Well, Al knows how much I like to get hung up on semantics, but doesn't that barrier make Divine Love conditional? Not on God's part in terms of willingness to give, but on the ability of the person to be able to receive it?In May 2013 a reporter for TVNZ quotes this about [some other] teachings: "Jesus teaches that God’s divine love is the best thing you’ll ever experience - and it’s available to everyone. However you’re not going to tap into it unless you can first clear your 'soul' of anger, fear and pain."
And this is the basis of our major objection to these teachings. They are making Father’s unconditional Love conditional ... We know from personal experience that there is only one barrier, an inability to express natural love by the human.
Geoff refers to this barrier on a 2012 How to Physically Experience Divine Love post on his forum, saying:
I don't know that there are a lot of people who are completely incapable of expressing natural love or loving themselves. But some of us have more baggage than others in that space, and perhaps any issues are related more to fear and less to ability. I bet that having had your own child and/or a loving relationship with a spouse/partner is a huge help in terms of opening that heart/love space ... missing one or both may be a clue that some other work may be prudent here as one prays for Divine Love.Are there any blockages? Yes an inability to love yourself means you can't love God. The solution there is to pray to solve that problem first. The more you can love, the greater your ability to FEEL this Love. But the Love itself will solve all of the problems you might have, if you can just get started on a trickle. Over the years it will become a torrent of Love.
I had asked previously about using things like reiki, since it seems to me that this kind of thing has energetic or material underpinnings in the body ... largely because it's may well be due to some kind of early trauma, whether of physical or psychological origin. But I suppose that asking for help from God via prayer is always going to be the fastest, most practical solution?
Anyways, in the post I didn't link to, Geoff referred to this great message from Augustine on releasing soul wounds:
My latest practice is to add to my daily prayer a slightly modified version of the great commandment I read somewhere else:[God's] Love displaces these blockages, hurts, wounds, the imprinting of experiences from your path that are within the soul. ... So these conditions, these thoughts, these emotions, rise up into your consciousness, and when one truly acknowledges these things, and does so in love, there is a release to God, and often a feeling of relief as another burden leaves your being.
Just wish I had realized the importance of this long ago. But I guess that's part of the journey!Love God and love what God loves: everything, including you.