may not have even done anything wrong,
But if you perceive that you did,
Then you have to really go deep inside you and allow yourself to let it go.
You have to really turn it over to a higher resource,
To God.
And you really need to go to that place inside where you know you can forgive yourself,
Where you can be forgiven,
Where you can if you need to make amends.
You can make amends.
This life,
This life my friend,
Is about learning.
And we are often these days on a fast track to try to learn as much as we can learn as quickly as we can learn it because things are moving rather fast.
So it's really important that if we have some heavy stuff that's put on our plate,
That we have to go to that place where we can deal with it,
To let it go,
To learn the lessons we needed to learn from that experience.
Probably there was some karma involved.
And then go to that place where you really can love yourself enough to forgive yourself,
To forgive yourself as God forgives you,
To have that unconditional love for yourself that God has for you,
To understand that this is part of life,
This is part of learning,
And that really with that releasing of that guilt you are not going to do anything but feel better.
That guilt,
That burden isn't going to make anything right.
And it really needs to be released.
I know there's the ho'onoponopono practice and it goes deeper than some of the ways people have been talking about it,
But it comes down to really allowing yourself to love yourself,
To tell yourself you're sorry,
To forgive yourself and to say thank you,
I love you.
It can be done for yourself and it can be done for another person.
That's the simplified version.
The deeper version is really to go deep,
Deep,
Deep,
Deep,
Deep inside yourself to where that pain is coming from and to allow yourself to experience it and to see it for what it is,
To let it go and to release it and to take it and put it in a chalice or whatever you might want to have that would be a place where you can free it and let it go and release it up to the highest resource for your good and for the good of anyone else involved.
Your guilt doesn't do any good if you are just feeling it and letting it consume you.
If you need to learn from it,
You can learn from it.
Or like so many have done.
And my friend,
You can start a non-profit.
You can do something to remember someone that has been really hurt and that you feel you might have hurt by not doing enough.
And you can learn from others who are in grief and who are really,
Really truly hurting by forming groups and by going to help others who are going through what you are going through,
My friend.
Now let's go into a meditation on this.
Let's just really go deep into ourselves.
First of all,
Just create a space that is beautiful and safe and protected.
Allow yourself to breathe in,
Breathing wonderful,
Wonderful breaths of white light in.
And allowing yourself to pause and hold that breath and allow yourself to release and let it go.
Let it flow through all of you.
Just let it go and feel that energy of letting it go,
Releasing anything tight that you might have been holding onto in your body.
Simply breathing in that wonderful,
Pure energy of unconditional love now.
Breathe it in and feel it and allow it to be present,
Fully present in your heart and in your soul and in your very being.
And allow yourself to let it go through your entire energy field as you let it go.
And now put a protective field of white light to protect any energy that might be there wandering around.
Just put a wonderful armor of light going way,
Way,
Way up,
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up above you and through you and down your chakras and out,
Out,
Out through your legs,
Your thighs,
Your feet and out.
And out either side of you,
In front of you and behind you.
And now feel that you are in a beautiful,
Protective space,
Totally encased in light and love.
And go deeper still into your heart of hearts,
Knowing that you're in a beautiful space where you can allow yourself to feel what's there.
And allow yourself to go to that space in your heart that may need some healing.
And just know that you are surrounded with the light and love that can heal what's in your heart,
My friend.
Allow it to come into your heart.
See the rays of radiant light reaching deep,
Deep,
Deep into your heart.
And let it take out any pain and let it by light remove the darkness and allow it to blossom and grow and be so full of that love that you are.
And just be here in this brilliant energy of that love in your heart and just know that you are alright.
You are okay.
You can do what you need to do to heal yourself.
You can learn to forgive yourself.
You can choose to overcome this guilt and this pain and anything that would hold you down from being who you truly are.
You are a brilliant child of light and love.
You are a beloved one that is not supposed to feel the pain and sorrow and suffering.
Go to that place deeper still within your soul to allow yourself to experience this eternal energy of your soul right now.
Feel how beautiful your soul is.
Allow your soul to come to you with its presence and feel how your soul is there to guide you on this journey to release anything inside you that needs to be released so you can be free of this anchor,
This pain that is drawing you down.
Just trust in this energy of your heart,
Of heart,
Your soul and allow that soul to blossom and bring you the healing energy that you need.
And now from this point ask your beautiful soul to bring you the power to release and let go,
To forgive yourself as you know you should forgive yourself.
Forgive yourself for anything that may have been perceived as mistakes you made and understand that was part of the lessons of this learning process.
Just let it go and allow yourself to feel whole,
To feel beautiful,
To feel healed.
Release any of that thing that might be feeling that it needs to be cleared right now with a breath in.
Breathe in that power from your soul and release and let go of any of that energy that is there that needs to be released.
Ah,
Feel good,
Feel healed,
Feel forgiven.
Allow yourself to really feel and believe and absorb and be in this place where you are free,
Where you are whole,
Where you are able to do what you came here to do without the blocks,
Without the fear,
Without the guilt,
Without the darkness.
You are here to do so much good in this world my friend.
Allow yourself to give yourself a big hug right now and fill yourself full of the energy you need from that beautiful hug.
Breathe it in,
Absorb it.
Now just let go.
Now if there is anything that might have come to you,
Please allow yourself to write down anything you thought of,
Any messages,
Anything that you need.
That might have come to you that you need to look at it from that objective point of view when you write it down.
Know that you can always go back to this place and feel safe and feel good and feel loved to be who you truly are.
God bless you.
I love you always.
