dailydatewithgod

It seems as though sometimes I am comfortable being in pain.  It is like the saying, “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.”    Somehow the madness of fighting reality which keeps me in discord is more comforting (for a shorter time now than it used to be, thank God) than accepting it.  I become like a three-year old stomping her feet, “But I don’t like it or it’s not the way I want it or I refuse to accept it.”  This attitude served me at one point to protect me and I am grateful that it did. But as my relationship with God grows and expands, I find that I have less and less need for protection.  When I accept reality as it is-accept who I am being and acting in a particular experience or the situation as it is occurring I can then step into the next stage.  But as long as I am not accepting what is I am fighting reality.  As much as my mind might try to convince me that I can do it, I am tired of the losing battle.  It is simply not worth my time to keep fighting.  I can see in my walk with God that I am continually being called to be in the moment, to be present, and to let go of the meaning I create around things.  It is the meaning that brings pain.  So I can be willing to let go of my meaning and take on God’s meaning and maybe, just maybe what I am accepting is not what it seems in my mind.  Maybe the devil I don’t know is an angel in disguise. 🙂 My prayer for us today is that we be open to the idea that God’s gift of acceptance will bring a little bit more peace than we can even imagine.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Beauty is part of the core of who we are.  I don’t mean beauty in a worldly sense like in a magazine or a top ten best dressed list but the essence of our character and the way that our light shines.  I remember very distinctly my first trip to Yosemite National Park–my jaw was open most of the time because I was so awestruck by the beauty of the place.  The same creator who designed Yosemite designed you.  To be in a space of beautification means that we act on the knowledge in our hearts that we are that beauty.  We carry ourselves with majesty, treat ourselves with awe and wonder, and reflect the image and likeness of God in our own special way.  When we do this we give others permission to be and do the same.  It is beauty in action.  There is no competition, not only ten best or ten worst, there is room for the beauty and uniqueness of all.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to embracing the beauty that God has bestowed upon and within us and act as though we just might believe it for ourselves and others.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

There is a flow and a rhythm to life of which we are an integral part.  When we feel out of tune with that harmony, the re-connection is as close as our breath.  Over and over again a constant message that I feel that God conveys to me is the reminder to breathe.  And I am grateful that God does not get tired of reminding me. 🙂 It seems too simple and obvious, but it is vital to life.  It is as though I am being reminded to come back to the beginning.  A breath is how we start our day–it is the first of many gifts that we receive from God.  When we pause and look at nature and see how it is moving and being, we see that it goes in an out, rises and falls, starts and ends.  It is breath moving just like it does in and out of our mouths. To reconnect with the harmony that resides in our hearts, we need to start by aligning ourselves with the rhythm.  My prayer for us today is that we take time to be with God and breathe. (Take a breath in and say “God”, take a breath out and say “Love”) And in that breath that we are reminded of the harmony and rhythm of which we are an integral part.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Most often when we think of ministry or being a minister, we think of those in religious roles–a priest, a rabbi, a nun, etc.  But what if we are all called to minister to each other?  One definition of minister is “to attend to the needs of someone”.  We are a witness to each others lives. We have the responsibility (the ability to respond) to look out for each other.  This does not mean live another person’s life, save them from themselves, or hold judgment over them.  This means bearing witness to the light and love that they are.  To remind others that they were created from greatness and even when they cannot see it in themselves we can.  It is so easy to go through our day and not even acknowledge another human being–we do it all the time. Think of how many people whose path you crossed yesterday and didn’t look in the eye, smile or say hello.  In his book “Call to Joy”, Matthew Kelly, talks about how one of the first things that God called him to do was to look people in the eye and smile–not campaign to rid the world of hunger, build a church, or feed all the homeless in his neighborhood–just look at those whom path he crossed throughout his day and smile.  This is ministering to each other.  When we look at others we are acknowledging them, which means we are acknowledging God in one of God’s many forms.  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to bear witness and minister to the God in all whom we encounter. (Besides, smiling always makes me feel better 😉 )  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Breathe!  Just take a nice long deep breath! (In through the nose and filling the belly up with air and then releasing it all through the mouth).  That is healing!  God has given us such a beautiful gift.  If we find ourselves off-track, stressed out, worried, angry, feeling anything with intensity we can pause, breathe, and be restored to wholeness.  I know it seems much too simplistic but God usually makes things simple–that way we can complicate them 😉  I have shared many times that the pauses in our day are our greatest gifts.  Pauses occur when I stop and take a breath. I remember several years ago that a friend was telling me about a breathing yoga class and I laughed at myself because my first thought was, “oh no, I can’t do that.”  LOL!  What do I think I do all day long?  The key is being present and aware of my breath.  What do we do before we speak, before we take a step, before we open our eyes in the morning?  We breathe.  If we stop breathing, we stop living.  So if I am constricting my breath and not paying attention to the rhythm of my breath then I am not paying attention to my life.  I am relying on my autonomic nervous system to keep my lungs going in and out and breath carrying through my body.  Thank God it does that.  But how much of my life do I want to just be on an automatic system?  Yoga is all about breathing through the movements, singers rely on their breath to carry a note, writers breath through their fingers, children blow bubbles with their breath, and we connect to our hearts when we breathe.  The more deep breaths we take, the more fresh oxygen goes into our system which is then carried throughout our body. Think of what you do when you are relieved–you let out a sigh!  (a.k.a.–a deep breath).  To breathe into something is to bring attention and focus to it.  I am reminded this morning that to inspire is to breathe into.  How much of your life do you want to be inspired?  That is my prayer for us today–that we choose as many moments as possible to breathe and thus inspire. Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Our ego is all about separation.  EGO=Edging God Out.  This does not mean that the ego is bad or wrong.  Nothing is that black and white.  It is simply what we are paying attention to.  As I have grown in my relationship with God over the years, I have come to see that when I am connected to God and in alignment with the Greater Good that God has designed, I am much more at peace.  When I am trying to make or be or cause things to happen I am in the discomfort of self-will.  It is not about ridding myself of self-will but rather asking that it be aligned with God’s will.  I am asking that given who I am and where I am, how can I be the best self I can?  How can I carry out the message of love that oozes from every cell of my body?  What God calls me to today may be different from tomorrow so I must stay in constant relationship with God.  This is what my dates are all about. There is a certain excitement at times–ooh, I was given the gift of a new day! (God’s way of saying–“Good morning my LOVE, so happy to see your bright and loving soul show up.”
So I turn to him in wonder, “What will we be doing or being today”?  Love is always the answer when I am one with God.  The shape, breath, depth, and action of what that love looks like depends on the day.  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to embrace the moments we have been given with wonder of how being connected to God will allow us to be love in whatever shape or form we are called.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

We cling so hard sometimes to who we think we are based on our ego-mind.  This is only natural.  We grow up being called by our name, praised for following rules, congratulated for our achievements, and get promoted for being a good worker.  Conversely, some of us have experienced just the opposite and rebelled against “the system”.  Both experiences are valid and ones that our minds grab hold of to make some sense of this human experience.  Who we are is so much more than that.  We are not just a name (forgotten or remembered), we are not just a body (adored or hated), we are not just an accomplishment (made or failed).  We are the embodiment of love and acceptance, power and courage, purity and light. We are an extension, so to speak, of the Great Creator who placed us on this planet to share who we are.  On this spiritual path through a human experience we must face ourselves and shed the titles and ideas of who we think we are in this world.  There is a sense of loss because when we listen closely to our hearts, we realize that all the names, titles, and acknowledgements are an empty experience.  We are not fulfilled by the things of this world.  We are only fulfilled by connecting to our true selves–who we are in God.  When we have the courage to come face to face with our own hearts and spirits we can rejoice in the loss of who we thought we were and finally be at peace with ourselves.  So what does this mean in practicality?  It means being willing to question all of who we think we are to get down to our hearts and find our true selves.  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to ask ourselves, if I was not “fill-in-the-blank”, who could or would I be?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Sometimes it is hard to imagine that the All Powerful, All Creative force of the universe wants to be close to us.  At least I find that I doubt this often.  I used to think that God was more concerned with more pressing things.  I figured that there is a lot of tragedy in the world–wars, starvation, crime, and so on which kept God’s focus and attention.  I realize now that I was carrying around with me the idea of a “fix-it God”.  So I busied myself “fixing” parts of my life that I thought needed fixing and only called in on God when I needed a pinch-hitter.  When something became so overwhelming, I looked to God to rescue me.  Again, a very limited view of God.  It wasn’t until I began to incorporate God into every single little decision and part of my life that my view of God and sense of God began to change.  It took being broken by addiction and a life that was unmanageable to be willing to do that, but whatever it takes.  In the end, it all turned out for the better.  I have learned that when I turn it over to God, God turns it to good.  Even the most unimaginable elements of life can be flipped to good.  My part is remembering to turn it over to God.  To abide in All that Is, to trust that God can see and deal with whatever it is in a way that is beyond what I can imagine.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to taking to God one area of our life in this day that we think God is too busy to deal with.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

God’s capacity for forgiveness is definitely beyond my understanding. I don’t know if it is because God is not bound by space and time or because God knows and sees the whole picture.  I suppose it is not for me to understand but simply link up to that incredible power of forgiveness.  I have personally experienced the grace of forgiveness in my life when I was able to forgive my father. It took many years of praying and lots of tears but through that God opened my heart and allowed it to soften and breathe.  Then I was able to see my father and everyone else around me that I might have had anger or resentment towards through the eyes of God. This was not something that I ever saw as possible.  I knew in my heart of hearts that I wanted to be free of the poison that was surrounding my heart but I didn’t know how it was going to happen.  I just took one step at a time and kept turning my heart and mind towards God.  This would cause me to interact with different people and read books and spend a lot of time in closeness with God bearing my heart and my sorrow until one day I was simply free.  This is what grace is.  So why do I share this with you?  Because my experience of this has altered my understanding of the power of love and finally allowed me to understand what grace is.  It is a gift of love beyond understanding.  It is the clear knowledge that while I am fully connected to LOVE in all its forms and shapes, I cannot generate it on my own.  This gives me the courage to believe that anything is possible and forgiveness in all areas of my life is possible especially in the ways that I have not forgiven myself.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to believing that there are gifts that God has for us if we are willing to show up and accept them.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Waiting is a discipline.  Especially when we live in the times of constant immediacy.  Heck, pulling up this webpage I wanted to hit refresh because it didn’t load within a couple of seconds. 🙂 We are so used to things happening at such a quick space that when we are experiencing a waiting time we get easily frustrated and want to just start over or give up.  It takes courage to hold on to the possibility of fruition in God’s time.  Being that I can recognize that God created everything and not all at lightening speed, I have faith that God’s time is good enough.  I don’t always have the same faith in my ability to wait or my ability to hold on to it being possible.  My courage to continue to conceive in faith.  But what is my alternative?  I have found that only living in immediacy is fleeting. It is character building to be able to wait.  I am here for a lifetime (I presume) and I want to be a person of character, not a flash in the pan.  I want to be someone who creates and loves and gives and has a life.  So if having times of waiting for the grandeur of a God that loves and wants the best for me is in order, I will wait today.  My prayer for us today is that we have the courage to continue to conceive of what is possible when we are in a period of waiting.  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen