dailydatewithgod

We are wired for connection.  It is in the design. The Great Creator built within us the desire and the joy of connection.  Connection with others, connection with ourselves and connection with All That Is.  We can pride ourselves on our self-sufficiency and independence.  We can list the things in our lives that we have accomplished all on our own.  But as we look closer at the elements of self-sufficiency and independence we notice that it all comes from some kind of connection.  Even a hermit must acknowledge that he or she was created out of the connection between a man and a woman.  The part I am certain gives God a great deal of laughs are the lengths we go to at times to avoid it or deny it.  I know the peace that comes from connecting to my own spirit.  I know the comfort that comes from reaching and grasping the hand of a trusted friend.  I know the wonder that comes from connecting each day with God in sometimes the most unexpected ways.  Yet, I have been known to run from any and all of it out of fear or discomfort.  I fear losing my individuality, my sense of who “I” am, and needing others. I am uncomfortable in the vulnerable experiences of being and attempting to connect and waiting.  I have learned in the last decade or so the profound power of letting people in.  For a girl who made a decision early on that she was on her own, this has been a real source of emotional and spiritual growth for me.  It has meant letting go of my meanings of independence, dependence, and connection by bringing them to God and asking, what does this look like from your point of view?  How can I connect wholly with the sense of connection that lives in my heart? Like all things it is a day by day or even moment to moment situation.  I needn’t know exactly how to do it, but precede it by my willingness to be in the space of connection with earnestness.  As a grown woman looking to let go of the stories created when I was young, I know that where my intention are my actions follow.  My prayer for us today is when we have moments of connection to others, ourselves, and or God we sit and be with it for a moment, allowing it to permeate us through and through.  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen

There is no place where God is not.  In the in-between spaces it looks like there is nothing but nothing is the very thing that is there. Even scientists are discovering things that exist in what was previously believed to be “empty space”. The physical world that we inhabit measures everything by the end result. Our society asks, what is the outcome, the degree, the accolade, the trophy, the recognition, or goal achieved?  This creates an intolerance and lack of value for the times in between when we are in the process.  Every achievement happens in stages, day by day, step by step, decision by decision.  The process of working towards a goal or preparing for an event is the story of our life. It is the journey, not the destination.  Who we are being is measured on the path to the end. On the path, everything has value in God’s eyes.  Every step, every moment, every decision is an opportunity to be present in the moment.  Even in the quiet times when it seems like nothing is happening.  Things are never what they seem.  God encourages us to pause and to rest on the journey because in theory we are here for the experience of life.  Life is more than just the main event or the end result.  In the same way that we are more than just our physical bodies, our being has value in the in-between times.  It is in the quietude that we can be taken care of, nurtured, rested, and filled with the love that we need to take us on our next step of the journey.  My prayer for us today is that we seize the moments of “nothing” happening and ask God to help us recognize the presence of love in those moments.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

When all else fades away, God remains.  In a world where things are constantly changing it is hard to image that there is a constancy in God that exists, especially when we consider that the sureness of God that exists does not take the form of permanence that we come to think of as permanent.  In other words, we come to and understanding of security as those that take specific shape and physical form. As we mature we realize that even those things change and the one that does not isn’t a physical reality.  If we think about it too much it can be maddening which is why it is good that the knowing of security in God resides in our hearts and spirits.  God invites us to spend time in the space of our hearts so that we might begin to know the realm of the spirit deep within us.  As we do that we have less and less attachment to the things of the world upon which we have relied for our security and identity.  We are not as threatened when they change or fall away because we are reunited with the security of God in our soul.  When God and I have our date time, my eyes are opened to a reality far more secure that the job that I have, the money in the bank, the roof over my head, or the loved ones in my life.  So when those things fall away or change, and they will, I do not lose my grounding.  My security is not shaken.  The process of stepping away from dependence solely on the physical securities offered by this world and relying on the security of God is step by step, day by day, with lots of bumps and curves. It is a continual call to love from the heart and expand my learning so that I might share that love with others.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to looking within ourselves to find the security of God that is at the core of who we are and cling to it from our hearts.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

The Energy of God that created every part of you is present with you in this moment.  At no time can you be separate from that which formed you and designed you.  Your vital energy does not go away.  No matter how much circumstance and story you layer on top of your energetic essence.  In the end it is at your core that it will be found.  God calls us to draw inward and connect with our deepest selves because that is where God will be found.  When we connect with our core of spirit the Great Spirit is revealed to us.  We see that all the layers we have placed on top of it are not the truth of who we are.  No matter what happens in our lives, no matter what we have endured, no matter the stories of what we think we are supposed to be matter to who we truly are.  lt is easy for me to buy into that I am only what is on the surface and hold all my value there.  We live in a world that is constantly reminding us and tending to our outer appearance.  But our outer appearance is only a reflection of what is going on inside of us.  The more I tend to the core of my spirit, the more my outer self shines with genuine light and love.  If these dates have taught me anything, it is that.  The quiet time that I set aside for me and God first thing, connects me to my own vitality which drives the energy and fulfillment of my life.  My prayer for us today is that we trust God enough to be willing to tend to the core of who we are by going below the layers we have created and see the vitality that exists within us. Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Life’s beauty is painted by the many variables we experience.  The flow and dance of life is splattered with the unexpected experiences that lighten our spirit and our hearts and engage us in the moment.  This is the core of who we are.  It is challenging for our ego’s physical reality because that is not something we can “rely” on. There is no certainty in variability or unexpected.  We look to patterns and routines to tell us that we are okay because they feed into the ability to not be conscious.  The ego mind much prefers not to be present because it is then aware that it is not all that is. In the present moment we are aware of the Divine Consciousness of which we are a part and we remember that we do not have to rely on just our ego.  We can resolve to be in the present more and more if we are willing to rely a little bit less on the known and a little bit more on the unknown to our ego.  The irony in all of this is our spirit knows this Presence and is grateful to rely on it. For me I can do this in little steps day by day by taking a random occurrence or incident and choosing credence in my spirit that connects me to All That Is.  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to choose credence in God in an innocuous experience and notice the reaction of our spirit.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

God takes the time.  Of course, God makes time.  It is hard to imagine being in a space where time is irrelevant.  We live in such a timed world.  There are clocks everywhere. We are measured by how much time it takes us to get things done, arrive somewhere, respond to someone, finish school, get a job, get married, own a house and on and on.  Most of our relationship with time has to do with results.  If we are not dependent upon results, how much time something takes does not matter.  Perhaps this is why God is about the process because God is not measuring what gets done, but what is being done, more specifically who we are being while we are on this travel experience of life.  We are called to be the message of love. When I look back on a day, sometimes I focus on how much time things took, but mostly I remember what I was thinking about or feeling.  Who I was being while I was waiting tells me more about the quality of my life than the amount of time. I work around and train others on computer systems, we are all around them these days.  How frustrated do we get when the page doesn’t load quick enough or we haven’t gotten an email response back?  Who are we being when we are frustrated or waiting?  Who are we being when things aren’t going the way or the speed we want them to?  Where else is it exactly that we are supposed to be at that moment that we need it to happen so quickly?  Maybe some slowness is not a bad thing.  Maybe in the slowness we can actually be present to where we are, who we are with, what we are feelings and just be for a moment.  Often that is too uncomfortable so we would rather the rush of moving to the next thing.  And when we can’t get that rush, we complain and get all dramatic about it not happening.  I am convinced that God finds me quite amusing just watching me run around in such a hurry sometimes. If God were a southern woman he would say, “Sweet Child, why are you in such a hurry?  Just come sit out on the veranda with me darlin’ and let’s sip some lemonade and take in the sun before it goes down.”  My prayer for us today is that we be open to the possibility that whatever is moving slowly in our lives is God’s invitation to sit down on the veranda and sip some lemonade.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

In the realm of the spirit everything is heard, acknowledged, and noticed.  In God’s world nothing absolutely nothing goes unnoticed.  It is hard to imagine such an experience.  We inhabit a limited physical experience where we filter out a great deal.  In order to rely on our mind’s we find it necessary to exclude certain awareness.  This is a practice required for survival.  This is a sacred practice as it preserves our lives and our existence in the physical sense.  The spiritual reality is that we are a channel, a venue, and portal for spirit.  The bodies and things that we claim as solid are not as solid as we rely on them to be.  Everything is energy and everything is constantly changing.  Scientists each day are discovering more and more how what we understand to be a solid experience even has fluctuations.  To be present to everything would be to be God.  It would break the barriers of our capacity in this human form, but slowly we can begin to attune ourselves to that which is more than just what can be grasped at physically.  You notice it when there is a lightness in the air as you come across a friendly face.  You sense it when there is danger.  You feel it in the wind and the whispering of the willows.  It is written about in music and poetry, drawn in paintings, danced in ballet shoes, felt in warm hugs, seen in smiles, and echoed in sacred temples and churches. It is all the presence of spirit all around us.  The key is that this same experience is within us.  It does not just exist out there.  We do not need to go somewhere, see someone, or be something different.  God calls us to go within and listen.  Listen to our hearts.  Be open to how we are channeling the spirit of love.  This morning as my day quickly derailed into a bunch of mishaps I could hear God saying listen.  “Where are you rushing to?  What or whose expectation are you trying to meet?  Be with me.”  I danced in and out of that and am at this moment still grappling with fully surrendering.  I recognized as it started (after I expressed not so nicely to God that what was happening was not what I wanted!–picture a child stomping her feet), that this was an opportunity that I was being given to pay attention and listen.  As I was eating breakfast I noticed and listened to the birds singing outside my window.  I wondered how long it had been since I listened to the beautiful melody that for all I know was God’s way of singing to me “good morning my daughter.”  That was a moment where I danced in.  Then I got off the floor again when I was driving (I don’t recommend this as it makes traffic that much more unbearable).  🙂 Maybe this whole day will be me off and on the dance floor but I hope that I am willing to at least keep listening even when I step off the floor.  I have no words of wisdom, but my prayer for us today is in those in between moments, we listen to hear God say, “Be with Me.”  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen

“In the beginning was the word and the word was God.”–Gospel of John.  For centuries scholars and lay people have spent hours upon hours studying what is believed to be the Word of God.  They have translated, analyzed, interpreted, misinterpreted, and written their own words of explanation and meaning.  Our lives are evidences in our action but they begin with our thinking.  In order to express our thinking we attach words and say them out loud.  Then to add energy we attach a tone of voice, volume and intention which creates the energy of expression–the bringing of life to the words. There are words that build us up and words that tear us down.  Florence Scovel-Shinn says our word is our wand.  Words carry power because we give them meaning.  Meaning creates emotion.  Energy in motion is what moves us.  I learned early on that the words that I use set the course of my destiny.  But I had to learn the hard way that if I kept using words to tear myself down I was going to view myself as in pieces.  My wholeness began to be restored when I recognized with my words the power of choosing them wisely and for building.  When we build ourselves up with our words (our self-talk) then we are capable of doing the same with others.  My prayer for us today is that we notice how we speak to ourselves both in our heads and out loud and ask God if this is how God speaks to us.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

God created a magnificent and abundant universe.  We are included in that creation. Therefore by definition we are magnificent and abundant. Because we live in a limited physical world and forget our origins it is easy to buy into the notion that we are limited. God wants nothing more than for us to remember Our Creator, remember our origins, remember the love that we are.  Life is designed to bring us to those awakenings where we remember.  However when we are in the dream of the physical experience and believe we are only that which we can touch, see and hear, we end up being frustrated by anything that is outside of that.  We see the wake up call as a disruption.  These disruptions, however, at the very least are a “gift” because they call us to be “present” in the moment.  As I walk this daily path on these dates with God, I am gently invited to take on a new perspective of these so-called disruptions.  I am invited to see them as gifts of awareness that lead to paths of remembrance.  My prayer for us today is that we embrace the disruptions and ask God to help us see them for the gifts that they are.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Clarity and truth are two essential elements of Spirit.  God’s way is that of clarity and truth. God has a singular vision = LOVE. The vision then perpetuate everything that is.  The vision of love fulfilled.  The vision of love expressed.  The vision of love shared.  The vision of love healing.  The vision of love breaking down false barriers.  The vision of love engendering compassion.  The vision of love triumphant over all.  This vision is part of who we are as well.  Our Creator designed us to be the fulfillment of The Great Vision.  Our destiny is love and that is why in the end it always wins.  We can resist it.  We can pretend it is not part of who we are and act in a contrary manner, but in the end we cannot help but be touched by it, recognize it, and on some level be with it.  There have been dark times in my life when I felt nothing close to love and only knew the opposite.  Times when I felt abandoned by God and saw no hope.  Yet something within me would not let me give up.  I was connected to this vision of God but I didn’t know it. It was the little light in my heart the kept burning if only as an ember.  Bill W, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, wrote “It is always darkest before the dawn.”  Have you noticed that the dawn always comes?  Night and day.  Death and Resurrection.  Breathing in and out.  It is the flow of life.  I can and have latched on to the current moment’s reality of darkness as though it was the only thing that existed, but I was never right.  Eventually it changed.  More importantly it showed me that my thinking is limited and I cannot rely solely on it to guide the vision of my life.  These days when I find myself troubled, uncertain, lacking clarity or feeling lost, I hear the voice of God remind me Keep your eyes on Me Colleen.  I may not know what love looks like in that situation but I can focus my vision on God (sometimes it is the face of Jesus, other times a bright light, and others a sacred chamber that I envision in my heart).  Then all that is not God will eventually fall away and love is revealed.  My prayer for us today that we have the willingness to let go of our limited version for the vision of God which will lead us to love. Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen