By Alethea Monk Howard
A vessel is a utensil for holding something, such as a vase, bowl, pot, kettle: a boat or a ship, a tub or duct containing or circulating a body fluid: a person thought of as being the receiver or repository of some spirit or influence. I want to explore the body as a vessel for which we hold a substance to circulate love throughout our inner body to the outer world where we live.
A candle is a vessel for light, as our body is a vessel of the Spirit. We can guide our Spirit into weakness or strength with the thoughts we choose to think. Positive, loving thoughts bring about a loving spirit; weak demeaning thoughts bring about a weak spirit. Our thoughts, word, and actions are all a part of us, which makes us who we are. We make a choice; we choose the consciousness of our vessel.
Thoughts are concepts that develop into experiences. When we get caught up in negative entanglement, we entertain unloving thoughts of self, creating negative experiences in our lives and those around us. The weaker vessel is a wall we build within, limiting us from our own greater good.
Everyone wants to love and be loved, wouldn’t you agree? Whether we agree or not, in the world today, love is much needed in our lives. One must first learn to love oneself before one can express love to others. Love is a process, so it takes time to develop in a truly meaningful way; self-love is a good place to start.
In my own words, self-love is loving oneself unconditionally, accepting, and being gentle with oneself. Learning from our mistakes and being aware that we are not perfect while working on becoming better in everything we do. I’m sure we all want to do and be better in this present moment, and our greatest challenge is that of love.
It has taken quite some time to appreciate myself for who I am. To become loving and nurturing toward myself and others. And, to be quite frank, I enjoy myself more; life has become more meaningful and joyful. I am sure we all have our challenges with self-love. We can start here and now to expand as time goes on, to be more loving from our hearts; this is what it takes to become real in Spirit.
As a people, self-love begins with our partners, and we teach our children to love. (Train a child while they are young) We must understand ourselves and the love within us before we can willfully give love for the betterment of our children.
When love is reciprocated between man and woman, there’s a glow of light, as of a candle, that can be seen and felt by all. We can lie down in green pastures, we can comfort each other, we can lead ourselves and our children beside the still waters, and we shall restore our souls.
We can become more of a vessel of love when we listen from our hearts, have patience, show mutual respect, and are joyous in our presence with each other. Love takes effort; it is worth a job well done.
With every ounce of love we give, there is another ounce waiting to be given and received. We need not be afraid to love, for love is one of the greatest challenges on earth that we all can conquer. We only need to open our hearts and let love flow through our minds and bodies and out into the universe.
We are a vessel of flowing love and light; we can learn to let love circulate in and around us to make our world a better place to live for ourselves and others. We as a people can do this!
Love one another unconditionally; when love is given freely without conditions, it can only strengthen and give greater purpose to a relationship. Love requires courage, faith, resiliency, and hope. And it doesn’t come to those who give up easily. To have a loving relationship, we must put aside our upbringing and what society rules and start looking at each other as humans, expecting no more of others than we expect of ourselves. Let us love as we wish to be loved in return.
When we understand ourselves, we can see that man and woman are no different except in form. We all have Spirit, emotions, and feelings. We all have experienced hurt and pain sometime in our lives. We all have our trials, tribulations, and different experiences in life. To see each other in this light, we become closer to the vessel of love, where we can reach out to one another in oneness, accepting, and understanding life and love as it truly is. We may handle our experiences differently than others; this is only because we are unique in our own way. When we truly look within ourselves and see what we think and feel and how we communicate with each other, we can truly see others as ourselves.
I’m speaking to men and women as a whole, as a people. Solely to hold a vision in your mind. That man and woman are the same, no one better or less than the other.
I see man and woman standing side by side in the center of the earth, holding hands, legs stretched apart, with their heads held high to the heavens, light transcending love in all directions of the planet. Letting love flow out into the universe, bringing harmony and order to the world for our children to live constructive, nurturing lives. This is the vessel of love.
Love is not always what we see. It is what we make, what we can create. We create our own inner world. We have the power to create harmony, love, and peace. Keeping ourselves conscious of the vessel within us, we are constantly in the flow of life and love.
We will not understand the vessel of love until we know and understand ourselves. Our weaknesses and strengths are all a part of us, which makes us unique. Our thoughts are our destiny. If we allow ourselves to love, life can be a wondrous and adventurous state of mind.
Alethea Howard, a writer, and poet, completed NRI Schools Non-fiction Writing Course. Author of poems, Can You See Me, Beyond the Past, Oh Spirit!, others published monthly in the Vitality (MediaNews Group) Paper, and published Article: MAN AND WOMAN, in the Body Mind Spirit Guide Magazine in October 2020. Her seemingly innate ability to articulate feelings and insights with such simplicity leaves the reader with a greater appreciation for life itself.
