dailydatewithgod

Have you ever been struck in your heart in such a way that you lose your breath?  It is as though your whole system internally comes to attention.  Your eyes are opened, your mind is silenced, and there is a felt sense of presence in the moment devoid of any past or future.  When you are enveloped by this overwhelming experience you do not feel as though you are going to be blown over because there is a steadiness which has you anchored in stillness. I remember feeling this way when I went to Yosemite for the first time.  I remember it was a quick trip there that had not gone as planned and on top of everything else, I had a mild migraine.  Whether it was because I was too stubborn or I just knew it was too important to pass up, I made my way down the long and winding road to the valley of the Yosemite. I was walking around with my mouth open. I kept stopping and just staring at the magnificence present in the huge landscapes of mountains and trees.  The color was so bright and definitive, it was as though I could feel the lifeblood of the nature I was grateful enough to in the presence of.   I kept saying thank you out loud to God and asked why I felt called to go and see this place at that moment despite the less than ideal position I was in.  In a very quiet moment, I heard God whisper that he wanted me to see one of his other beautiful creations.  I knew at that moment she was letting me know he saw me as one of his beautiful creations and one as majestic and overwhelmingly beautiful as Yosemite.  I was humbled to say the least. Reflecting back on it now it brings tears to my eyes.  We forget how much God values all of her creations.  We sometimes go our whole lives believing only what we or other humans think of us and our surroundings.  We are the bellowing of God’s creation.  We are the bellowing of love shown through beauty.    We are the bellowing that resounds through our hearts. We know it when we find ourselves faced with beauty.  We know it when we get still enough to hear it.  We know it when we tune in with our hearts.  Whatever words, ideas, people, experiences, or beliefs we have which bellow the presence of God brings us into an alignment where we remember we, like all of God’s creation, are love made manifest.  I became attuned to the bellowing of God’s presence in the world and in myself the morning I had my first of my daily dates with God.  I learned all I need to get started is my breath.  It is the gateway to receive the bellowing message of God’s presence in our lives as God is, not necessarily as we expect God to be.