Excerpts from Peace and Forgiveness Listen to the Author talk about Peace and Forgiveness (60 seconds). ... Yes. We are ultimately all the same; different shapes and forms of matter, but all creatures of the energy that is everywhere. Everything comes from this great energy of the Universe. It is either god, or perhaps comes from god … ... What I do know, is that there is a pervasive and all powerful energy that is the force of the Universe, our life source. I see it everywhere; in my friends, in all people, in butterflies and mice and the eagles of the sky. It's in plants and over the hills, in a snowstorm and a drought. It sparkles in the sky and seems to rest at night … ... The Universe is at peace because all these things happen and the Universe goes on. the Universe does not judge what happens; the energy does not judge. There is no good or evil in the Universe, only what is. A snowstorm is not good; an avalanche is not bad. An aardvark is not good or bad; an oak tree is not evil, and neither is a grizzly bear. Is it evil when a larger gecko eats a small one, or a sin if a female black widow spider devours her mate? Of course not. Only humans judge in terms like good or evil, and the concepts simply have no meaning outside of our frame of reference. Good and evil do not independently exist, and there is no sin except in our minds…

... The basic state of the Universe, the energy, is peace. Peace is the essence of the Universe. The energy that is god and is us is peace. Pure peace knows no fear, or anger, or jealousy, or pain, or sin. Because we are energy - at our most basic level we are energy - we also are peace. When you take everything else away, we are energy, we are peace, we are the Universe … ... If you had only one more day to live, wouldn't that day be very special? If a rose blooms, isn't that flower its own perfection? That flower will never be again. It may not be flawless, but the fact that it is, means that it has attained its own perfection. If something only existed for one minute, that one minute would be that thing's perfection, right? ... We are each of us only alive for a short time, a finite period. We begin as nothing, our body is infused with life, with the energy, and then we die and are no more. Then, isn't this life our perfection? ... When we love, we're not afraid. When we act with the Universe, we are creative and strong. When we let the energy flow through us and deeply understand that we are peace and love and perfection, then we can achieve whatever we want, because we will only want love … ... What's important is to live and learn, and hopefully come to understand the true nature of the Universe so that we can achieve harmony and peace for ourselves and our world. If we choose to live in accordance with love based acts and emotions, we can have peace … ... Fear is the absence of peace. If we had peace, we would have nothing to fear, for we would have the divine love of the Universe and we would know that nothing truly could keep us from peace … ... When we forgive someone, it is not that complicated. We simply let go. The forgiveness of which I speak is not forgiveness of something wrong, bad, or immoral, although that is the connotation many understand. This forgiveness is just releasing something that happened in the past or something that we fear of the future … ... When you do not forgive, when you do not let go, you are the one who bears the fear and the fear based emotions. You are the one who remains in pain and suffers. The anger, or hate, or jealousy, or victimization remains with you. These things arise from fear, and the fear persists if you do not forgive, if you do not let go … ... The greatest lesson in forgiveness is so misunderstood. They said he said, whatever is loosed in heaven is loosed on earth, and whatever is bound in heaven is bound on earth. This simply means that, if you let it go, it is gone. If you do not let it go, it is bound to you … ... No one ever can deprive you of the opportunity to have peace of mind, the ultimate and most enduring happiness. Some situations make it very difficult to be happy, no question; but that's where it is so very important to forgive. You will never be alone, you cannot be abandoned, no one ever leaves in truth, because they are the same as you, connected to and with you, because you are peace and love and perfection and the Universe never leaves you … ... Once you recognize that your depression is based on the fact that you have fears, you can address them and then forgive yourself for them. It may be hard to do. You must be able to inquire deeply into your feelings and to find out what it is that you're really afraid of. My guess; you're afraid of not being loved or having love. Know that we all have fears, but that you can overcome them and have peace of mind, love, and be happy and satisfied. The Universe will provide exactly what you need when you need it. So, let go of your fears and have peace … ... It is true that eventually all anger and fear and hate and injustice, and every problem there ever was or will be, will be forgiven. Everything passes. Even things you were mad about yesterday are gone, much less things you were angry about as a child. Everything is ultimately forgiven and released. Why be a hold-out to your own destiny? ... Peace based systems engender creativity. Governments allowing freedoms of speech and expression and thought and association and religion flow with the love ...