dailydatewithgod

 Sometimes I experience God as a warm blanket that wraps all around me.  As though the big arms of God embrace me fully and let me know that I am not alone.  At other times that comfort comes from a knowing inside that despite the strife I am experiencing, all is going to be okay.  This not to say that God is nowhere to be found in times of discomfort.  I believe that God is still there but I am disconnected, most likely because of something I am thinking.  My beautiful mind is running on old programming that consists of fear and trepidation.  It creates these scenarios of doom.  To reconnect with that comfort I need to stop and take a breath.  Sounds simple, I know, but that is usually how it works.  I do believe that growth comes from uncomfortable times and I am grateful for them. At the very least they remind me that I need God.  Sometimes when I reconnect with that comfort there is a simple knowing of comfort inside the discomfort.  I guess you could call it the sense that knowing this too shall pass.  Rarely do things turn out as terrible as my magnifying mind would have me believe–life is just not that definitive.  Most of the time, things turn out and I am a better, stronger, more connected human being because of it.  We are living in times of uncertainty and really we always have been because the world is an uncertain place.  That is why I need God because He is certainty.  He is the comfort that comes from within.  As long as I am seeking comfort from things outside of myself, while I may be comforted in the moment, it is not the kind that lasts.  My prayer for you today is that in moments where you feel uncomfortable that you know somewhere deep down that comfort (God) is there.  May you have an opportunity to be that comfort for someone else today–recognize it in their eyes and be able to share with a look that you see the comfort (God) in them even if they cannot see it.  How have you seen God in your life during times of discomfort?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

 I used to think that if I was to be kind to everyone that meant I had to have them all close to me at the same level.  Somehow by acknowledging their presence I was letting them in close. I never understood that I could be loving and tolerant of others and still have a different kind of relationship with them.  As I was driving around LA. yesterday I was keenly aware of the homeless people who were carting around their stuff.  Maybe it was easier to see them because there was less traffic or perhaps it was the heartbreak that their Christmas would be spent on the street.  There is one in particular that has a sign that says please help me.  Each time I have passed him, I have asked God, how can I help him?  Most of the time the message I get is to look him in the eye when my car passes him and acknowledge his presence as a human being.  Sometimes I get the sense that I should give money and in general I keep snacks in my car to hand out.  Being inclusive however, is not just about being loving to those less desirable.  It is about embracing those elements of myself that I find intolerable or less than desirable. Only by recognizing God in those places can I begin to heal them, to recognize them as part of the whole.  I need courage to do that because I spend more time judging those things.  I think of Mother Theresa’s quote, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”  It never occurred to me that when I judge myself I am not loving myself.  More importantly that becomes the perspective through which I see everyone else around me.  My reluctance to include all comes from fear.  A fear that I will be hurt and that some part of me will be taken away.  But if I am in God and with God then I am part of the abundance of creation and there is no lack there, there is no “taken away”.  My prayer for you today is that you are willing to see God and include God in a part of your life that needs His love. I think that if we each do that in some small part we will begin to include all of us in our lives.  Have you had an experience of including someone or some part of yourself that you once wanted nothing to do with?-feel free to share in the comments.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

 This is the day that Christians’ celebrate God becoming man and dwelling among us.  The beginnings of that human life were humble and actually easily uneventful by most standards (conceived in an unwed woman, born in a stable, etc.).  However, we recognize and celebrate these humble beginnings this time of year because of the significance of that humility and hopefully take up the call to mirror that in our lives.  Christmas is the incarnation-God becoming in human form. It is a call to live the life that I have been given to be fully myself.  If God had wanted me to be born in a different time and a different place, then I would have.  I have been called to make God known in my life right here, right now.  I often think of something I read once that talked about how God has no eyes, no ears, no arms, no legs and that we need to be that for other people.  We are called on this sacred day to step fully into the life we are given and to live it fully.  Not try to live someone else’s life or be who we think they want us to be. (Unless we think their opinion of us is more important than God’s opinion of us.)  We need to be the eyes, ears, arms, legs, etc. for God. There is a touching story that you may have heard.  A little boy who won’t go to sleep because he is scared about the monsters in his room.  His mother comforts him when he runs into her room and gently brings him back to his own bed.  He goes to sleep and after a short time runs back into his mom’s room.  Again, she brings him back to his own room.  She reminds him of what he learned in Sunday school that God is always with him and that he need not be afraid.  He agrees and gets into his own bed.  A third time, however the little boy comes to his mother’s room and says that he is scared.  She asks him what about remembering that God is with him.  To that he says, “I need God with skin on.”  We are that skin of God.  We are the expression of God in the time and place that we are today.  We are called to live our lives and be an experience of God for ourselves and for others.  As you walk through this day, this day that celebrates God with us, my prayer for you is that you see in the little actions of your day how you are an expression of God for yourself and for others.  May you also see God through others and their actions. We are reminded today in the most precious of ways through a child born in a stable that even the most seemingly insignificant ways we are called to be who we are because God is manifest in us.  I encourage you to be fully who you are today!  Make it a great one. Peace~Colleen

 God, in my experience, is very clear.  Clear, simple, straightforward.  It is me that makes things complicated.  God is love and everything that God does is to bring us back to a place of love.  To be connected to the greater whole which lives and breathes love.  The lessons that I am given are things that challenge me to come back to love.  Unfortunately, my ego gets ahead of me when I have experiences that lack love and attaches itself to them.  Then, in moments when I lack clarity it replays the tape of that experience and I start believing a story that I am not worthy or that its my fault or that I don’t belong.  All things that separate me from love. In fact, there are times when I am clear about who I am but then I forget that you are the same.  All I see is how we are different or you are better than me which kicks into gear my thoughts and then feelings of less than and jealousy.  The funny part about all of this is that happens largely on an unconscious level.  Neuroscience has actually seen how these patterns are created like a groove in our brain.  For me that is why it is important to connect with God every day, multiple times during the day so that I can be clear about who I am and where I come from.  Then, I remember too who you are.  I need God’s eyes because they are clear.  When I am restored to clarity the world is a much more sacred place.  My prayer for you today is that you have a moment to pause when things are clouded and reconnect with the clarity (God) of who you are.  I would love to hear about your moments of clarity–you know those times when things just flowed, etc.  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen

 I hear the phrase “magic of the season” a lot. So I have to ask myself what is magical about this season?  What is it about  the season of giving (another commonly used phrase) that is beyond the ordinary? Magic be definition usually implies the involvement of supernatural forces that produce an effect that is seen as somehow exerting superhuman control over natural forces.  In this season people find themselves reaching out to their fellow man, stopping to be kind and generous more than usual, surprising their family and friends with thoughtful gifts wrapped up in shiny paper, and pausing to be grateful for all that they have been blessed with over the course of the past year.  So, again I find myself wondering why is it only during this time of year?  In the Christian religions, the celebrate the incarnation (becoming in body) of God through the man of Jesus of Nazareth.  It is seen as a miraculous and defining moment in which they are called to witness to each other where they come from and examine how well they are living out the message of Christ. In living a spiritual life, striving each day to connect with God, I feel that I am called to that each day. I believe that when we do things together–many people participating in a common intention–i.e. giving of gifts, sharing of kindness; that a shift happens energetically and we all become enraptured in it.  I think that is the magic of the season.  The beauty of it is that we have that capability every day of the year.  What is even more magical (you could say) is that we can start it.  Because our capacity for giving comes from God within us then we have access to creating that kind of environment each day.  What if my acting from that space of giving inspired others?  It does, as I am inspired when I hear stories of giving no matter what time of year.  It’s just that this time of year we focus on it. What we focus on expands.  I know that for today, I will look to add to the magic of the season, not because it is the time of year to do so, but because it helps build that muscle so that what I practice now becomes habit.  My prayer for you today is that you see not only God’s power within you but to see how the magic of the season is really not beyond the ordinary, but rather us participating in the whole.  It is us being our god-selves that create the magic. Feel free to share how you see the magic of the season.  Make it a great one!  Peace ~Colleen

‘Tis the season, right?  One thing I do know about this holiday season is that is that it comes often with a lot of expectations and comparisons.  To me that can be a set-up to a resentment or feeling less than.  Not exactly what God had in mind.  Even though the holidays can be a mixed bag of experiences of which I have had my fair share, there is usually something in which I can experience joy.  Last night, I had the privilege of watching a Nutcracker performance by a local ballet company.  If I brought expectations to it I would have been caught off-guard because it had a 1940s jazzy flair to it that was not the traditional.  If I brought an attitude of comparison it would not have seemed as good as the performances I saw as a kid from the American Ballet Company at Lincoln Center in New York City.  Instead, I was so excited to be at a Nutcracker performance at one of the historic theatres in Los Angeles.  As a dancer I loved seeing the beauty in the lines of the dancer’s bodies and the joyful expressions on the dancers’ faces.  Most joyful though was watching the little ones dance.  The look of fear and expectation as they danced their hearts out.  There was even the one who kept pulling on her tights.  It was joyful to be at a traditional holiday performance with a friend who also wanted to soak up that part of the holiday experience.  Basically I find what I experience is in my attitude.  There it is again, “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”  And, of course, I react to what I make it mean.  I have had holiday times that looked like a Norman Rockwell painting and those that looked like a photograph from the depression era, but all of those times had moments of joy.  Moments when no matter how alone I felt, I knew that someone or something was with me even when I couldn’t feel it.  That to me is God.  My prayer for you is that however you are spending this holiday season, celebrating or not, with family or not, that there is something you can find to experience joy.  I would love to hear how you are experiencing joy (God) this season.  I know for me that all I have to do is remember that little girl pulling on her tights and dancing her heart out and I will see standing behind her God winking right at me.  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen

It is when I got past what I think I can do that God shows up.  I think it has something to do with not relying solely on my own power.  Now, this does not mean reaching past taking care of myself as I used to think of it.  I know that for a long time my example of reaching past my own power meant living on fumes.  Being so depleted and exhausted which ultimately ended in seeking comfort and consolation in other things of this world, not God.  Reaching today looks like doing something I am not particularly inclined to do, something that is not in my plan for the day.  In simple terms it is letting the car in my lane, stopping when I pass someone at work and to not only say hello but ask them how they are doing  and stay to listen for the response.  An even greater idea–actually be interested in their response.  I don’t know if any of you can relate but I find it funny when people (including myself) pass someone saying hello and how are you but don’t stick around to hear the response to the question. Reaching means being connected enough to see where can I be a little bit more loving today.  The funny thing about God is that I often imagine His direction as going to be big things–the way he called Moses to free the Hebrews from the Egyptians, the way he called upon Jesus to die on the cross, Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the civil rights movement, Dorothy Day to start the Catholic Worker Movement, Mary to give birth to a savior.  Those are just the examples that jump out at me this morning, but hopefully you get the idea.  Each of them reached past themselves and relied on God, but what I forget is that it was done one action, one moment at a time.  So reaching is in the moment.  It is actually a way of being God in the moment and by that I mean a channel of God.  If I let go of what I think needs to be done right now and check in to see what God would have me do in this moment, that simple action is reaching beyond to something greater than me and allowing me to participate in the whole of life.  I always want to know the big picture and know how it is all going to turn out, but all I have is today and this moment.  My prayer for you today is that you find a time, even just once, during the course of your day to stop and pause and reach for God so that you can be a channel or as St. Francis would say, “instrument of His peace.”  I read once that an instrument does not play itself.  Will you be played by God today?  I will certainly make a conscious effort –if not for a whole symphony I think I can show up for a note. Feel free to comment on how you were able to reach today.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

 I used to go around thinking that I was broke and needed to be fixed.  Kind of like the cars I always drove.  It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I owned my first brand new car.  What an experience!  For the first time in my life I didn’t feel like I was driving something around that even though it looked well put together was a ticking time bomb of things that would go wrong.  Not exactly a perspective to live by.  Now, I am not saying that I am a car but when I think about how for so many years I saw myself as broken.  I think deep down I figured that it was only a matter of time before you saw my faults and knew that I needed fixing.  Then would come decision time–would you put up with it or just get another one.  Now, when I say this I turn it on other people but it was really my attitude towards myself.  By connecting with God I have come to see that I am not broken, I am actually a whole human being–body, mind, and spirit.  Yes, there is maintenance that is involved (just as there is with a new car) but I am not a ticking time bomb.  I am whole and complete even in my imperfections because I come from a place of wholeness.  I am only disconnected from the greater whole when I think I am on my own, when I focus on what is wrong with me and with you.  It is hard to explain the moment when I began to resonate with my wholeness and being a part of, and I can often forget, but it has created a connection with God that is much stronger than I could have imagined.  As I have often heard I am in this world but not of this world.  And in God’s world the only thing that exists is wholeness.  Wholeness of purpose.  My prayer for you today is that through the smallest experience you might grasp how you are whole and part of the greater whole (God).  I know for me that when I see through those eyes I am no longer disconnected from myself or from others.  Here is to our connection. (tipping my hat to you).  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

 One thing that I have learned or rather experience about God is that he is committed!  He is in this for the long haul.  I suppose it comes with being all-knowing, but  he does not seem to waver when the waves get rough or things don’t look like they are going to turn out.  God is the great I AM.  In fact, over the years when I have written letters to God about things that I am worried or fearful about–usually having to do with some sort of outcome, the response I get back is simply I AM. I take that to mean that whatever happens God is there, he/she/it is not going anywhere.  I think in the instantaneous world that we live in we are so addicted to a quick response or reaction that when we don’t get it we are ready to opt out.  The web page doesn’t load as quickly as we like so we click and close it out, the lane we are in isn’t moving as fast as the one next to us so we switch lanes.  The line at the store is longer than we wanted so we figure we can get whatever we need later. Simple examples but I once heard that how we do one thing is how we do everything.  I am not sure I can swallow that completely but I do see a kernel of truth in it.  I am so afraid that I am going to miss out on the next thing that I am ready to jump ship when the current moment isn’t happening fast enough.  Can you imagine if God did that with flowers–the budding didn’t become a rose quick enough so it just died off.  I think about Moms who carry a baby for 9 months.  I have known some who after several months were like, okay, let’s go but they are not going anywhere.  Nature seems to breed (excuse the pun) committment.  It requires trust and requires patience.  Funny how all these spiritual virtues tie together.  As I face my day I will thank God for the ways that he is committed to me and my life and look to see where I can mirror that same committment.  It could be in a decision or an action.  I do know the one thing that I am committed to is drawing closer to God, it’s why I have gotten up and done this “routine” of connection for the past 10 years.  The fruits of that seem to be a committment to life, to seeking and finding God in every corner.  Even when I don’t feel like it, I know deep down that it brings me peace, so I show up.  Do I do that in all areas of my life, even the little ones?  Hmm, something to look for today.  My prayer for you is that you see how committed (loved) you are by God if only for a moment today and I challenge you to sit in that moment and breathe in that majesty of connection.  In that moment you will know the great I AM and hear in some way as I have often heard, “I AM and I AM with you.”  Make it a great one.  Peace~Colleen

 This feels like a kiss on the cheek!  You know the kind that you get from someone you love that let’s you know that you are cherished.  The kind that makes you feel all warm inside.  To know that I am blessed and walk that way in the world requires a certain level of confidence in God’s vision of me.  It means not playing the victim, it means trusting that all will work out in the end because I am blessed.  When I was in college I was very active at the Newman Center which is the public university’s catholic group.  I had the privilege of working with a Dominican father who each day when you asked him how he was, would say “I am blessed.”  Just hearing it made me smile and feel blessed myself.  It was though by recognizing that I was that much closer to how God saw me.  And Fr. Albert just glowed, okay not really, but he always seemed happy and assured. You knew he believed what he said and he had a trust that God was blessing him.  The key for me is to walk in that knowledge even when things happen that don’t seem like blessings.  What I have found is that if what is happening allows me to grow more fully into a woman, to learn more about my heart and the heart of others and draw closer to my Creator then it is a blessing.  Sometimes it is a blessing in disguise.  To be blessed then is to see all that comes my way as a blessing because ultimately it confirms the power of God.  My prayer for you today is that you can see that you are blessed and that all things that come across your path are blessings.  I know that when I am conscious of that I can be in a space of gratitude.  My challenge to you today, should you choose to accept it: when you come across something that seems like the farthest thing from a blessing–you stop for a moment and ask God, how is this showing me my blessedness? Are you up for it?  I hope you see many blessings today and know in the deepest part of yourself that you are blessed (God is with you always).  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen