Lorna Byrne - Love From Heaven: Practicing Compassion for Yourself and Others

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Copyright 2014 by Lorna Byrne

Originally published in Great Britain in 2014 by Coronet, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

In some cases names of people and places have been changed to protect privacy.

First Atria Books hardcover edition February 2017

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Interior design by Amy Trombat

Jacket design by Rodrigo Corral Design Inc.

Jacket Image Tim Flach/Stone/Getty Images (Dove)

Author photograph by Jason Clarke

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN 978-1-5011-4327-4

ISBN 978-1-5011-4329-8 (ebook)

For All of You, with Love

W e are all pure love. But most of us have locked away this love within ourselves and dont let it out. This love remains there, though. We can lock love away but we cannot destroy it, and we always have the potential to release it. We release it first by learning to love ourselves again. If we are unable to love ourselves, we are unable to love another.

Love is the most powerful force in the world; it comes from our soul, it comes from heaven. Its love that brings all the joy and happiness into our lives; its love that helps to steer us in the right direction and drives us forward, regardless of what is going on in our lives; its love that makes living worthwhile.

Love is like the sun; its our life force, it transcends everything. And yet the angels keep showing me how little love most people feel for themselves and, as a result, how little love there really is in our livesand how much more there could be. The state of our world today is evidence of this absence of love.

People often think that love should be all sweetness and lightbut the truth is, love frequently hurts. When we open ourselves to love, we also open ourselves up to being hurt. So many of us have learned from the time we are children to harden ourselves, to lock away our love for fear of being hurt. In locking away this love we make ourselves and our world much more coldhearted, selfish, and sadder. In locking love away deep within us, we diminish our humanity.

Ever since I was a young child, the angels have been teaching me about love and helping me to see the force of love physically.

I see angels all the time. I cannot remember any time when I have not seen them. From the moment I opened my eyes after I was born they were thereeven though I did not know they were angels. I see them physically as clearly as I see my daughter sitting across the dinner table. There has never been a day when I havent seen angels. Angels are my best friends, my companions, and my teachers.

The first time I was conscious of the angels teaching me about love was when I was about five years old. I was sitting at the kitchen table at home in Old Kilmainham, Dublin, with my mum and da, and my sisters. There was a visitor there, and this person had brought a wonderful treat: a chocolate cake. We children were so excited, as my parents could rarely afford to buy a cake. The table was surrounded by angels. One of the angels told me to watch my father carefully. I did as I was told. As I looked, I started to notice what appeared to be a soft mist coming gently from my father. It seemed to come from every pore of his being, from his whole body, and moved in the direction of my mother. I looked over at Mum and realized that there was a similar mist coming from her. The two mists touched and intertwined. The mist had no color, but sparkled in the way ice would in the sunshine.

This was the first time I was aware of physically seeing the force of love, and I wouldnt have seen it without the angels help.

My da was cutting the cake and started to serve me first but my mum stopped him, saying sharply that my sister should get the first slice. My da looked up as if stung and the mist seemed to pull back toward him. The love force I had seen between them had disappeared. The angels told me that my mums angry comment had made him pull back his love and lock it away. Da was hurt and confused because he hadnt consciously chosen one child over another; he was serving me because I was nearer to him than my sister.

This was to be the first of many times I would see this love force. I see it when someone is thinking loving thoughts about someone or something. I dont see it with everyone or all the time. To be honest, I dont see it in the abundance I would like. I probably see it with one out of every twenty people I come across on a normal day.

I am still struggling to describe further what this love force looks like. Its not a bit like an aura or energy, or a ray of light. Its sometimes completely different, yet quite visible to me.

The angels havent just taught me to see the force of love, they have also taught me to see and measure its intensitylike different temperatures.

Love is the most powerful force in the world.

Angels have taught me everything I know. Angel Michael and Angel Hosus are probably the angels who have taught me the mostapart from my guardian angel, whom I am not allowed to talk about. I first met Angel Michael when I was a very young child. He almost always gives me the appearance of a handsome man. I first met Angel Hosus around the time that I first saw the physical force of love. He gives the appearance of an old-fashioned schoolteacher with a gown and a funny-shaped hat. He is full of knowledge and wisdom and is great at cheering me up and giving me confidence. He started all those years ago in school when I struggled because of my dyslexia and felt very stupid, and he helps me now when Im writing and doing interviews.

There is another angel whose name I dont know, who I have never even seen properly who is there to teach me about love. This angel was there in the kitchen when I saw the love between my mother and father, and is here with me now as I write about the love force. The angel always seems to be to my right, slightly behind me and out of my line of vision; its as if I am not allowed to see any more of it. I have no idea why. I have asked about this angel but been told no more about it. I think of it as a special type of teacher-angel sent to help me understand more about love so that I can share it with you.