dailydatewithgod

One of the most wonderful aspects of God is that we can rely on the fact that God will always be the God, the Great Creator, Lover Spirit, Giver of all things given, Yahweh, Allah, Chris, All that Is, Love, Great Reality, or whatever magnanimous or simple name you might have for God. This means no matter what happens in our daily lives we can connect with the one constant that will always be there.  We can trust in the assurance that the love from which we were created does not go anywhere even when we feel disconnected from it.  I remember hearing that God does not abandon us, God does not turn his back on us.  I don’t remember when or where I heard it, but when I was in one of the darkest times of my life (Teaching in the inner city, depressed, exhausted, using food to save my life while simultaneously hurting myself, angry, and shut down), there was this little voice that reminded me of that.  In my usual style I challenged God that if that was true, to show me what I was doing to push him away.  I believe the answer came to me a few years later when I came to face myself and deal with my addiction.  It was then that I saw that I had been using food as my god and it simply did not work.  There was no room for All That Is or Love when I was busy stuffing my face, checking out, and believing my negative thinking.  I have since had other experiences and realized that there are all little kinds of ways that I put other things in front of God or that I make into gods.  I even want to make certainty or my illusion of certainty my god.  Ultimately, they all fail.  The gift is when I come to that realization I am them reunited with the Great Creator, with my true self, with the assurance that I was never lost but just took a different road for a while.  We all have ways of thinking and behaving that we make into Gods.  Even some of the people in our lives whom we want to please or not upset or get to approve of us–they become our gods.  My experience has shown me that the only God is God and no matter how many other gods I create the God of Gods is still there smiling when I take a breath and reconnect.  My prayer for us today is that we breathe in the assurance that no matter where we are today or how many other gods we have created, the one that Created us all is there beneath all of that with love ready to relish us and all the paths we have taken to reconnect.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

We are so full of life and love (even if we aren’t aware of it)!  That means that when we are in alignment with who we are it is only natural for us to give and share of ourselves.  I used to think that being of service gave me permission to be here.  Being of service to others was done out of a need for approval and for others to tell me I was okay.  It is a way of being that permeated my intentions and motivations.  I did see the benefits, but when it comes from a place of lack it exhausts instead of uplifts.  I have learned that I cannot give of what I do not have.  This does not mean that I sit around and wait to feel connected and loved before I am of service.  It means that to the best of my ability I give without expectation of anything in return including and “attagirl” acknowledgment.  My prayer for us today is that when we are of service to others we see it as an extension of the love that God is within each of us instead of justification for being.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Life is such a beautiful gift that we are beginning of each new day.  Sometimes we get so used to getting up in the morning that we take that first breath for granted, I certainly have.  This morning I was gifted with a new appreciation as last night I went to bed thinking of my brand new nephew who was born (after 20 hours of labor-go sis!) into this world.  It reminds me of one of my favorite sayings, Each newborn child is a sign that God has not yet given up on us.  This little man has his whole life ahead of him and who knows what he will make of the first 24 hours.  We have that same gift.  Our whole lives stand in front of us and for the next 24 hours we have an opportunity to experience it to its fullest, to engage in love and being loved, to breathe and take it all in.  Each breath we are given is a sign that God has not yet given up on us.  How can you not give up on you today?  My prayer for us today is that we see each breath we take (or at least some of them) as a sign of God’s never-ending confidence in and love of us.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

The natural world of which we are an integrated part speaks to us of the mind of God.  The way things come and go through cycles of life and death, night and day, destruction and renewal.  It gives us a clue that nothing stays the same, everything has a season.  Most importantly it is all accepted.  Sometimes weeds occur naturally.  Is it because they are bad or because they are the natural course of pruning in nature that must occur for new life.  I have always considered myself to have a black thumb but mostly that comes from a lack of understanding that there needs to be constant attention to the matters of life and death.  Plants need regular sun and water, daily or weekly attention in order to thrive. Why are we any different?  If a plant dies from lack of attention and connection to another living thing (be it water, sun, or me talking to it), wouldn’t the same apply to us.  I often think I am an exception to the rule of nature, but God invites me to recognize who I am integral part (even on just a basic level of needing water, oxygen, and sunshine).  My prayer is that if we are feeling disconnected in any way we start with the basics–am I breathing?  am I getting enough water?  am I soaking up some sun today?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

I notice a particular distinction in the energy present when I am trying to make something happen andi am allowing something to happen.  When it is solely of my doing and when it is done in partnership with another human being or God.  We all have the same amount of time–24 hours.  It doesn’t matter who we are or what we do or where we have been, this day we have been given 24 hours.  How I spend that time, is connected to how Iexpend my energy.  I find it leaves me quickly when I am in more negative states of anger and resentment.  It creates more when I am in states of gratitude and contentment.  When I work with others we generate energy together provided that there is no discord with each other.  When I find my energy getting depleted, I know that I must turn to the Great Source to rejuvenate me.  I ask to be redirected to spend my energy in a way that is life-giving both to me and to others and to be the channel through which it is shared.  Then I step out-of-the-way.  This is not easy as it means letting go of my ideas of who things “should” go or my predictions of what will happen.  It is one moment at a time, one day at a time but it builds my trust and faith that the Great Source really does have my back.  My prayer for us today is that if we find ourselves depleted of energy we stop and ask to be revived by the Great Source.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

If life is not about what happens but what I make it mean (the 10/90 rule as I like to call it), then the more open I am to seeing the meaning as different that my original decision lies the power to change my whole experience. I need God’s help with this.  I can only come up with so much on my own with my finite mind.  I find my most powerful prayers are the ones where I ask God to show me how to see things, or to come between me and my thinking about an experience.  I have been doing a lot of that lately.  My mind has these fixed ideas that come from experiences that I had a long time ago.  And as the mind does, when I experience a similar feeling it goes back into its files and searches for similarity and then plays the old tape.  I appreciate that my mind does this when it comes to a situation of life and death.  I don’t think I would make it if in a time of danger (someone chasing me with a knife)  if I had to stop and remind myself to breathe. But the only persons with knives chasing me lately are old fixed ideas of how I relate to men.  Not exactly life threatening, although I interpreted it that way when I was very little.  First, I ask God to help me be in the present (I am a grown woman) .  Then I ask God for the courage to let go of the old story, not make myself wrong for the agreement I made as a kid, and create a new experience so that I can relate to others and to myself from this present moment.  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to see deeper into something that we are “certain” we are seeing, especially if it is causing a discord in our present day experience.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

When we have a sense of purpose and direction in our lives our day-to-day living (even the parts we don’t like) feels more fulfilling.  Right now, there is a lot about the world that doesn’t seem to have any direction or guidance.  Yet the direction from God has not changed over the years.  Love and love some more.  Be who you are, share yourself and your gifts with the world.  For me the willingness to live this direction from God is directly proportional to whether or not I am also seeking validation from the world.  If when I am being loving or sharing my gifts I am doing so to get the approval of others, I can fall into a trap.  Whether or not I get this approval is dependent upon how people are thinking or feeling.  This has caused me to go off in a different direction because all of a sudden it isn’t working to be loving or sharing myself.  I am not getting the response I need.  It is then that I realize that I have lost sight of where the direction came from.  The good thing is that God is always close by to remind me that the direction came from the Great Director and it is within him that I will find the approval and acknowledgment that I seek.  When I take the time to go within the quietness of my heart where my spirit dwells I can sense the expansive approval and love that comes from the Great Director.  Over time I have built a sensitivity to it versus the world’s approval.  When I check in with that, it becomes my internal guidance system.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to connecting to the Great Direction that dwells within our hearts and surpasses any approval that the world can offer.  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen

Living in a “free” country we are constantly reminded about the preciousness of freedom.  When we compare ourselves to other nations this seems to be the marking line from which we stand out as Americans.  I have come to realize over the years that my level of freedom is directly proportional to my willingness to let go of thinking that keeps me trapped in my head and out of reality.  When I live in the conversation of this shouldn’t have happened, how could I have messed this up, what is wrong here, etc., I am in the jail cell of my mind.  Recently I was reflecting on a conversation I had with someone and all that kept coming up for me was how I “should” have exited out of it before I did.  The reality is that I did not do what I “should” have done, so I asked God what can I learn from this?  Show me how to be compassionate in my thinking towards myself.  Then and only then was I able to come back to the present and this moment where my feet are. This is the most effective way I have found to liberate myself from the tyranny of my head that can, if I let it, imprison me and bar me from experiencing life as it comes.  My prayer for us today is that we notice if we are imprisoning ourselves with our thinking and ask God what liberating thoughts we can replace that with.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Each day that we wake up with a new breath, we are given a compelling reason to press on.  We are being told through this gift of the breath of a new day that the Creator of All That Is thinks that we have a contribution to make.  Think about that for just one minute.  The same Creator that designed every living thing, makesthe planets orbit, and so much more thinks that you have a gift to give to yourself and to the world.  I do not always see that when I first wake up because my head is full of yesterdays and future happenings or my agenda.  This is for me, why I need to turn over my ideas of how things are “supposed” to be so that I can align myself with the compelling reason that God has given me life today.  I find that when I get into alignment with God’s purpose for my day and don’t spend it in my head I have a day that flows.  Sure, I get tripped up and I forget through the course of the day but the reminder of alignment with Spirit is simply a breath away.  My prayer for us today is that we be able to remember that with each breath we take we are saying yes to the gift of the life of who we truly are and what we have to give.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen