dailydatewithgod

God is limitless.  This is hard for us to grasp because we experience limitations both inside and outside of ourselves.  There is little question which makes room for greater understanding, a long view, and a chance to breathe.  If we are not God, then how do we begin to experience the limitless nature of God, see the possibilities God sees, and partake in the reality that lies beyond our understanding? It starts by widening our scope.  We are created by God and therefore are not completely inept at connecting to God.  It is simply a choice.  The choice to put aside our limits and look with our hearts to what lies outside the scope of our understanding.  It is a decision to seek past the scope within our minds of what we are certain of, can prove, and rely upon.  God is all about growing in love. What greater way to grow in love than to stretch our hearts beyond the scope of what we know to be real?  Being in touch with the truth of who we are and engaging in relationship with God enables us to broaden and deepen our scope of what love is.  Sometimes we are called to begin by stretching our scope of how we define God.  Our limits are not bad or wrong, they just only go so far.  If God can see the immense possibilities present at any moment in time, maybe God knows more of love than we do.

It is difficult for us to get invested in something if we are not able to determine its purpose.  Students struggle with learning information they do not see as applicable.  Children fight back being asked to do something they deem as pointless.  Adults have the same feelings but they are not as obvious in their objections.  As grownups we learn to do things like not pay attention, distract ourselves while engaging it, tell ourselves to suck it up, and so on. In the training and education world one, a primary way to get buy-in from your audience is by focusing on the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me).  Once you are able to make a connection as to how the audience will apply what you are training them in, they have a reason to pay attention and participate. The misconception is that the WIIFM is always easy to figure out.  For most people at least part of what is determined as applicable to their lives is individual.  Just because we in our lives as certain roles (mother, father, friend, employee, lawyer, teacher, garbage worker, intellectual, spiritual, etc. ) in our lives and in a certain context (with our family, friends, at work, stuck in traffic, or at the grocery store) does not mean the whole of who we are has the same reason for participating. We may start out with an interest because we see how it is applicable to help us meet a goal, get something or make us look good.  What if we were to change the conversation and ask, how can I make this applicable to my heart?  What about this experience or learning has a deeper applicability than meets the eye?  How might I go about discovering it?  What might I find myself getting involved in that I previously disregarded as not applicable to me because I am moving from the courage of my heart?

We tend to clump the concept of difference as either a good or a bad thing.  It is rare when our perception classifies different as simply reality.  We do not like simplicity.  We do not find it dramatic enough.  We lean towards making lots of noise, venturing in a million directions.  Differences can be celebrated without being considered anomalies.  Differences can be embraced as part of the deal.  Some of this comes from our biological need to belong.  We fear being perceived differently because we think it will make us separate.  Some of us focus on the separate elements of differences so it makes sense the fear would arise.  God calls us to a whole different perception of differences.  We are all made in the image and likeness of God. Everyone of us.  We forget this because we have our own image of what we think God looks or acts like.  God created differences among us so we could get a taste of the limitless possibilities of God.  Acknowledging the differences is about embracing the totality of reality.  Welcoming things that are different instead of fearing them is an opportunity to demonstrate and be a part of the power of love.  Love does not fear.  Love is the opposite of fear.  When we are stuck in the perspective of fear of difference we are called upon by our hearts to approach them differently.  We are given an opportunity by noticing the fear and not buying into it to practice the capacity of our hearts.

In a world where things are more and more replaceable and disposable it is hard to know what really has value and worth.  Is it something to hold on to or are we supposed to use it and toss it?  In a consumer culture the next best thing is always what is being marketed.  This philosophy travels quickly in our mindset from things to people. Over time as a society we have come to divide people up into groups of those who are worthy and those who are not.  Those who have value and will be cherished versus those who are rubbish and will be thrown away or ignored.  It mirrors how we see ourselves and all the elements that make us up.  The parts of us that we think are rubbish and should be gotten rid of are either ignored or pushed down so far they do not enter our psyche.  However, we cannot just throw away parts of ourselves without effecting another part we may not consider rubbish.  We have taken to metaphorically throwing the baby out with the bath water.  God invites us to take a closer look at what we consider rubbish in others and ourselves.  God perceives us as whole and the rubbish as something that perhaps just needs some polishing.  By embarking on the process of determining what lies beneath the rubbish is the work of discovering the deeper mystery of our hearts.

The great irony of life is we spend most of it concentrating on what is going on outside of us.  Life gives us ample opportunity to address our lives from the core of who we are but we often brush it aside because we think it does not matter.  Our roots are what ground us to our understanding of reality.  If we want to change our reality we need to go to the root of what is shaping our perception.  Only we can do that.  We are not the victims we paint ourselves to be.  We have more agency than we recognize when we step up and take responsibility for our role in shaping our reality. If we take a look at the root of who we are versus the story we bought into due to circumstances, we see two totally different stories.  The issue is not what happened to us it is what we do with it.  It requires courage and strength which are at the root of who God designed us to be.  If we dig deep within our hearts we will find we have what we need to face this mysterious, sometimes treacherous, many times exuberant and always playful thing we call life.  Our experiences simply give us an opportunity to draw on the true roots of who we are and show ourselves and the world what we are made of.

The survival elements of our existence enable us to have a keen awareness of all times of things that may go wrong.  It is referred to as the negativity bias.  Since our brains are wired for survival it sees things from a very basic perspective.  An important perspective while I cannot speak for all people, I am interested in staying alive.  Given our evolutionary capacity which has allowed us to not just survive but thrive this can present some challenges.  We are readily attuned to hearing what is not.  We are slanted towards being aware of what is not present.  We are engaged with handling what is not happening.  It shows up in all forms of nots.  Someone not being there.  Not getting what we need from a person, place, or thing.  Not knowing what to do.  Not being aware of something.  Not being a part of.  Not wanting what we are feeling.  Our nots motivate us into action.  They are the markers of our fear.  Not being able to keep something we want or not getting what we want.  We create expectations for the world and when they are not met we feel like we are not getting what we want or deserve.  Then before we know it we are rolled up in nots.  God invites us to pay attention to what we identify as our nots, pause, and look closer.  What are our nots telling us about what is important to us? What are our nots telling us about how we see ourselves in the world?  What are our nots telling us about who we are connected to or invested in?  Our nots are typically the product of fear and the negativity bias, they are not inherently a bad thing.  Like most things, our nots can be an opportunity to bring love to the experience.  The more we pay attention to where we go automatically, the more we can not be driven by it. automatically.

It is difficult for us to grasp the depth at which we experience connection with others.  We get stuck in our thinking about how different we are.  We are separate bodies with different shapes and sizes.  We have different ideas and engage in different activities.  We are valued for what we can bring to the table as individuals and are praised for our uniqueness.  These are all valuable parts of the human experience.  However, if we are to be completely honest with ourselves we are more unified than we like to imagine.   Why do we struggle with unification with others?  Perhaps because it calls upon us to practice a level of humility, patience, and seeing things from a different perspective.  Our unification which symbolizes our connection to others and the natural world are part of what expands our hearts.  Isolating and being so independent gets lonely.  It is not about needing other people.  It is about seeing ourselves in others.  It is about recognizing our unity with the person we cannot stand.  The person who irritates us or we do not think is in their right mind.  They too need to breathe and be in connection with others. Within each of us is the unification of all of life.  It is energetically present in our hearts. When we utilize the eyes of our heart we can see past the constraints of our eyes have which keep us divided.  The simple act of taking a breath requires the balance of nature and trees without which there would be no oxygen.  Then if we do not breathe out nature cannot benefit from our gift of carbon dioxide. If we aren’t breathing, everything else is not happening.  Unification is the recognition of the truth of how life works.

Most people when approached for help are willing to do what they can. Some people go out of their way and others do avoid it.  Sometimes what stops people from being helpful is because they do not know how or what is most needed.  There is a facility within our hearts that leads to an inclination to bolster each other.  It is not foreign to the truth of who we are. We can be moved to provide bolstering without being prompted but there is a greater sense of fulfillment that comes from knowing we are providing what is needed.  God encourages us to look for opportunities to practice bolstering in small ways throughout our day.  Does it make a bigger difference if God knows? The grand gestures are great but in an effort to demonstratively execute our bolstering skills we miss the little chances that may not look like much yet have a strong impact.  How often do we get a chance to smile at someone and we opt not to?  Yet how many of us feel a lift when we see someone smile?  Maybe we worry too much about how our bolstering will be received.  Maybe we have our attention on the wrong thing.  There are a multitude of opportunities in any given day to say thank you to someone.  Who doesn’t love to be genuinely appreciated?  When our heart moves us to share and be in connection with others we are contributing to the overall bolstering of the energy around us and with further ramifications of which we are aware.

We like to think we know exactly what we want.  Why is it once we get it we are still not satisfied?  Why is it we are ready to focus on the next thing we want?  Is it really the thing, person, or experience we are seeking?  Everything around us tells us so.  If we get this car, that job, are in a relationship, or obtain an accolade then we will be what?  Secure? Fearless?  Settled?  Successful?  Happy? Are we seeking a way out of the drudgery of the human experience? I never fully bought into the idea of getting the car, the job, or the house as a sign of success.  My goal while not conscious was to get the approval of others.  I figured if I followed the rules, did what was expected, and didn’t rock the boat I would somehow feel like enough.  I would be able to justify my place on the planet.  Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how one looks at it, it pulled me from the truth of who I am almost to the point of total destruction.  In recovery, I learned the form I am seeking is not what my heart is seeking.  There is nothing wrong with having the car, the job, the degree, the boyfriend and so on.  It is when I make those forms the be all end all of what is important about me.  The forms are important because they propel us in a particular direction. However, if we let our hearts and souls guide our journey, they will often take us farther and deeper past the form into an experience of greater depth and power.  My drive to prove I was worthy of taking up space on this planet led me to destroy myself and hide my heart.  This led me broken down into recovery which opened a door to a whole world I did not even know existed.  It brought to me the idea of my daily dates with God.  It showed me a way to be in the world where I did not have to be afraid of the form I had taken and how I could change what I thought about me and others.  If I had gotten the love and approval I desired by my actions and in the form I expected, I would have missed out on what it is like to know I approve of me and I love myself because I AM.  I would never have known the precious heart understanding that because God gave me breath, I am here where I am supposed to be.  The form I wanted would not have allowed me to know that to have a truly open and present heart means making space for all forms and seeing the love within them.

On any given day we are presented with a multitude of choices. Most of those choices already have meaning attached to them.  Do I see my anger as an indication of something trying to get my attention or something wrong with my state of mind?  Do I think I am good for ordering the salad for lunch or bad? Is there an end to this uncomfortable situation at work or will it last the rest of the week?  Should I ask a question or not say anything at all?  Red or pink?  All of these choice points are presented to us through the lens of the filters we have already built-in.  From the filters we discern what is most appropriate in the moment.  For some elements our minds have made a decision long before we are even aware of it.  We like to think we have much more say in some of our decisions than we do. So much of our choices are made automatically.  This is good on some level because to really have to choose at every choice point would be exhausting mentally and emotionally.  But for some things we want to make it a point to use some perspicaciousness.  It may require a pause, a breath, investigation of further information, asking a question, seeking another person’s perspective, or choosing not to make a choice.  Discernment is similar to judgment but it is less automatic. Being perspicacious means taking the time to consider things instead of just going with the first thing that comes to mind.  We all judge, this is not a surprise.  The question is do we take the time to be perspicacious.  On my daily dates with God taking I am sometimes asked to look again, to discern, on a decision I made previously.  God is not standing there with a gavel condemning me for being judgmental but an open invitation to be perspicacious. A chance to use my heart to further evaluate the effectiveness of my judgment.  To look clear-sighted and see if it was made automatically from my programming or if I took the time to be aware of what I was choosing to do.  The gift of perspicaciousness is the chance to make decisions as a whole person-body, mind, and spirit.