dailydatewithgod

To bring about courage means we must dig deep down within ourselves to find the light that propels us into being the love we are.  God fans this flame and encourages us to fan it with him through our breathing into our heart.  By drawing attention to our hearts and the energy we extend from it, we can fine tune our capacity to love beyond what our minds think is capable.  God is there to keep the encouragement alive by reminding us that we have the courage, despite what a voice of fear tells us.  Courage is not the absence of fear but the decision to go ahead anyway.  All those who have managed to love deeply and strongly will tell you there were moments when they thought their hearts would break in two.  God has and always will be the steady force to keep us alive through those heart pounding moments as we walk through the fear.  The spiritual path is one of a warrior of the heart.  We dine on the encouragement of God because we need it to survive.  To survive according to our truest selves is to love greater than ourselves.  We can start this journey by learning to focus on the encouragement and presence of love wherever our eyes catch it.  Reminding ourselves of the presence of love in all things big and small makes it that much more possible to believe it is alive in and through us too.

On my daily prayer and meditation dates with God as I bring my thinking for us to take a closer look I have noticed God veering more toward the framework of the functionality of things and thinking.  Instead of getting spun around by the judgment of good versus bad, God invites me to see if it works or not.  If it works, what is it working for or towards?  If it is not working, what might be created to make things work in the service of love?  The function of our lives is designed to be in the service of creating and growing love.  This is done by showing up for our lives as our true selves which emanate the presence of love in and through us.  When we are functional we are the magnification of love made manifest in our every day lived through the big and small elements we encounter with every breath.  We have misconstrued the notion of good or bad to such an extent that it is little about the intention behind what our actions and more about separating ourselves from each other by judging each other.  Yes, it is good if our actions function towards the presence and growth of love but if we stop at recognizing good or bad, we never get to what is motivating the actions.  Often it is our misguided attempt to be good that can result in the dysfunctional love we are experiencing today.

One of God’s greatest gifts to us is her ability to see that we are more capable than we realize.  He looks at our hearts and knows the scope of the power of love to move in and through us.  I am continually humbled by God’s willingness to expand the scope of my heart past what I think in my mind can occur.  Just when I think nothing is changing and I am stuck in the same place whether it is a circumstance or a relationship, there is a subtle shift powered by grace that shows up.  I share with God my willingness to see the situation or the person differently. God shares with me the opportunity to pray for and thus spend time in my heart reflecting on this person or situation.  Then I find myself in it and it is the same.  I turn to God and question the value of continuing to pray. God reminds me that if nothing else I am spending time in my own heart.  So I take a deep breath and keep going.  I am reminded of something C.S. Lewis said about how we pray not to change or make God hear us, but to be changed by God through the experience of prayer.  That is the heart’s goal and some days my body is worn and not interested in the expansive scope of my heart.  Yet when I show up on my daily dates with God I cannot ignore the quiet nudging to keep moving forward and persevering.  God reminds me that she is mysterious and gracious and will not abandon me as I move through the chambers of guards around my heart to reach its core.  Then without any indication, I find myself walking into the situation or relationship and things go differently.  My heart feels lighter, there is less worry, and I can see more clearly the innocence of those around me and myself.  Over time I notice this in every situation and relationship. I get it, as though hit between the eyes. God is showing me the expansive scope of my heart.