Allowing Love - A Retelling Of The Prodigal Child Metaphor

And I invite you to take a couple of deep breaths with me.

And we always start with breathing in because it's a step we can take in the direction of disengaging from the mind disengaging from thought.

We've placed so much importance on thinking and it runs so much of our lives.

And the moment that we begin to step back from that and consider the other available resources that we have our life changes.

So we'll start with following the breath,

Just breathing in and following that into our bodies and beginning to recognize that we are way more than we know.

And we find this rhythm as we breathe,

Just in and out connecting to each other and most importantly connecting to ourselves.

My main focus whenever I communicate to you all is to support the recognition of the connection to yourself.

You have everything you need.

You are everything you've been looking for.

And you are the source of love on this planet.

And I'm a practical person at times.

I don't always want to think of like,

You know,

A sentence saying,

You know love is always there.

That sentence isn't enough.

It has to have truth to it.

And that truth comes to you through your own connection.

Because you inherently know truth when you hear it.

You inherently know truth when you feel it.

And when you recognize you are that.

So I always take it to a practical place.

So the practical of love is always available.

Today I was,

Seems like I do this a lot when I'm driving.

I was driving and I was thinking,

You know,

Love is always present,

Always there.

But there wasn't anything particularly happening that was reflective of that.

So I just opened myself to feeling and sensing and breathing in.

And immediately there was love.

And even if the love that was there was just me being willing to share it,

That was enough.

But yet it was more.

And love is gentle,

Breathing in,

And feeling the connection to your own being.

Because if any one of you are willing to love at any moment,

Love is present.

And as you open your eyes and look around,

You're going to see it.

But it may look different than you anticipated.

There were two people across the street and on either sides of the intersection.

And both of them were homeless.

And yet they looked across at each other and waved as they recognized one another.

And I recognized that love in them.

Instantly available.

So let's breathe in together.

And what will you allow?

What love will you allow for you tonight?

It's weird to take in the awareness that we don't have to wait to be given love.

That we can introduce it to the environment that we're in.

And even that moment of introduction,

We are met and surrounded with a love that is absolutely present at all times.

And so allowing that into our beings.

It's a choice.

It's a remembrance.

It's a connection to what is there.

And a connection to who you are.

So as we follow the breath through our inhale through the nose,

And then it taking us into our hearts and into that space,

That space that you are.

That space that is present so loudly at the end of the exhale.

Even if you didn't take in another breath,

You're there,

Present and aware.

And as we become comfortable with this space,

Allowing our bodies to rest in the space that we're creating.

See this space not only fills your heart and your body,

It extends beyond you.

It embraces you and holds you.

And because you are the universe,

Present,

Alive,

Beyond the body,

Beyond the breath,

And because you are loving,

That's the guarantee that the universe is loving.

See you're the ace in the card game.

If you ever thought that perhaps the universe wasn't loving,

Then you have not acknowledged the loving being that you are.

And because you are present here on this planet,

We are assured that the universe is loving.

And I don't know if you've taken the time to really sit with that,

So let's do that together.

Holding that space by breathing in and being aware that we are that space.

That space that embraces your body,

That embraces your mind,

The mind that tells itself stories.

You can love that mind even when it speaks ill of you,

Because you have that level of love.

And that space not only loves your body and your mind and your dreams and your thoughts,

Whether you think them good or bad,

It loves all of you.

And no part of you has to hide from this space,

From this love.

And you begin to recognize that that love is constant,

Vibrating constantly through you in this field.

And that your body is open at all times to receiving that love,

Relaxing into it.

And the only place that tends to resist it or disbelieve it or question it is the thinking mind.

But your legs don't question it.

Your torso doesn't question it.

Your heart doesn't question it.

It just relaxes and deepens.

And you begin to feel yourself breathing in and out,

But from a space that doesn't need to breathe in or out.

You notice the body requires the function of air.

But there's a part of you that's just aware.

Aware of you breathing in and out.

Aware of your body.

And aware of the love that you are.

It is the love that you are.

It is the love that is ever-present at all times in full support of you.

Not judging you.

Simply loving.

It's so quiet there.

And it's like just holding that space,

Allowing your mind to be like a playground where you hear the thoughts,

Some laughing,

Some playing,

Some maybe pushing and shoving other kids on the playground.

And the mind goes about imagining in this being that you are simply present to all that.

But present also to the body and present also to the weather.

It's taking it all in,

But taking nothing too seriously.

And as it looks on what actually is happening in front of you,

And even the thoughts that are running through the mind,

It loves.

Loves everything it sees.

No matter what it sees.

Just loves.

And it recognizes the presence of love that abounds in the environment that it's in.

And yet it is that environment too.

Recognizing itself in every flower.

Recognizing the unified field of love in every existence around it.

And even as conflicts may arise,

It can hold that space even during that discussion.

It can hold its ground and yet not pull the ground out from beneath another.

And as you hold this connected space and have the conversations that you need,

You're supportive of not only yourself,

But the love for everyone in that environment.

I think about the story of the prodigal son.

I think probably most of us are familiar with it,

But I'll give us a mini version of it.

So there was this father,

And he had two sons.

It could have been a mother and two daughters.

Doesn't matter.

A parent that had two children.

And the one child was ready to go out,

Do something different.

So they ask for all of their inheritance.

And as I tell you this story,

Just keep breathing into the space that you are.

So this one child was like,

I want everything I've got.

I'm going to go out and do my own thing now.

And the other sibling watched this occur and thought,

What the heck,

You know?

Well,

Good riddance,

You know?

I'm going to toe the line.

I'm going to be a very good boy-girl because I'm playing the long game.

And I'm going to see,

Like,

That in the future,

Like,

You take off with whatever now,

But I'm going to stay here and serve my parents and serve the community and I'm going to be a strong influence here and later on I'll get all of it.

And he watched or she watched the other sibling leave.

Now I think about this metaphor,

The thing that's always kind of thrown me is like how the other one went out and partied and lived it up.

And I'm just wondering,

Like,

How far do you have to ride a camel to get to the next party in some of these places,

You know?

It's like a different time frame,

But we'll go with it.

We'll modernize it,

You know?

So they get in the car and they drive.

And they party it up and they live it up and they get the best car.

They're driving down the street and people are noticing them.

They get friends,

You know,

Because they get money.

And they're just having a blast.

They're living it up.

Drinking,

Eating out every night,

Living in the nicest hotels,

Going to Dubai,

Flying everywhere else,

Going to France.

And then the money runs out and the friends go away.

And just keep breathing in as you listen to this story.

And notice the playground in your own mind and see where these two siblings are and their experiences are.

And all the thoughts that come up around it.

You know,

The one sibling's back home and they're clicking on Facebook and they're like,

Oh my God,

Look at them.

Look at them blowing their money.

Look at that.

They're wasting everything Dad gave them.

But I'm the good one.

I'm still here.

I'm going to post about my,

Here's how I helped make dinner with Mom last night.

Here's all the good things I'm doing.

I'm going to post about that.

So they're both,

You know,

Just going at it.

Their own lives.

And we all of a sudden will notice like our own commentary.

So out on this playground,

As we're watching this story,

But holding the space of love in ourselves,

We notice our thoughts have comments.

Which kid do we already like better?

Which one's the better child?

Who's doing it right?

Do I want to play the long game?

Or do I want to just enjoy everything I can right now?

I don't know how long I'm going to live.

I'm going to live it up.

And then there's thinking about the parent,

You know.

Watching.

Seeing both kids.

Heartbreaking for the one.

But is the heartbreaking for the other?

The one playing the long game.

Do they really feel the attention of that other child?

Or do they know their kid's playing the long game?

The one out having a good time runs out of money.

Finds himself on the street.

They're doing whatever they got to do to make money.

To get food.

They're not posting to Facebook anymore.

Nobody wants to see this.

They're embarrassed.

They feel foolish.

And after a period of time and enough hard times,

They realize,

You know what?

I'd be better off going back home.

I'm not going to be all,

You know,

I know I've squandered everything.

I'm going to go back home.

I'm going to have to face my other sibling who's going to say all kinds of things about me.

I'm going to go back home and just say,

Hey,

You know,

Can I work on the farm?

And just,

You know,

Help out in whatever way.

And I'll sleep in the barn.

I don't have to sleep in the house.

But I need to straighten my life out.

So,

They come back home.

From a distance,

The parent sees them.

And they grab the first person closest to them.

They've got cold chills all over their body.

And they're like,

Look who I see coming.

Look who I see coming.

Go get the pig and the calf and the whatever else we're going to have.

The biggest pig picking tonight.

Somebody start fixing the food,

The cakes.

Put it out there on Facebook.

We're having a huge party.

Everybody come over to my house.

And we're going to have hayride.

We're going to do it all up.

The biggest thing.

Get the band.

Get the locals of school to come by.

We're going to play.

You know,

Whatever it takes.

And they're just thrilled.

They're just living it up.

They're planning this party.

And they just see their child from a distance coming back.

And they don't care what that child is wearing.

They don't care what they've had to do or seen or been through.

They just love.

But the other sibling comes out.

Instantly pissed.

Instantly.

What the heck?

It's probably more of my inheritance being spent on this jerk.

They've been out living it up.

And now dad's throwing them a party.

Or mom's throwing them a party.

That's more of my inheritance going out there.

To pay for this jerk.

And I'm the one who's been home every night.

Doing the right things.

Saying the right things.

Being the right person.

And you can just imagine everything that's going on.

You go in,

You know,

The good sibling goes in,

Tells their spouse,

Can you believe this?

We're going to have a big party.

I don't even know if I can go.

I can't stand the sight of them.

You've seen their stuff on Facebook.

So all of those thoughts are coming up.

All those ways of being.

Which one is the better child?

And we've always thought of this,

You know,

And the story doesn't go on past the fact that the family was celebrating.

Or at least part of the family was celebrating.

And the parents were just so excited the child was back.

They didn't care.

And they,

You know,

They just lived it.

This is wonderful.

And no,

You don't have to go out there and live in the barn.

You can,

You know,

Have your old room back,

You know,

Etc.

But we're left with how much the parent loved the child.

We're not left with the rest of the story.

About what happened between the two siblings.

How did it pan out?

And we think about that as two different individuals and a parent.

But in actuality,

It was just the playground of one mind.

It's a story of the conflict within ourselves.

So there's this being that's within ourselves that loves us unconditionally.

That's you.

And then the siblings are just the conflicts that we run in our mind.

How many times have we wanted to do something but then stopped ourselves?

Because we were afraid we wouldn't be loved.

How many times are we playing the long game?

Doing the right things to obtain love?

And how many times are we so afraid that we're not going to get it?

That we'll take all we have to try to buy it from others?

The story isn't of a family,

But it's the story of the conflict of our own being.

What will we do to get love?

And the parent in that story,

That loving parent,

Loves all the stories in the mind.

It loves the one playing the long game.

It loves the one who was so afraid that they blew it all just to feel good right now.

Doesn't judge either one.

Loves them both just as much.

At any point,

The one who was playing the long game could have said,

I've been playing this long game and doing all the right things,

But I don't feel it.

I'm just hoping I'll get it in the end.

I'm hoping that I'll know I was loved in the end.

And I'll feel good because I earned it.

I really suffered for that.

The other one lived it up and suffered earlier.

And through the suffering realized,

You know,

Had a change and came back.

Doesn't matter which sibling you're playing.

It could have been instant love.

Because that love is always present.

And the only thing that puts a barrier between ourselves and feeling that love is the mind games we're playing.

I gotta do this for it.

I gotta look good.

I gotta be in shape.

I gotta say the right things.

I gotta bring home a certain amount of money.

I gotta be a good girl.

I gotta be a good boy.

Or maybe you decide,

Screw all that.

I'm tired of being good.

I'll take what's mine and go for it.

But all of it attempts to fill a void because we think there's something between us and that love.

And breathing in again into that spaciousness that has room for that entire playground of stories.

Love in every story.

Doesn't matter which one you're running.

You're loved by you as the universe.

And the universe understands that life and society has given you many stories that say you're not lovable unless you're not valuable without.

And none of that's true.

And the instant that you shift your focus from that story and let go of the things that you think you need to do to be loved and you shift to the being that you are that you can touch through your own conscious awareness then you're not begging,

Pleading for love.

You're not playing a long game or a short game.

You're being loved by you.

And letting go when the mind,

When those that believe the story,

When you're one of these siblings and you believe this story so strongly and someone says let that go.

Hard to let go.

How do you let go?

So true.

It's like solid in you.

It's like a belief.

You have to shift the perspective.

So you shift out of those roles through breathing in.

Maybe you don't know how to get there yet and that's okay because the intention is what's going to take you there.

The intention to follow the breath into that space.

And even though it may be your ego or one of the siblings helping you breathe in that space that you are embraces you from a distance.

It looks out there and says,

Well they hadn't let go of it.

Yep,

They've blown it a bunch of times.

Yeah,

They feel so bad.

They think they can't get here.

It embraces you from the distance.

It sees you coming a mile away.

You feel you coming a mile away.

And you recognize you from miles off.

And you start preparing.

The being that you are is preparing for you to turn around and see you.

It's telling everybody,

Get the fatted calf,

Get the,

Get the pig burger,

Start the party,

They're coming.

I mean they're still falling down out there.

They're walking down that dirt road and they're falling and they're tripping and they don't quite have it right and they think they hadn't got it.

And they're like trying to breathe in and get here.

And I see you coming.

And I'm going to meet you more than halfway there.

That's you.

That spaciousness that you're breathing into has been waiting for you.

And it's not going to let you trip and fall and not make it.

If you trip,

It starts running.

And it's going to catch up to you.

And it's going to embrace you.

And it's going to feel you.

And if it has to,

It'll carry you on in.

All you have to do is allow,

To decide to allow.

If you don't know how to allow yet,

That's okay.

All you got to do is decide,

I'm coming home to me.

And you will meet you there.

And you'll pull you in.

And if you fall,

You'll grab you and carry you in.

Because that's the strength of the love that you are.

All that is we need to do is decide.

And breathe into that space.

And that space moves out with such power.

And that space sees all the thoughts and all the places that is tripping up.

All the places that won't allow you to be loved.

And it starts loving,

You start loving yourself from the inside,

From that space.

And slowly your thoughts begin to change.

And you may not even know why.

Because that space,

You are going to love you.

And you're going to love the thoughts that don't know how to let go.

And you're going to love the spaces that don't want to allow you to have love,

Or are so afraid that they're not going to get it right.

And it's going to start,

You're going to start kissing you from the inside.

Little smooches.

It's okay.

And your mind's going to shift.

And you don't have to worry about it.

Because it's the decision that has spawned simply from following the breath into your heart space.

If you choose to consciously follow one breath into that space with the intent of loving you,

That's all it takes to ignite that space's embrace of you.

So let's breathe in together.

Let's begin to dissolve any of the veils that come up between us and love.

And you're going to be successful.

You don't have to worry.

Because the success was predetermined.

Because you chose to be here and to love.

And love never fails.

Not the love that you are.

Not that deep,

Vast,

Unconditionally loving space.

We've all been let down by friends or family.

And we thought we were being loved.

And something happened.

And that's not the kind of love that I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the being that you are.

That came here to express on this planet as love.

And to teach its own self that it's lovable.

To teach any of the fractured parts of it that it's lovable.

And that kind of love comes from the space within you that's connected to all that is.

That's watched hundreds of thousands of years go by.

And loves.

And loves.

So rest in each breath you take that you're coming home to love.

And every time your mind says,

Well,

I can't be here.

I'm not good enough.

Remember this space.

And just breathe in to your own embrace.

Your own loving connection and being that's ready to run to you and love you as you are.

And when we look at that story of the prodigal child,

Even though we don't have an ending,

We can love from this space.

And we know the ending is that everyone was loved.

Because you're not going to lose one part of you.

And you're going to love all parts of you so deeply and equally.

And can you feel the excitement in your own body of the truth of that no matter which character you are.

You have the capacity to love all of you.

And every time you breathe in feel the embrace of that space.

Open your arms and just reach out for it.

And let it bowl you over.

Who doesn't want to be tackled by love?

I do.

Come and get me.

And oh my god,

You love you.

I mean,

Just imagine.

And you don't have to imagine.

Because you can breathe in right now and feel it.

Let it give you chills.

Let it express to you ever how it expresses so that your body knows you love you.

Every breath in is an embrace.

Once you know,

You know.

And even even when we're crying and we're snot-nosed and we stop for just a second and maybe we can only breathe through one nostril because the other one's clogged with tears.

It's still going to work.

And we may have to focus on it a few times.

It's okay.

The prodigal son or daughter didn't make it home the first day.

They had to breathe in several times before they got all the way there.

But the love of the parent which you are to you never wavered.

And they felt every breath.

Everything you've ever done has been a step in the direction of coming to love you.

Regret nothing and embrace it all.

And allow yourself to be loved when you're dirty and disheveled embarrassed and crawling your way back.

And allow yourself to be loved when you've played the long game and done all the right things and gave up so much.

Neither story is better than the other.

And both are beautiful if it takes you home.

No story is ugly when they all get you home.

And you will look at others no matter what their story looks like.

And know they're on their way home.

And you'll encourage them not to worry.

Because when their own being sees them coming from a distance they're gonna be loved.

I just hear Jennifer Hudson singing in the back Y'all are gonna love me!

And every story works out with a huge embrace at the end.

It doesn't matter which character we are the good or the bad.

Don't you just love running to meet you on that road?

Can't you just feel the excitement?

Even if you're not a good runner.

Doesn't matter.

Can't you feel you coming?

Nothing's gonna get in your way.

And nothing's stronger than that.

You can just feel it.

Knocking down all the barriers.

Doesn't matter who came up between you and you.

You'll just run right through them.

And what's really true is we're all cheering for each other on the sides.

I see you running to you and I'm hanging out over the fence screaming and yelling,

Go!

Get it!

Because I want it for you as much as I want it for me,

As much as I want it for all of us.

And you do too.

And we're all gonna make it.

We're all gonna have that beautiful run to an embrace.