The way to receive the gift of happiness is to make a habit of living a Spirit-guided life. To do this we must recognize that the mind, not the body, is the decision maker. Our current perception shows us a fragmented world of fear and rage. So when confronted with a decision it is helpful for us to step back and ask, “What is it for?” Then we can choose the Spirit’s purpose of forgiveness or undoing. We can choose to serve something bigger than ourself. David and Frances continue on to tell enlightening parables about: opening to love, our one responsibility, Siddhartha and the movie, Sully.
“Gifts are very different that are inspired by the Spirit, in the sense that they come from Light, they come from Divinity, and they’re strengthened by being given away. That again, contrasts with the world. When you give a gift on the horizontal plane, the receiver of the gift has the gift, the giver of the gift does not. If you give somebody a million dollars, the receiver gets the million, and you lose the million. Even in terms of dividing it, saying, “Let’s go halves, I’ll split the bill with you.” You then have half the amount of money, you give the other half away… Giving as God gives has nothing to do with reciprocity, and nothing to do with getting… and nothing to do with dividing, and nothing to do with loss.”
“When we talk of the gift of happiness.. it takes such devotion. We have to be like mighty companions for each other, to help cheer each other on and reinforce this new direction. Because the ego is always trying to lure the mind back to the horizontal plane and say, “Don’t get too joyful and too happy, because that’s impractical.” People will tell you, “You can’t be happy all the time. That’s impossible.” Jesus is saying, “No, that’s not impossible, it’s inevitable.” You have to keep the faith to keep moving in that direction.”
This recording took place at A Gift of Happiness Week-Long Retreat (David Hoffmeister and Frances Xu – Morning Session), Wilbetree House, Mudgee, Australia (November 5, 2016)