28 September 2010

What Do You Think Is Going To Happen?

 

          What you put off to do today you will have to do tomorrow, so why do you not start now and not leave yourself with a build up of accumulating matters left undone?  You can never leave matters unaddressed, so start now to enjoy the freedom of being up to date.

 

          So many people pass from this world believing that all their troubles are over and that they will be free of their responsibilities, but I can assure you that this is not so.  Unfinished business has to be brought out in the open and addressed.

 

          Nothing is hid!  Nothing can be swept under the carpet and everything is open for others to see you as you truly are, so do not think that because you can get away with bad behaviour here on this earth plane that you are not found out and made accountable in the next phase of existence.

 

          Life is continuous.  Has nobody told you?  Do you really think that the Creator in his love for you sent you here to experience the negativity and material aspects of earthly life just so that you could die and be used as dust in a cemetery of stones and inscriptions?

 

          You were brought here in good faith to see how you coped with earthly life and to allow you to learn from the experiences that have been presented to you.  Nothing can be hidden.  You carry your own agenda and record of achievement with you and you will need to address and make amends for your errors.

 

          We all make mistakes and nobody is more aware of that than I, as I have been watching and helping those who recognise my existence and the words of guidance that I brought to you during my lifetime and I am still alive and helping those who call upon me.

 

          I cannot force my way of living on those who are too deaf to hear, but there are many ways that your conscience speaks to you when you listen in the quietness of your state of consciousness.

 

          Many souls meditate daily and some sit in enlightening circles with likeminded souls and all go through a state of altered consciousness when they sleep, so there are opportunities for thoughts to be placed in the minds of those who will listen.

 

          Knock and it shall be opened to you.  Seek and you will find.  If you ask for guidance and answers to your problems with the right intentions you will be answered.  There is nowhere to sweep your pitiful little problems under the carpet and expect them to go away.

 

          By facing facts and knowing the right way to live in harmony with others and taking personal responsibility for yourself and your actions, your reactions will work out in your favour as you obey the Laws of Spirit, which is what our Creator gave us as the way we can travel this road of life and become prepared for the next part of the journey.

 

          We cannot do this by leaving our decisions for others to address or by being inconsiderate to those around us, who expect us to do what is right and not to shrug our shoulders and walk away.

 

          Believe me when I say truly that all who have passed into the next stages of existence have to address their lives in the light of goodness and love and to see how greed and selfishness can creep in to those whose egos are bigger than their compassion.

 

          Set yourself the opportunities to remove the baggage of mistakes and errors before it is too late to avoid the reparations that need to be accomplished to balance the books and remember that although you are loved, this does not change the way that you must succeed on your journey back the way that you came.

 

          We all need guidance and advice, but it is only ourselves that can take the decisions that make the scales balance in our favour by the kindness and charity of a life without reproach, but strong enough to give a helping hand without expecting something for it.

 

          Be ready for your transition from here to the next stage of existence, because my friends you never know when you may be called and I hope and pray that your life will be balanced in your favour so that good things await you in the light of our Father's love.  Amen.

 

25 September 2010

Times Are Changing All Around You


         Are things going faster than you feel comfortable with and is this because you are really an old stick-in-the-mud and you don't want to be changed in any way?

This life is ongoing and since the moment of your conception, and then birth, change was all about you.  It is unhealthy to try and stay as you are or where you feel comfortable, because who are you to say that today is better than tomorrow?

If you prepare yourself to keep the status quo and to never put your neck on the line to improve yourself and your way and conception of life, then you can never achieve a zone of comfort, because within you is a restlessness to move on.

The only thing which holds you back is fear of the unknown and a lack of self confidence that you can handle what is thrust at you and make a better fist of it than before.  Where you are now is not where you deserve to be.  You need to be much further ahead and to see a future of betterment.

I speak to you of improvement of your self as a measurement of soul progression, which is a spiritual pathway driven by an inner trust in the Father who made you and a desire to be as close to him in your every day life as you are able to attain.

Holding back in fear of achievement is a sad reflection of your acknowledgement that you were made in love and made to succeed in the glory of your creation.  Our Father gave you life and gifts to carry you through all the rough and tumble of every day existence, so that you could surmount your difficulties.

There is no other way to learn but by taking on board what is there and realising that when you get it wrong, as we all do sometimes, that you will lower your vibratory levels and be unhappy with what you have done.

But the whole point of trial and error is to learn from the experience and when you get it right you are elated and your vibrations increase and lighten and you feel on top of the world, so that is where you must aim all your ambitions.

Climb to the moon and if you can't get there then aim a little lower, but if you don't aim high enough, how can you achieve greater things than you are by not even getting off the ground!  You are given the abilities to achieve all you desire if only you were not so impatient and you understood the love that is there for you to succeed.

If you hide your light under the table, who will know that you even exist?  You must let your light, your gifts and your belief systems shine out to all you meet and be prepared to examine them at every stage of your journey.

You will get nothing fully right the first time around, so constant examination of yourself and your progress in the light of the truth is how you can change your road of destiny for greater accomplishment.

It is a sad sight to see those who travel in blinkers and can only see the road ahead in the light of their companions, who whisper their little experiences in your ear and dogmatically insist that they are right and you allow them to think so, even if you know a different facet of truth though your trust and experience.

I urge you to decide what is right and what is beautiful in the eyes of God and take that first step towards improving yourself within and without.  Listen to your conscience in hope and not in dread.  Do what is right even if you are the loser in the interim, because in the longer way you will be rewarded by a glow of warmth and a strong feeling knowing that you did what was good and true and can therefore build on that to carry on.

All that is achievable can in the longer term be achieved, because when you have the right intentions and the guidance of a true conscience, you are moving to greater things step by step and in 'God's good time you will receive a better life through your acceptance of change, which when it is done in the right way, brings its own rewards.

You are not alone if you listen for the truth and the guidance from those who are wiser and more loving than you can possibly imagine.  I pray that in the quietness of your being you find them and listen and act, as only they can guide when you have the courage and the self belief to change with the times.  Amen.

22 September 2010

Goodness is All around You

 

If only you could see it, goodness is all around you.  It is attainable by addressing the good thoughts within yourself and letting the lighter vibrations of them attract goodness to you from without so that it can rest within.

 

Our Creator never made anything that is devoid of goodness.  All around you is everything that you ever wanted and all you have to do is to stretch out your thoughts with the right intentions and make way for its arrival.

 

There is a saying that everything comes to him who waits.  Yes, that is so providing that you await your desires in the right way and leave the timing of its delivery in the hands of the Father, who knows you best of all.

 

It is no use for example wanting a Rolls Royce when all you have to do in it is go to the supermarket and make the school run.  That would be overkill and a people carrier with enough seats and safely belts will answer all your needs.

 

Anything bigger and grander would only cause comment and would certainly inflate your ego by the added attention that you would draw to yourself, so I say to you, "Be content with what you need and not what you would like."

 

If you ask for goodness to be given to you, you will receive it in the amounts that you have earned and can therefore be rewarded by such and that you also have a safe repository to keep it in and working for the betterment of mankind.

 

The gifts of our Father are many and varied, but they are all given when needed and when deserved.  He is not a banker, who works on credit and takes for himself a large percentage home for his own use and aggrandisement.

 

The biggest gift that we receive is life and the right to life any way we choose, but if we only consider ourselves and our own aggrandisement at the expense of others, we will not be given goodness, because there is nowhere for it to lodge.

 

To accommodate the generosity of the Father it is necessary to create for ourselves an environment in which his gifts can be kept and working to enhance his creations and not our own.

 

Think about a beautiful light shining out into the darkness, where it can and will illuminate the way forward, so that good people in search of better things in life can step safely up onto the next rung of the ladder of progression towards their Creator.

 

You would not use that light to shine into the darkness of ignorance so that those who travel into their future to search for baubles for themselves alone can create their own environment by the exclusion of others.

 

Where you make yourselves available to hold the goodness of all creation within your hearts and minds and clean out the negativity of material greed, you will be furnished by goodness and, depending on how you use it, will depend on whether you receive more.

 

No man pours beautiful wine into the sands of the desserts to be lost and adulterated for all time.  Purify yourself within, so that the goodness which is due to you has a safe place to lodge and there is can grow and your light can shine out to attract others who need guidance in an unsettled world.

 

Allow me to carry a torch for you to hold and proclaim that you understand my words and will pass them on to others by your example and then you will receive more to kindle your flame as others join you and the good news that goodness is available and free to a good home will be spread abroad for all to understand.

 

I leave you to think on all of this, so that all good people can become better and more beautiful in the eyes of God and men.  Amen.

 

21 September 2010

Like Attracts Like or Does it?

 

Take a good look at yourself and your life and see where all that hard work and labour has got you.  Do you feel closer to the Spirit of Love and Guidance for your life to be on track or is it wallowing around and getting you nowhere?

 

Do you sometimes feel vulnerable and almost under attack by those random forces that take your breath away and undo what you had put up as being a good thing?  Why should they pick on you?

 

Like attracts like, my friend – think on that for a moment.  Certainly if you have negative thoughts and your desires are not in the interests of the greater good of those around you, you will be attracting negativity, because it is your 'self interest' which is calling the tune.

 

You may say that you are not like your wife or your secretary, because they hardly ever think for themselves and usually get it wrong until you have to put them right!  How do you do that my friend – in kindness and consideration or by putting them down as useless?

 

Here like is not attracted to like, but it once was and now it hasn't enough strength left to get away.  If you dominate another soul instead of helping them to become stronger in their own interests, then you are courting negative thoughts and the reactions to your own actions become definitely down to you.

 

In order to take away those negative thoughts and actions, it is necessary that you bring about a change of heart and mind and allow the goodness of life to creep in and establish itself.  As goodness grows, so you will become stronger and will not be upset when your plans go wrong, because they are showing another side of the coin which you hadn't realised was possible.

 

Being too dogmatic and narrow with a mind that cannot expand for fear that it may discover more than you can cope with, is another way of hiding from the truth.  It is not weakness to love and experience a 'feel good factor' when you have helped another instead of crushing him down so that your ego can be flattered.

 

What is necessary here is an honest approach to what truly makes you tick.  If you feel under siege and battered by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, then perhaps it is time that you took stock of your position and faced the future squarely in the light that nobody is getting any younger and time and opportunities appear to be running out.

 

To make a good life is not all about making money and collecting material baubles to show off to others how clever and successful you are.  Is your family happy or are you always pushing them to achieve more and not have time out with their friends now and again?

 

It is a question of a happy and peaceful heart and the knowledge that you do the best for others who know where their inspiration comes from and where spiritual grace is a great achievement, which has to be earned over time and not just by giving a quick fix to another in an unguarded moment.

 

Take your time, because my friend you have an eternity to live through yet, but if you leave this world worn out by making wealth in your bank balance at the expense of bankrupting your soul, then you have so much further to travel in order to reap what you have sown and, in order to even balance your books, you will have some mighty adjustments to make.

 

Start to save up your wealth in the next world where neither moths nor rust can corrupt so that you have some bargaining power again for the rainy days of your mistakes and errors, because nobody on this earth plane of existence is perfect.

 

There is nobody who can save you from your reckoning at the last, because nobody can take another's errors for themselves.  Our Creator gave each and every soul that he made a path of their own to develop and achieve good things and so to be found wanting when you pass from here I can assure you is a very uncomfortable way to be.

 

I pray that all Mankind as individuals will heed the warnings and the teachings of those who speak aloud about the firmament of our Father's creation and the joy of life which awaits each and every one, who earns and deserves a place in the love and companionship of all creatures.  Amen.

 

 

19 September 2010

Where Do You Think You Are Going



Take a fresh look at yourself and your life and see where it is taking you.  The old materialistic approach to life is so dated, as we all have far more than we need and so many have too little.

It is the spiritual existence that matters most, as you cannot take any of the earthly comforts with you when you pass on and yes, life is eternal and so it is no use ignoring that fact until you are at death's door, because my friend you never know when the Almighty Creator is going to call you up to account.

He will not judge you.  That is a rumour put around by those who try to profit most from this remarkable state of passing out of body, but with continued and existing life to carry on.  Do not be simplistic and go forwards into the beyond with excess baggage and unfinished business.

All you take with you is your soul or divine essence.  If you will understand that life was given to you by God and your body only by your parents, so that when you leave your worn out body behind, you take with you your consciousness and all that you have achieved for the betterment of your fellow travellers.

Your eternal journey carries with it all that you have made.  These are the fruits of existence like the apples or figs upon a tree.  They come from almost nowhere, but they blossom into fruits with seeds for the future and they carry on the line of progression.

Each and every soul has a destiny and a future.  We are all on a journey towards where we came from and that is the Creator, who gave us life and an opportunity to explore his created world so that we could learn and prove ourselves to be like him in loving all creations and giving of ourselves for others to exist.

So we cannot progress further if we are carrying the baggage of unfinished business, which are the opportunities to aid and help others around us with love and humility and asking for ourselves no reward, save that we are following our predestined path back the way we came but on another and undisclosed route.

We cannot complete our tasks when we are basking in our own light of achievements and carrying material comforts all around us, when so many are without what we have too much of.  We can still be comfortable with less and share in the pleasure of seeing others benefit from our actions, instead of trampling them under foot so we can have more of the same.

Nobody is a saint.  That is a label pasted on to other people, who chose to do good deeds and work in the light and illumination of our Father.  They pass with substance of achievements into the Light of Understanding and leave behind the petty squabbles of this earth plane, but at some time will usual opt to help Mankind free itself from the yoke of tyranny that it has placed upon its own shoulders.

This is a beautiful world, full of wonder and excitement to those who stop and watch and sense the miracles of creation, which still happen all around us.  New live is born in due season and the cycles of the seasons allow for this by resting and hibernating until beckoned out into the warming earth of productivity.

Allow yourselves to understand the greatness of creation and do not rape the countryside for self glories and aggrandisement.  There is enough to go round, because you cannot take it when you pass, but you can leave behind good things that you accomplished, which will bear fruits for generations to come.

Take not unfinished business back with you on your journey, but address matters each and every day and do not depart until you have resolved and understood what you came to do and why it is important, not only to you to achieve, but for others to benefit from your actions and learn to pass them on to others and so the creative message flows around in harmony instead of being lost in the avarice of material gain, but short lived and fickle as these things always are.

Take not for yourself, but give everything you can spare to the one who deserves your charity and your love, and remember my friend, that charity begins at home.  Amen.

14 September 2010

Let Your Light Shine Out



The negativity that surrounds you is as a result of what you attract to you.  Your mind is a constant source of light and, as a homing beacon for the unseen; you are constantly bombarded by enquiring spirits who are looking for answers to the questions which they had left undone.

To be a good person with a stronger light than the average soul living on this earth plane of existence, is to be noticed by the earthly and seen members of society as well as the departed, who have still to find their way to the next dimension of existence.

Not every soul takes an immediate transition into the areas that have been set aside for the pure in heart and love has still to be demonstrated by many.  There are souls whose experience of love is to claim what they want for themselves and not to care about the affect that they may have had on the people around them.

We all have experiences of the takers in our society at whatever level of life we attain in the earthly sense.  When they pass out of body they are not fit to join the givers who have profited from their generosity and gone on to the higher consciences of existence.

They, the takers, have to first put right the imbalance in their lives and learn the hard lessons of what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.  This is not as easy as you might believe as redress and genuine remorse must be felt.

Until there is a will within to move on towards the light of God's justice in love and humility, nothing can be achieved and there are many 'lost' souls looking for a way to find that justification within themselves to flatter their own egos.

They are sad and remorseful, because they can no longer have it all their own way and they are searching for a way out of their difficulties.  Until they learn that they cannot cope alone and that they need to address their own difficulties they wander about poking their noses into everything that they come across.

Many souls from the higher consciences take time out to come down and search for souls who are ready to understand their follies in their life on earth and with compassion and humility examine themselves and turn towards their Creator asking for help and forgiveness.

As time goes on they pay their debts and balance their own books and are able to move upwards and onwards into the brighter light of understanding and advancement.  It is not until then that they are fit to join the others who gave in their lives and took personal responsibility for their actions.

I spent three days after my crucifixion with those who were lost and I preached to them and showed them the way out of the darkness of ignorance.  There are many others who give of their time to help these souls to move on, but they must be willing and able to feel the necessity of changing their outlooks and, in all truth, move towards God and his kingdom of light and love.

These souls, who are searching for the way, are able to see your light shine out like a beacon and are attracted to it to see and learn from you about how you live your life in the pursuit of helping those around you, which these souls did not do.

So I ask you to let your light shine out to them as a signal to the truth and the real way of living so that they can learn and move on.  They cannot harm you as you are so well protected by the loving energy that you emit in living in the true way that you do.

Ask in your quiet moments for illumination to go to them and for you to be protected from your own fears, as there are so many guides and helpers who are attuned to your vibrations and who love you well and these negative vibrations, who are drawn to your light, will learn and move on.

I have to tell you that the more good you do for your fellow man the greater your light shows itself, so let your light shine out and bring comfort to all who see it, that they may watch and learn and move on.  Amen.

13 September 2010

Conquer Your Fears


         To be allowed to live ones life in peace and harmony, then one must be able to find that peace within, which can only come from the Father who gave life and hope to all his creations.

None of us can manage the bruising from outside while we are in turmoil within ourselves.  That can only be calmed by the silence of the mind when, though meditation and the abandoning of the self, we can allow spiritual guidance to enter in.

Once that has occurred and we are able to test the spirit by only sitting in the protection of the Lord and all the Angels, who serve us well in love and harmony with our vibrations, can we take the first steps towards a calming of our senses and an understanding of the way things truly are.

It is not an easy step, because that does not come naturally to many people, who are impatient to find instant answers like adding water to a glass of powered milk.  No, it has to be earned and you have to train yourself to be receptive and to put your ego aside to allow the softness of the spirit to enter in.

The 'voice' that comes is very small, but very powerful.  It comes in love and, as with many earthly minds, it is not sure of the right welcome to begin with.  It is so softly spoken that as a thought vibration you could miss it altogether.

You may think that it is your subconscious that you understand in the quietness of your mind when, and only when, you are relaxed enough to be receptive to the help that comes from outside your vibrating body.

The stillness must be uninterrupted and you must be safe from all disturbances as you allow yourself to be abandoned in trust and hope to the lighter side of life which, if you allow it and you practice it, can and will make you stronger through the understanding to face your fears.

None of us alone can survive the battering of modern life and the risks that cause us daily uncertainty.  In order to move on progressively towards a better way of living and a better way of understanding our purpose and our destiny, we need constant guidance and strengthening.

The certainty of youth that nothing can touch them is so often their undoing as they rush about grabbing what they think they want and expecting to get away with it, but I must tell you, if you do not already know, that all is seen and all must be accounted for.

Nothing can be hid.  Not a thought or a grimace can be erased from your life's memory pattern and everything, good or otherwise, must be faced and answered when the time comes and that is always sooner than you think.

Do you know when you are going to die?  Can you really put your hand on your heart and say that you have done nothing wrong?  Have you taken all the opportunities to help another whenever they were in need?

Meditate in the quietness of your mind at regular intervals and be sure that you have not let matters go amiss and that you are always up for what life puts in your way and that you know all the answers and will always get it right.

If you have no need of quietness and reassurance, then you are exceptional and saintly or your ego has outgrown your sanity.  Be ready always to do your best for others and let your ego be quiet.

Too much materialism and too little spirituality makes an unbalanced person, who will have much to understand even before the light of illumination can push back the darkness of ignorance and allow the words and deeds of the highest consciousness to filter slowly through.

There is no hurry, because you have an eternity to find your way to peace and harmony, but the sooner that you start the sooner that you will become stronger and know the way to conquer all your fears.  Amen."

09 September 2010

Are You Getting the Right Advice?


To give advice to others can be a noble thing, but how do you know that you are right?

There are many professionals and amateurs throughout the world, who are telling people what to do and very often they don't explain why.  The way of counselling others is important, as the vulnerable and the naive are the ones who so often cannot cope on their own and need to be advised correctly.

The true advisor is one who cares and has an inner sense that serves them well.  This is often called intuition, but comes from a higher source and that person has earned the gift of doing charitable work and being proved right time and time again.

This person is one who has a good heart and uses their mind to guide and help others who are in need by listening to their own guide or conscious, which serves them well.  There is a higher motivation and inner strength that can be relied upon and doesn't admit to not knowing when an answer is needed.

If you receive correct information for yourself or others, you are experiencing contact from loving and helping minds which have gone before and can and do give their time to help others who are experiencing difficulties on their way through life.

I walked my pathway and performed my acts through the help and generosity of others who guided me well and gave through me the powers of healing and enlightenment.  This work cannot be done alone and the results depend on the right gifts from above to the right people below.

We all have failures by those who have not got the faith to do what that heavenly advice is saying, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so to speak.  You cannot experience the flavour without tasting the product.

Surely you can understand my metaphor when I tell you that you must first take a taste of the advice given and test it in your mind and, if it seems reasonable, try it out.  Take a little taste of it and if it is good, then try a little more.

When you find a source of reasonable advice, which is rational and sensible and is proven by others as well as yourself, you know that you have found a spiritual person who has earned for themselves a higher consciousness.

When you have tried and tested the advice given and come out on top each and every time, because you have followed that correctly with the right faith and intentions, then you arrived at a point in time when you must consider where that comes from and can you link into the same stream of spiritual knowledge?

Each and every one of us has gifts from our Father.  We  must learn to use them in the manner that they were given to us and for the right reasons.  We must consciously put aside the easy way and look within ourselves to find the quietness and the truth.

We all have the abilities, but do we have the patience?  The times that are coming and coming fast now, are the times when we will need good advice in order to lead our lives in the right and godly way, so that we are confident to not only walk our right path, but to help others who we meet along the way.

It will be no use at all guessing at the answers as we go through life.  The days of errors are past and it is time to look for the right direction before it is too late.  Know that you are not alone and that help is close at hand.

Find a comfort zone and allow your mind to expand to the possibilities and the probabilities will follow until you develop that knowing and can be at peace in the knowledge that you are doing the right thing and going positively forwards.

I am not far away if you ask for my help and guidance, but if you can't hear me find someone who can help you to hear my words and together we will go through the positive door and leave the negative behind.  Amen to that.

07 September 2010

Take Only What You Need

When you travel it is better not to be weighed down by possessions and articles that will only give you heartaches and worries as you journey.  There are enough problems with travelling without having to worry about whether you are going to lose your possessions.

I was once asked by a rich man what he should do to find the Kingdom of Heaven and I told him to sell all that he had and to follow me, but he didn't do it and so he remained a rich man outside the Kingdom of God's Heaven.

It is hard for a rich man to enter into the state of mind that is our Father's heavenly state of being.  If you have earthly riches, you are forever worried about having them stolen from you and that is not a state of mind that is conducive to heavenly thoughts.

It is far better to have a mind full of good and generous thoughts than to allow the negativity of anxiousness and fear to breed within you.  To travel light means that you can travel quickly and make progress.

With your mind cleared from losing what you have stored away, you can concentrate on the issues that are presented to you now and it is so much easier to go over and help another who is in need without having to keep your eye on your luggage at the airport.

Allow your wealth to build up into a heavenly state of mind where you are relaxed and at ease knowing that you are safe and looked after by our Father and that you lack for nothing.  Have you noticed how the caring people always seem to manage to have enough for their needs?

They may not live in a castle or a big house, but they are happy and carefree because they are free and able to do what they like doing most and that is helping others and thanking their Father for all that they have.

The material things of this Earth do not add up to very much, because what is important is, "Do I have enough to eat and drink and am I sheltered against that rainy day?"  Most people have far more than they need and are they happy?

When we are called to move on and we leave this body behind for good, we can take nothing with us apart from our mindful of thoughts as we progress onwards towards our destination in the great way of how things are beyond our present horizons.

Why do not people fill their minds with positive thinking about good things and help each other, so that in their turn they are helped?  Then when they move on and they travel light, but with all the good things that they need.

If we learn to leave behind what we truly do not want and need, then the first things that we should dispense with are the negative thoughts and worries, which are holding us back.  To be able to meet every issue with a clear mind and positive thinking must be better than having to worry about all the side effects that it might have and, especially "Will I be better or worse off?"

The time that we spend here on this earth plane of existence is but they twinkling of an eye in the existence of eternity for which we have been given life by our Father Creator.

If we set out on this journey, ladened down with excess baggage, our progress is going to be very slow and ponderous, so I am saying to you, "Wake up to your needs and take with you only what you really need to carry and allow our heavenly Father and all his Angels to give to you."

Earn what you need as you progress in the Way of the Lord and all your wants will be supplied, but demand what you want before you have earned it and your greedy intentions will cause for you to have to wait until it is the right time for you to travel truly and correctly.

Let us together recognise the truth of all the teachings that I gave before and clear your mind of all that is negative and we can then journey together, for I know the Way and we will be looked after at every stage.  Amen.