dailydatewithgod

One of the things that pull at me about this whole Corona Virus experience is how vital human embrace is.  Indeed, we often do not appreciate what we have until it is gone.  Human affection is no small matter, it is part of what we need to survive. When one considers how much time and energy human beings put into pushing each other away whether physically or verbally, it is hard to believe that embrace plays such a large role in our survival mechanisms. God invites us to see our level of embracing of others as a barometer of the degree to which we embrace ourselves.  Of course, an embrace is more than physical.  How we hold the space for someone to be all of who they are with their thoughts, feelings, and actions is a way of embracing each other.  What becomes evident when we do the work of getting to know the truth of who we are is the degree to which we do not embrace all of who we are.  If I cannot embrace and hold space for all my thoughts, feelings, and actions then how I can really do it for someone else.  We react to each other often because we are under the misconception that other people are doing something to us.  Through our daily dates, God has shown me how to embrace both the light and dark of who I am.  It is not easy to embrace my feelings of anxiety or anger especially when the world keeps telling me to flip it into gratitude as quickly as possible.  God does not shy away from the human experience the way we humans do. God has taught me there is no reward in embracing the idea that it is a success if I can spiritualize my way out of being human.  God has given us the courage of our hearts needed to embrace the full totality of our human experience and find the fruits of the spirit in the light and the dark.