dailydatewithgod

One of my favorite Christian scriptures is the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s baptism by John the Baptist.  Jesus humbly stepped into the Jordan river to be baptized by John who didn’t think he was worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals.  We know Jesus constantly referenced carrying out his father’s will and I gather this was no different. The scene is dramatically closed with the sky opening up, a dove descending, and the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”  A scripture teacher once pointed out to me how this took place before Jesus had gathered his apostles, preached forgiveness, or performed miracles.  God was pleased with him just because of who he was.  He showed up.  God sees us the same way.  The gladness extending from our Great Creator towards all of creation is not something merited.  Not when we have read enough scripture, made more sacrifices, done good deeds, spent time with the poor and downtrodden, or even professed our belief in God.  God is ready to meet us with gladness.  We are invited to show up so we can receive the gift.  Within our hearts is the knowledge of the gladness from which we were created.  The love that emanates is ours to be connected to when we are ready.  It is given from the Source of all love, it is not earned.  In a world that is ready at any turn to declare its dissatisfaction or exclusion towards us if we don’t reach certain markers, this is a completely different way of thinking.  Honestly, I don’t need the world to threaten rejection or dissatisfaction, my own mind does it quite well on its own.  On our dates each day I bring this to God and I am invited to take a deep breath, put my hand on my heart and remember that despite the stories I have running in my head, they can be reconnected to my heart which knows the truth.

It is hard to get very far in my day without being cognizant of how I am connected to everything and everyone around me.  I notice the cars I share the road with and the DJ on the radio who is playing music.  I feel the crispness of the air when the wind blows and my heart smile when I see someone extend their hand to a fellow human being in a friendly hello. I am changed by these connections because we are all linked.  It can delude myself into thinking I am independent and even not affected by others but on levels below my consciousness in the reality of my heart, I am impacted.  We are linking in our hearts with all of life because we were all created from the same force of love.  There is God in everyone and every thing and while sometimes we cannot see it with our eyes, the linking is sensed in our hearts. We leave an imprint of our similar nature with each other because it resonates with them and vice versa. If we were not linked we would not be affected by what others do or say.  If we were not linked we would not feel so torn and alone after a time of not connecting with others.  There is an interdependence that is threaded throughout life and the more we acknowledge the linking, the more at peace we are in our souls.  God reminds me on our dates and in our conversations that we are all here to guide each other on our path to remember the love from which we were created.  Some of us do so in an obvious or expected way, and others in way that appears the farthest from any notion of connection or love.  God invites us to be open and acknowledge our linking in whatever form it shows up and utilize it to learn more about the fullest nature of love.

Our minds have this incredible capability and desire to make meaning from everything.  It is what moves us to action in positive and negative ways.  The disciplined life is about reigning in our meanings and pausing before acting on them.  Questioning is a tool so we can begin to make sense of the meaning.  Each day on my date, I turn to God with my heart open as much as it is that morning and ask to be directed by God’s sense of things.  “God, is this how you see the events of my life?”  I want to touch the transcendent meanings of my self and my world.  I know from experience that within God’s sense of life is the power of love.  Within God’s sense of existence and purpose is the knowledge of the multitude of possibilities existing within each encounter and relationship.  Within God’s sense of the here and now is the reminder that love is all there is no matter what ever else is appearing in the moment.  My heart longs to be connected with this sense because no matter how profound or logical the meanings are that I come up with, they all fall short.  Only God’s sense contains the everlasting nature of peace.

Growing up I remember hearing the phrase, “God helps those who help themselves.”  While I am not entirely sure of the source of this expression, I have come to understand it as a way of saying that in order for God to help us we have to play a part.  God will not just swoop in and take over.  In a cooperative relationship with God, I invite God to intervene. I have lived long enough to recognize when I need to surrender. Sometimes I do so calmly, other times it is done in a frantic request. I can tell when I have no control over something and the only thing I can do is turn it over to God.  I have to let go of it to give it to God.  God will not yank it out of my hand.  Sometimes I have to turn it over and over again.  When it comes to relationships in life, I find I have to turn things over and then later on when I get hooked again, I turn it over again.  I am powerless over not being able to see love in a particular situation, so I turn that over.  I am powerless over being in fear about something in my life, so I turn that over.  My part of cooperating with God is in my willingness to hand it over. Sometimes when I turn it over, it comes back to me with new insight.  Other times the situation or person is no longer in my life.  When I get stuck in wanting to control a situation or a person’s reaction and thus modify my behavior and am not myself, it is because I fear that God will not be enough to get me through real or perceived loss.  The cooperation God asks is to trust God in any situation.  God desires for me to cooperate with him by knowing that the presence of love I experience in the depths of my heart during our dates or at other times, is more real than whatever I fear I losing.  Sometimes it takes me a while to be willing to cooperate with God’s perspective in a situation or relationship, but when I do I find the peace that no level of fear can supersede. It is a daily practice of cooperation that I practice on our dates each morning so I can bring the spirit which is the best version of myself into my day today.

The largest organ of the human body is our skin.  Its general design is of protection of the underlying structures and keep out bacteria that may be dangerous to us.  The sensory element of our skin is what allows us to feel hot, cold, and pain to name a few. When we connect our skin with another human beings it registers on that part of our body and in our brain.  If it is a safe and kind gesture it also registers in our hearts.  Our heart rates will actually slow down when we are in the presence and comforted by someone who cares. The value of being held is seen in a mother’s embrace of her baby, a parent’s gentle pat on the back and a good friends’ warm hug.  As an incest survivor I grew up with a very mixed experience of touch.  It was hard to know when a kind touch might become something else entirely.  Even when it didn’t I learned to be on guard.  As an adult I have had to be gentle with myself in recognizing that it takes me a while to feel comfortable to let people close enough and determine whether their touch is safe.  Strangely it has been a blessing that I am able to develop a strong relationship with God who does not have a literal physical presence.  In my daily prayer and meditation dates I can focus on being in touch with my own body and recognizing God’s presence in that.  As an obesity survivor, my recovery has taught me how to not treat my body as the villain I always blamed it for being. Within my heart is a desire to connect more and more with the power of touch as I release the old stories which still show up in my body.  I know God never designed the presence of touch to be used for unhealthy purposes.  We all experience wounds of different kinds and the more we recognize the intertwining natures we have as energetic beings, the more we can step into the full presence of God for ourselves and each other. With God’s encouragement we can let go of our old attachments to unhealthy or hurtful experiences of touch. No one can do it perfectly, but as my dates have taught me, if we are willing to be the vessel of love our touch will convey that message even in a handshake.