dailydatewithgod

We tend to pride ourselves, at least in American society, on our independence.  The reality is most things happen as a process of interdependence.  All areas of our lives are assisted by many other forces.  We do not exist in a vacuum.  We are the ones who make the choices in our lives and we base those decisions on internal and external information and understanding.  We get to choose the weight we give each of the factors that provide input but it is not possible to be so independent that we are not assisted, supported, and influenced by the world around us.  The key to making our lives our own is knowing which helpers we give greater significance. We get to choose the helpers who have a say in what we choose to do.  We have the capacity to decide which helpers in the form of people, ideas, and situations provide feedback on our choices.  My daily dates with God have allowed me to see where I may have given well-meaning helpers more power over my life than they deserved.  As children, we can’t help but give people or ideas the role of helper simply because of our need to survive.  Maturity is about wising up to which helpers will take us further in the direction we want to go and which will lead us astray.  God invites us to rely on our hearts as a helper.  Instead of assuming our mind has all the answers and is most helpful because it is logical, through our breath we get the chance to pause and open our eyes to more than just logic.  We are whole human beings composed of more than just our thoughts.  Our hearts can be helpers by tuning us into much-needed insight on our choices.

We like to think we can control the results in our lives.  I have certainly had moments when I was dismayed by the effect of something because I was certain it would not happen that way. It is a bit like the old Yiddish adage: “Make plans, and God laughs.”   It simply points out that there are so many factors involved in the outcome of things that there is no way we could plan and account for them all.  One could use that as an excuse to not do anything.  We can ignore for the sake of the argument that it is actually not possible to not do anything because even what you are not doing anything the thing you are doing is nothing. On a deeper level, it is an opportunity to create a stronger connection between our heart and our head.  Most of the planning we do happens in our minds which then creates actions.  If we remember to involved our heart in the process then our whole selves are present for the outcome whether it is what we wanted or not.  Actively engaging our hearts creates the courageous space to move in the direction of what we hope while able to hold the space for the joy or disappointment we assign to the outcome.  The truth of who we are knows no matter the outcome, we can grow from it.  The core of our being is always trusting that no matter the outcome our essence cannot be undone by it.  Our hearts provide the lens through which we can see any outcome as the result of being in the game of life.  Dancing with outcomes in life is what living spiritually and from the space of love is all about.

The one thing we can count on in this life is change. It comes in small and big ways and more so than any other reality is always present.  We can attempt to resist it, push it away, avoid it, or deny it but there is no stopping it.  The greatest peace is found through acceptance.  It does not mean we have to like it or look forward to it but we are open to being in the reality of it.  God invites us to embrace change from the perspective of opening up the possibilities in life.  We may not know how or when it is going to occur but we can hold it in the space of hope within our hearts.  We can opt to trust that nothing that changes will undo the truth of who we are at our core.  We do not have to fight change because we know that change will not erase all God has designed within us but open us up to see it with new eyes. On my daily dates, I have learned that God always holds the space of what is possible in our growth towards love and that change is the vehicle that can open our eyes to it.  Change causes us to pause and look again. Change wakes us up out of the routine we hold onto and operate in as though it is unchanging.  In my years of daily dates with God as I am rooted in the unchanging nature of God, the more I am willing to initiate my own changes because I have a desire to grow and explore the possibilities I cannot see. Faith is the capacity to walk through changes with our hearts open and connected to the unchanging truth.

In exploring who we are and what we are here for we encounter through lines in our lives.  We being to recognize elements of ourselves showing up no matter the time or circumstance.  Our thought patterns and patterns of thought have a way of weaving themselves into all areas of our lives. It is our thinking about who we are and what we are here for that motivates our actions.  If we are not aware of our thinking we can detect it through our language and witness it in our actions. The examination of our language and actions reveals the murmurs of thinking which trickle through our lives. Finding a space of acceptance of these murmurs whether we judge them as good or bad requires utilizing the murmurs of our hearts.  It is the murmurs of our heart which can guide us to a place of love and self-compassion as we undergo any kind of self-examination. I have yet to find it possible to be completely aware of who and how we are being at every moment of our lives.  Anyone who has spent time on this planet can tell you a story or two of how despite the best of intentions with their language and actions, neither was received the way it was intended. Therefore, any examination of our lives which God invites us to do is so we can reconnect with the truth of who we are. It is an examination best served up with murmurs of our hearts.  Our hearts courageously encapsulate the compassion, acceptance, curiosity murmurs we need to take a closer look which will prove useful going forward.  The murmurs of our mind are more concerned about right versus wrong or whatever will bring out the quickest judgment which may include complete denial and ex-communication.   God reminds us through the murmurs of our heart that all of who we are and attempt to be can be an opportunity on the path of learning how to love.

We are measured by our actions.  If we want to know what we stand for and what we value we only need to look at how we spend our time and attention.  We get lost in our thinking but our thinking and feeling do not leave the kind of footprint that our actions do. We come up with ideas and cultivate them so they can take form.  We utilize our imaginings as a gateway to cultivate something to fruition.  We can also learn to cultivate our intentions from our hearts.  When we recognize the power of cultivation from our whole being what we create and put into action will have a lasting effect.  Our hearts generate different energy than our minds and together they represent the true nature of who we are being in the world.  For many of us, it starts with acknowledging and validating what is currently cultivated in our hearts.  So often we dismiss it as not as important as what is cultivated in our minds.  God encourages us to notice what is presently cultivated in our hearts.  When we take time to pause and get quiet we can hear the whispers of the heart’s cultivation.  Using God’s practice of non-judgment we can listen with warmth and compassion.  We can reconnect to the truth of what our heart’s cultivation creates in our lives once we give it the attention it deserves. Being curious about the power of cultivation from our hearts and minds joined gives us an insight into what drives the lasting cultivations present from our actions.

The wonder of a life invested in growth is the continual surprises and flips in perspective.  It may seem better or easier to operate from a fixed perspective because it is familiar and known.  However, even a little openness can make room for some swank in our lives. It can be humbling to honor the fact that so much of our lives are unknown to us and we can slip into fear.  What if what God is encouraging us to do by growing from things is to try them on?  What if it is about seeing what kind of swank we can display for ourselves in the world?  What if we have more swank than we realize and are hiding it behind the facade of who we think we are supposed to be?  Maybe the swank in ourselves is ready to burst through our hearts but the last time it showed itself it got a little bruised?  God assures us over and over again through our breath that we have exactly what we need to allow our swank to show no matter how the world receives it.  In the end, we can do nothing about what happens outside of us or how it receives us.  We can do something about what we choose to give and share because of the gift we are.

The funny thing about a framework is the longer one operates within it the more one does not realize it is operating only within it.  We are very adaptable as human beings. This is to our advantage.  If we were not able to adapt we would probably no longer be alive as a species.  Evolution is all about adaptation as is growth. At the same time, we get comfortable with our particular constructs of what a world is and how we see things based on what we know. While we can adapt readily if given the choice we typically resist at least a little.  The potential unfamiliar causes us to project possible fears which activates levels of discomfort and in runs resistance to the rescue.  If you don’t believe me think back to when you were presented with an idea by someone who had a completely different frame of mind than you. Our first reaction is typically to deny the validity of his or her framework.  It takes conscious effort to choose to be open to the ideas of others.  It takes the intention of a willingness to learn and not personalize what is being presented.  Our fear stems from the belief that to accept the framework of someone else would mean we have to alter who we believe ourselves to be.  We are very wedded to our ideas about ourselves.  We go around telling people about them all the time.  How often when asked to describe yourself do you start with your age, gender, physical characteristics, political and religious affiliations, roles we embody in our work and family lives?  Our ideas about who we are providing the framework by which we perceive the world.  God invites us to step out of the framework of our mind and open ourselves up to the framework of our hearts. A willingness to see another person outside of their framework is one way to start.  We limit our capacity to embrace and grow in understanding of love in whatever way it might show up when we choose to operate only within our own mental framework.  Our hearts’ framework recognizes the other and the unknown by its existence in the same moment, this one.  The heart’s framework does not need to know what will happen next or what it all means.  The heart’s framework only intends to hold the space for as much love as possible.

How often do we blink our eyes and take a second look?  Did you know that a human being blinks on average 15-20 times per minute? With each blink we have an opportunity to look again, to see differently, and to re-spect.  There is a natural inclination which we are party to all day long which provides the opportunity to respect what or who is present in our lives.  The lens through which we see can change, as they say, in a blink of an eye.  Our involuntary blinking response may be a clue into how we are given multiple opportunities to adjust our lens on life.  It coincides with the idea of learning to be in the moment we are in by seeing it with respect.   Noticing something or someone of value and esteem may not be present to us at this moment, but perhaps with the next blink.  When we blink and still see the same we can pause, take a breath, touch our hearts and ask God, how do you see this?  We can own that we are not able to adjust the spectacle before us and humbly invite God to help us see as God sees.  The wonder of it is we can do it many times throughout the course of the day.  According to our blinks, we can do it without having to think about it around 28,000 times in one day.

When we like something we are drawn to it. We don’t have to make ourselves pay attention to it.  We don’t have to direct our attention to it.  There is a flow that exists when we find favor with something or someone.  It is as though we are pulled in by some unknown source and feel compelled to be close to it or them. An element of understanding of who we are and what flows naturally to and from us comes in noticing what we favor. It tells us something about our hearts when we notice the pulling of its attention toward what we favor. Beneficial or not it tells us about the state of our hearts. Some favors are consistent throughout our lives and others are the favors we connect to in the moment.  God encourages us to notice what we favor and see it as an opportunity to get to know the state of our hearts. God invites us to look past the facade or form of the favor and connect to the feeling and the energy in motion which draws us to it. If we are open to using the energy of our hearts to accept what we favor regardless of our thinking about it, we can gift ourselves with understanding and inner knowing. The acceptance opens the door to curiosity and whatever information the favor may have to share with us about life and the course of love.

In our deepest and whole sense of self we are the luster of God. We reflect the presence of God from the truest part of who we are. The reason we do not see the luster of God in others is we have forgotten it exists in us so we can see it in others.  Like attracts like.  Light recognizes light.  If we can remember the luster of God within us we will use it to guide our seeing of ourselves, the world, and others.  We are fascinated by light and seek it out because it reminds us of who we are. When we reach for the hand of God and tug at it with the request to recognize the truth of who we are the luster will grow.  When we breathe in through our hearts we open the possibility of allowing the luster of God to move in and through us.  We then become the reflection of God for ourselves and others.  It does not mean we are perfect.  It does not mean we do not sometimes get lost in what we think is all dark inside of us.  It means we recognize that the avenue to get us reconnected to the luster of God is by pausing to breathe.