Lay Down the Armor You No Longer Need

I am Michael. I stand with you.

Many of you call on me for protection, and I come, every time, at once. I want you to know that. There has never been a call I did not answer. But tonight I would speak to you about something you have not asked.

You are wearing armor. You put it on a long time ago, some of you as children, and for good reason. There was a household where it was not safe to be seen, or a schoolyard, or a marriage. The armor was intelligent. It kept you alive. I do not ask you to be ashamed of it.

But look at what it costs you now. It is heavy. It makes you slow to laugh. And it keeps out the very thing you are praying for, because love cannot tell the difference between a wall raised against harm and a wall raised against itself. It simply meets the wall, and waits.

You think that if you take it off, you will be defenseless. This is where you have misunderstood my work. I am not here to hold your armor on. I am here so that you can take it off. That is what the blue flame is for. It is a protection that does not require you to harden. It stands at the edge of your field, and leaves the heart free.

So try it. Not all at once. Choose one person who has earned it, and one hour, and one true thing you have not said. Call me first. Then say it, with your shoulders down.

You will find that nothing terrible happens. You will find, I think, that you can breathe.

I am Michael. I am before you, behind you, and at your side. Lay it down.