dailydatewithgod

Freedom is a word that gets thrown around a lot.  We speak of it as a birth right.  Our freedom is inherent.  Most of the restrictions on our freedom are self-imposed.  We allow what others think of us or circumstances determine our worth.  We look to the world to tell us who we are and what we can do.  Yet God bestowed within us the power to choose to recognize the true value of our worth. Therein lies our freedom.  If we are able to step back and listen to the voice of our heart we will find the freedom we keep expecting someone or something to grant us.  God does not treat us like enslaved beings.  Yet some people imagine God as some overbearing master who is waiting for them to screw up.  How free can we be if we are giving a freedom crushing characteristic to a power greater than us?  How free can we be if we allow the ideas and actions of others to determine our own?  It may not be easy to pause and check in with ourselves about what is most aligned for us in the moment but choosing to do so or not is within our freedom.  It is simple.  It is a choice.  We are called to choose freedom.

It is funny the difference between what we think people know and observe about us and what they actual observe. We think the things we focus on are the things they focus on.  But why would they? Others are not us.  Sure, there are similarities among humans, cultures, and families, but we are each gifted with our own perspective and the ability to change it.  This perspective informs what we focus on, think about, act on and observe in the world. It is the most freeing thing to recognize that we are the observers and reactors in our own lives.  We get to choose. It let’s us off the hook in terms of concerning ourselves with what others think of us. Many of us have at some point perceived ourselves as people-pleasers.  While I do not think the term adequately describes what is happening, I will use it for the commonly understood meaning of choosing what to do or think about based on the desire to make someone else happy, not upset them, or meet their approval often at the expense of ignoring our own hearts. Even when we say we don’t care what others think, if we use it to choose the opposite of the perceived like of the other person it is still motivating us in our choices. In the end, we have no control in pleasing others because we cannot control what they perceive at any given moment.  We do not know what is motivating their choices.  We may acquiesce to the movie they want to see in an effort to please them only to find out they do not care about the movie but where we go to eat. Why not value our own choices?  Our hearts are ready to share our true wisdom about our choices when we stop to listen.  It calls upon us to pause, take a breath, get quiet and check in with ourselves before determining what will please another. This is our freedom.  Looking at what pleasing our hearts would look like gives us the courage to navigate the world by being who we are meant to be in the moment.  With courage we can handle the potential differences arising from another’s perception in relationship of two whole persons.

It is easy to look at what is happening on the outside and believe it is all it presents itself to be.  We look at gifts and determine their worth based on the size and the wrapping.  We look at people and make assessments about what kind of person they are by what they are wearing, their gender, or the way they stand. If we stay at the surface level we have some concept of what something, someone, or a situation is but we do not have the full picture.  We don’t default to staying with  the first surface we encounter because we are shallow.  We do it because it happens automatically.  We have to actively take a step back and begin some inquiry to get at what is beneath the surface.  This takes time and effort.  It requires us to stop going with the automatic and be in the in between space where we do not know.  Curiosity is the antidote to going with the surface alone.  If we are open to a little investigation and are open to learning we can gain a better understanding of everything.  Surfaces are indicators of things but what is below the surface is another story.  Just like an iceberg that you only see the top of when you are on the water.  To understand just how big of a presence the iceberg takes up we need to look below the surface. Below the surface can also be perceived as another side of the surface. Our hearts call upon us to pause, breathe and take a second look.  We do not necessarily need to go below the surface.  Sometimes just looking at something from a different side of the surface provides a completely different perspective.  Think of how many times you thought you knew who someone was based on seeing their back.  When you tap them on their shoulder and they turn around so you can say hello you realize the person looking at you is not who you thought they were.  We have multiple surfaces and part of life’s exploration is getting to know the various surfaces of ourselves as well as looking below the surface.  Given the breadth and depth of the designs of God, we might just be surprised and amazed with what we discover about ourselves and others by peeking at one of the other surfaces.

My prayer for us is the willingness to see the gift of presence we are able to provide for ourselves and others today.

A common term getting thrown around a lot is busyness.  How are you? Busy.  What have you been up to?  I’ve been busy.  It seems to have lost its meaning.  What are we busy with?  What is our busyness about?  Does it mean we have lots of business or our time is filled with things?  What are we filling ourselves with during our time?  Is it people?  Is it ideas?  Is it distractions?  When we pause to take a look at what fulfills is does it match with what we are using to fill the time in our day?  Do we look back at our day and think of how much of our time was filled with things that meant something to us or how much of our checklist we completed?  Our words tell us a lot about how we see our lives.  I started to get exacerbated by the term busy and would catch myself every time I defaulted by saying it.  Instead I would acknowledge that I have a full life.  It is a simple but genuine gesture I felt called to by my heart to move myself away from focusing on the doing of my life into the being of my life.  Our hearts call us to notice if what we are filling our lives with and determine if it is in alignment with the fulfillment of our true purpose.  Not in some grand way but in the simple moments of every day.  Are we filling our time by utilizing the little moments of our day to fill it with love?  Do we capitalize on the chance to interact with other human beings and see them?  Maybe even a smile at someone on the street or in the car next to us?  What kinds of small actions of the heart can we fill our lives and the lives of others that enables us to share our being with one another?

We each have individual gifts and talents.  If we allow ourselves to explore them we increase our capability and enhance our opportunity to be of service and make an impact on the world in a way that only we can.  Sometimes we are discouraged because others do not understand or do not think we are capable. Our faculties, however, may present themselves in ways no one fully understands.  Maybe the package of the gift does not look like a gift. Does it light us up?  Does engaging in a particular faculty make our heart grow stronger?  When we practice using our gifts do we gift others?  Are we challenged to understand ourselves in others in a more compassionate way when we cultivate our crafts?  These are the questions God encourages us to ask as we open our eyes to the faculties within us and explore how far we can take them.  Instead of measuring them by the understanding and acceptance of others, we can use our hearts as a gage.  We know intuitively if a particular faculty brings life to our being.  More than just provide a quick hit like some kind of drug it spans beyond the specific time we spend doing it. Maybe our particular faculties do not look like gifts until we explore how we can use them fully. If we hide our faculties because we fear what others will think or allow the wrapping of the gifts to be our only marker for its worth, what eyes are we relying upon to help us know the truth?

In general the thoughts about smoke are not positive. Smoking is bad for you.  Being surrounded by smoke at any time is not a good place to be.  With all the fires in the LA area right now it is a surreal experience being outside.  The air is smokey and while I have experienced being much closer to the fires in the past, this feels different.  In the past I was in an area where the wind was stronger and there was a lot of ash falling around like snow. It had an apocalyptic nature to it. Gratefully, I have never been so close to the fire as to fear for my safety, I have known many who have and who lost everything, I can only imagine how hard that is.  My heart and prayer go out to all who are experiencing that right now.  Smoke is a signal.  A signal of fire. That is the positive side of it.  It can serve as a warning.  Smoke is also used in religious ceremony and the way in which it travels has an ethereal nature to it.  Smoke is also connected to cleansing, spiritual cleansing.  I have burned sage and moved the smoke around a particular place before praying and meditating.  Like most things in life, nothing is entirely good or entirely bad.  It is the message that is being sent or interpreted that makes the distinction.  The smoke of our lives can be whatever we are using to cloud ourselves from our reality or keep ourselves from fully breathing in.  The smoke of our lives can be a signal of something we need to take a look at. The smoke of our lives can also be the opportunity to prepare ourselves to be in a space of communion with God.  It is up to us to determine what it means for us in any given moment..

We get to choose what we concern ourselves with.  It is up to us what we allow to take up space in our minds.  We are presented with options, some from outside and some from within our own head.  We can consider the presentation and choose how much attention we give it.  The power is ours.  If we find ourselves unable to let go of letting it concern us we can call for back up.  God is this regarding what you want me to give my attention to?  Call a friend or write things down so they simply don’t take the opportunity to drive us mad.  When we decide what something is regarding, we make the decision of what kind of power and attention we will give it. If we conclude it is connected to something we have experienced with pain in the past we put the attention of pain on it.  If we decide it is regarding something pleasurable in the past, we give it the perception and attention of possible pleasure.  Our interpretation of placing regard provides us with the avenue through which to perceive our reality.  We can do it alone or we can find out how others regard it. God, what is this regarding to you?

We all come to times in our lives when we are faced with which direction to take.  There is a junction we find ourselves facing on our path.  In that moment we can choose one path over the other.  There may or may not be a clear sense of where either one is going but it is clear we need to make a decision.  Potentially we could come back to the junction and choose again but there is no certainty in that either.  Most roads then lead to other junctures.  It is clear that life is evolving.  Our universe shows us that every day.  We are a full and complete part of the universal system so we are evolving too. This means the places in our lives that are joined will bring us to the places where they will diverge.  I think often of the poem The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. In it he speaks of a junction in his life.  “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I . . .I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.” Is it possible it made all the difference because he chose it.   Even if a path is well-worn and traveled by many, because we have not traveled it we will see it with different eyes.  We will be presented with further junctures and be asked to choose again.  Our individual experience will determine how traveled it will become.  We can choose at these junctures to make the experience our own. Nothing says we have to embrace the juncture the way others have.  Our very nature as individuals means we can take the same path at the same juncture and because of our differing perception, we will see the path differently.  In fact, we will contextualize the paths we meet at the juncture differently. It is about the process of embracing the junctures as opportunities to try out something new.  Each juncture can be a gift or a curse depending on our approach. God encourages us to see the junctures as a chance to take a moment and assess if the path we are currently on is serving our heart and if we want the next path to take the same trajectory.  I used to think it was about the choice of path.  More and more I realize it is about me taking the moment to pause and connect with my heart when I reach a juncture in my normal day-to-day experience.  Even our breath is a chance to pause and connect to our hearts which is what all junctures are ultimately about.

There is tremendous freedom when we choose to explore what life has to offer versus simply go by what we have been told.  We suddenly have room to breathe. Opting to be liberated from the incessant need to be right makes room for peace.  In fact whatever elements are holding us back from being able to express our true nature are the things that stand in the way of the truest expression of ourselves from our heart.  If we are not advocating for the power of our hearts we are in bondage to whatever is popular we will continue to simply react to life.  Responding requires first liberating our hearts of the elements that do not match it.  There is a resonance, a vibrational energy, allowing us to intuitively connect to the frequency of our power. In order to connect to it we must be able to quiet the chatter of our mind long enough.  Liberating ourselves from the constructs created by our minds even if for a few minutes will provide that space.  There we can hear more clearly the vibrant expressions of God.  By liberating ourselves from our beliefs about God we can be open to seeing and perceiving God in new ways. Many of us grew up influenced by particular religious or faith practices.  We may have been told what God is like.  Because our parents are God-like to us as children, we may have assigned God the qualities good or bad of our parents.  Yet God is something beyond our understanding.  By liberating ourselves from our given constructs of God, we will notice a shift in our experience of God and we might just be surprised.