dailydatewithgod

It is hard for us to imagine the delectation experienced by God.  It is even harder for us to imagine that we bring about God’s delectation.  We have some sense of it when we relate it to our relationship to things or experiences we have created.  Yet we only touch upon it.  To know the true delectation of God would be mind-blowing.  So much of our experiences of delectation we attribute to the world.  If we stop to reflect on God as the creator of the world we can draw the creation line to what we find delight in to God.  This is often expressed when we say we love something.  There is a sense within our hearts that when we encounter a delectation we are touching upon something greater than ourselves.  It seems silly to say we love some of the things we love but when we are in the realm of God’s understanding as human beings words cannot adequately describe the experience. Just as when God expresses God’s delectation of us we do not understand.

There are so many hidden gems and fascinations in nature.  It is easy to see how creative God is when we look at all the life around us.  The movement, the color, the shape, the depth, the use of space, and the interaction between it all is mesmerizing.  It is almost as though it is engaged in some big cosmic dance.  A dance I was not invited to or my invitation got lost in the mail.  I saw life as me looking at from the outside. I was unclear what the steps were or why my dance card seemed empty.  For things to change, I had to dare to let go of being on the outside in some self-constructed bubble of safety.  I had to be willing to let my curiosity ignite the connection to my heart which would provide the courage to step into the dance. Once there the breadth and depth of my heart showed me the first person on my dance card was me and God.  God invites me to start my days in a dance with the truth of who I am.  God’s invitation does not get lost anymore.  Sometimes I misplaced it or decline the invitation but God is always ready to dance with me.  I get to touch the light of love when I let go of my ideas about how to keep me safe and protected.  I get to laugh, make mistakes, cry, and experience all kinds of energy when I decide I would rather fumble through the steps on the dance floor in God’s world than stay in the rehearsal room trying to get the choreography perfectly.  God just wants us to see for ourselves what we are made of when we use the breath to put heart into our soul and allow our bodies to take the first step.

We may be open to a number of different things in our lives but how available are we for them?  It is the distinction between a possibility and a choice.  When we take on the premise of availability there is a level of commitment we are making.  I am open to all kinds of things but when you ask me am I available for, it becomes more concrete.  I may think something sounds like a great idea but will I make time for it?  Is it something I am willing to invest effort into or exclude other things so I can be available for it?  Will we be fully available to it or only present in body?  Therein lies the nuance of what availability indicates to us about our lives. On what level are we available?  Emotionally? Spiritually? Intellectually? Physically?  Or all of them.  Life requires energy to show up.  Our level of availability is a marker for how much of our energy we are willing to put into whatever we make ourselves available to or for.  Many of us do not take the time to connect and determine how available we really are and on what level.  We think we want the job, the guy, the house, or the attention.  But on what level are those elements asking us to show up?  God invites us to check in with our hearts on our availability.  There may be something our hearts want to be available to but something stands in the way.  Until we pause and listen in we may find ourselves doing one thing with our bodies and another thing with our heart.  Life takes courage.  The energy of courage lives in our hearts.

There are times when it seems like we can’t get it right. We would really like a redo.  We want a chance to do it again.  At least that is what we tell ourselves.  Do we really want to do it again?  Or do we want a chance to show we have learned from what we got wrong and do it differently?  Again implies a repeat. Of course, the reality of repeat is suspect.  Given how much we change from moment to moment and are impacted by our experience, we cannot possibly repeat exactly. It may look the same but even our sense of it on a deeper level will be different.  Anyone who rode the roller coaster the second time because it was so awesome the first time and did not have the same awesome experience can attest to that. The reality is we are designed for growth.  The reality we are designed to survive, to keep going forward.  The universe we inhabit and the nature of which we are part shares this message with us every day.  We do not see it as it is happening because the changes are so small they are missed by the naked eye.  Also the differences present happen on an energetic level we cannot see.  We do not see the light waves but we know they are there because when we turn on the light, the whole room is visible.  We do not see the radio waves but we can hear the music and the DJ through our radios.  Our existence also emits and receives waves most of which we do not see.  When we slow down, tune in, and let go of relying solely on our eyes to register our experience, we can learn to be sensitive to the shifts and changes happening in and around us.  The changes which make doing it again not realistic.  Our hearts encourage us to awaken to the subtle changes in energy which call us to do or create again from the new place, not from the place of what was done wrong.  What we express as again may be the universe’s way of saying keep moving forward with what you just learned.

Do you ever find yourself completely flummoxed by something?  Perhaps it was an idea you read about or a concept your friend was explaining.  Maybe you found yourself in a situation baffled by how you got there and not sure how to get out of it.  We think if I could just grasp at what the problem is or figure out what caused it, I will be free.  It sounds almost counter intuitive that by having grasped something we are free.  It sounds like more of holding on to it.  The question is when we are free what are we left holding anything?  If we want to grasp the concept or idea we think we need to hold on to it.  It reminds me of something we used to do as kids.  When a friend had something we wanted to touch and grasp we would say, “Hey, let me see that.” A smart friend would play with us, hold it up, and say “see,” and not let us touch it.  There is something to be gained in deeper understanding when we can wrap our fingers around it.  Our eyes do not seem to be enough.  We want an ephemeral experience of it. So how do we grasp with freedom when what we are experiencing seems contrary to anything close to freedom.  Doesn’t the freedom come from letting go?  The greater question would be do we work so hard to grasp something that we lose sight of it all together?  Perhaps we just need to experience it and let it go.  The grasping does not need continue past the moments experience for our hearts to comprehend.  Are we seeking a grasp in the heart or the mind?  In our hearts we can grasp and let go as we do with each and every breath.  What elements of our life do we seek freedom but forget to let go once we experience it in the moment?  Is it because it is not enough or do we expect a forever experience instead of the ebb and flow of life?

None of us gets through this life on our own.  No matter how ingenious or individualized we are there are simply to many factors at play in the game of life for any of us to get through without interacting and affecting others in some way, shape, or form.  We are designed for relationship.  It is humbling on some level to admit to ourselves that we cannot actually make it on our own.  It does not mean we are dependent in the victim sense.  It simply the reality of life calling us to attribute the people, interactions, things and ideas that make us who we are.  Give credit where credit is due.  The converse is not only egotistical but false.  How often in one day do we take the time to attribute the contributions made to our lives?  Our hearts call upon us to recognize the people and circumstances who attribute to our lives perhaps in ways we would not normally conceived of as something to attribute to the other.  Not all of those attributions are necessarily positive but they do not need to be.  We can make what we choose to make of any experience, person or circumstance.  The choices lie with us.  We attribute the contribution and then decide what it means.  This is our freedom.  This is what gives life to interdependence.  Just because we give credit where credit is due does not mean we are meaningless.  The attribution does not take away from us.  It makes room for us to recognize how we are someone for whom an attribution can be acknowledged.  The good news is also that we can choose how we are an attribute in the lives of others.  We affect others and are affected by others regardless of whether we like it or not.  We get to choose, however, how we wanted to affect and be affected.  Our hearts call upon us to notice the attributions coming to us and flowing from us.

It seems foreign to us that something good can come from closing.  We want to know how long things are open.  We look to connect with others who are open.  Life is fuller when approached with an open perspective and heart.  Yet always slanting towards open is like only ever breathing in.  It doesn’t work, at least not if we want to live.  There is a coming and a going.  There is pushing and pulling.  There is sound and quiet.  This flow of life applies to opening and closing.  If we want to experience the natural course of things we are encouraged to face the times of closing.  We close chapters in our lives.  We close a relationship.  We close a job.  We choose moments when to be closed off to others.  We make sure we show up before the store closes.  Closing or turning off provides a time of darkness.  A time to rest from the awareness.  It can be a time of restoration.  We are not meant to stay there anymore than we can only exhale. Accepting the flow of nature requires a leap of faith.  The faith giving us courage to trust that what is closing will open again.  There are times in my life when I felt completely closed off my heart from myself and others.  Even if I wanted to open the door of my heart, I did not know how to do it without quickly feeling like I was either bleeding or needed to close off again.  It is the daily persistence of showing up for my dates with God who is always fully present and open that increased my courage.  Seeing that I could show up for myself and be willing to let go of closing for just a small amount of time gave me a chance to alter my perception of what it meant to be open.

I think human beings should have tags that say “Handle With Care” like the ones you see on an item you buy in the store.  For some reason we forget that the people we are dealing with moment to moment are much more similar to us that we perceive them to be.  I am constantly fooled by the outer appearance, attitude,  or role they play in life.  If I focus only on what I see with my eyes I will forget to approach them with care.  My daily dates with God, if nothing else, remind me to start my day connecting with my heart. Taking the time to do so means I might be open to viewing others with the eyes of my heart as well as my head.  It is a practice over and over.  We are given the opportunity to step within a mindset of care with each breath we take.  In the pause to reconnect with spirit (respiration), we can change the direction of our view to one of care.

We are creative beings.  Our minds and hearts give us the tool we need to shape our experiences of life.  It is perhaps deceivingly easier to acquiesce to the idea that we are simply products of our experience.  The philosophy of victim-hood however is in stark contrast to the outline of our lives as designed by God. We are invited by God to claim our role and sketch our lives based on the truth of who we are.  It asks us to take responsibility for our lives.  This may seem overwhelming and so many do little more than make an attempt.  I know I was definitely in that camp for a long time.  Before I got into recovery, victim was the lens through which I saw everything.  Yet something inside of me knew different.  I would not be able to describe it as anything other than the spirit of God alive within me. Like the little flame barely flickering, it was a small scroll pen asking me to sketch a different story.  A story which made room to breathe, created a space to grow in love, and connect with the deepest part of myself allowing me to transcend what I was able to see with my eyes.  When the sketch I adopted stopped working and I almost killed myself trying to capitulate to the outline set before me by others, I knew there had to be another way.  It is funny what desperation of spirit will do to you.  I can say I gave it my all, but God’s presence of light in my heart won out.  It is the light showing me the way to create a new sketch incorporating what I learned and continue to learn in the process of surrendering all my adapted sketches.  It is a lifetime process but as I take responsibility for my role in creating the sketches of my life, I have the power to change the story at any moment.  Even with the next breath.

The greater purpose of our existence as designed by God is to be the messengers of love.  Our lives are an opportunity to experiment, learn, grow, cultivate, and embody the definition of God.  We get caught up in our outsides and lose track of our sight because we lose sight of who God is in our lives. Pausing and taking a moment to reconnect with our hearts is what allows us to live within the luster of love.  We are not the creators of the light of love but we are the transmission process here in this physical realm.  We have the chance to radiate the best of ourselves but we get off track.  It is not bad that we get off track, it is part of the process.  When we see we have the choice to be the luster or the dullness of love in any given moment is when the power of love is moving through us.  We fall for the stories of the world and forget there is more to the story.  We experience first hand the dullness of love in others and think it is not possible to experience the luster. My daily dates with God are my chance to get reacquainted with my role as the luster of love for the day I am in.  It doesn’t mean I am going to get it right or not end up showing up dull.  In my experience I know by taking the time each morning to be reminded of who I am, increases the likelihood I will pause, take a breath, and reconnect with my heart more times during the day.  My heart will always guide me into the luster.  We all know the difference between experiencing the luster versus the dullness of love’s light.  Sometimes the dullness seems more comfortable.  Other times it seems more familiar.  God invites us each time we take a breath to choose to stretch our hearts and trust the power of God will be there to allow us to radiate love.