Today, I know that there is nothing to be afraid of because my Higher Power and the energy of love underpin all that is. At the very core of me is not darkness and fear, but light and love. Love can be frightening to let in, it brings up both fears of disappointment and of responsibility. I can be hurt if I open my heart, but that is just part of being alive. In a way, I become responsible for what I love. In this way hate lets me off the hook, though it is a natural human emotion, I can easily dismiss and distance what I hate. But love call allow me distance as well. Love can allow me to let people, places and things be. When I allow myself to be with the source of love and to recognize it as a fundamental mystery of creation, I sense that no matter what happens I will be all right; I am where I am meant to be and I can surrender my wish to control.

 I allow love to be the basis of my life.

 You must love all that God has created, both his entire world and each single tiny sand grain of it. Love each tiny leaf, each beam of sunshine. You must love the animals, love every plant. If you love all things, you will also attain the divine mystery that is in all things. For then your ability to perceive the truth will grow every day, and your mind will open itself to an all-embracing love.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky