Toronto

Today, I am thankful for the city of Toronto. Who am I? Seeing things with new eyes. What a beautiful city. What a patient love and trust you had in me. I see it now. Whether or not you were forgetting, is inconsequential. The fact is that nearly the entire city was incredible to me. Yes, very often people’s perspectives would change and you would start to focus on bad stuff I had done. But what a love. I am sure that there are people who hate me there. It does not matter. I have learned not to offer my attention to those who mean to harm me. There are many more people who were very supportive of me there. Please know that the reason for my behavior was because I was hurt. Only because I was hurt.  There was a lot of trauma there for me. You are truly a great city. Once, in one of my soberer moments before I left, I wrote there, somewhere in the city that you, as a city, possessed a responsibility. I wrote that you, as a city would be blessed a lot. This is and remains true. God bless your beautiful city. You are and always will be deeply etched into my heart. Even if and especially because I was not able to show it. I long for you to know it. You are loved. I am always a Jays fan. To the heart.

Follow your consciences. By doing so, we follow the right path. For us. Remember truth makes all clear. My message is not in what I say or do. Though, what we say and do are becoming increasingly important to me. I used to always say that who we are is not what we say or do. While this message has integrity and meaning, what we do is truly important for how we relate with one another. In any case, I want you to know that we are, together, a beautiful world. God carries inestimable value in His heart for every one of you. Sinners included. This, after all, is a large reason for my coming. To call the exiles, the sinners to repentance. Do not forget what I have always said: The end is not come yet. This world, this life can still be beautiful. Remarkable. This world can be a foretaste of the love, the peace, the justice and the hope of Heaven. I remember once in this city, walking the streets singing to myself the lyrics of the song from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I’ll quote them here. I believe them fully that they can still be a reality: “In time, we’ll be dancing in the streets all night. In time, everything will be alright.” It doesn’t seem practical to deprive the world of this blessing in order to punish me. Forget about me for a second. Forget about those involved in my story and life. This is bigger. It has always been bigger. Keep faith. A time will come when we will be dancing in the streets all night. I remember also, actually it is the image in my mind when I meditate upon the joy and happiness that will come, the streets of Toronto after the Jays won the World Series in 92 for the first time. People were literally climbing streetlights. People were running between traffic, hugging and embracing each other. Screaming from balconies. What joy! I am sure there are better examples. I was not here when WWII ended but I imagine this was on a bigger scale, the joy. The world is hurting. People are hurting. There are not nearly as many evil people in the world now as the evil one will make it seem. Most people are just lost in their pain, their hurt. Because of this, their consciences have been altered. Healing is coming. Truly, it is coming. Truly, it is coming. Keep faith, blessed souls. We are all, every one of us, in this fight together. Not one of us is alone. If you ever find yourself feeling lonely, God is only a metaphorical phone call away. What’s His phone number? It’s in your heart, on the tip of your tongue. All you need to do is talk to Him. He wants to hear you. He longs to hear from you. Will you talk to Him? Will you open your heart to Him?