The more I find God leading me to an inner knowing of our relationship the more I am fascinated by the undefined, unknown, and mysterious elements of life. I thought if I slowed down long enough all I would see is the gross and dirty spaces in myself that would reveal who I really am. God daily invites me to take a look at what is even deeper than that. I can tell that I have grown in my trust of God as a guide in my life because I don’t approach such experiences with fear as my default. I am willing to learn instead of needing to have the right answers. I am open to seeing from a different perspective instead of being threatened by anyone who presents an opposing view. I am courageous enough to walk into an experience or relationship with no agenda as to how it is supposed to turn out instead of needing to determine ahead of time if it is worth showing up for. This space of instead provides a channel for choice. It is the idea that in this place of instead a choice can be made to go in either direction presented or find a new one. Life will happen no matter what. My approach to it is about how I want to show up as myself, not the situation itself. It is a focus on the process instead of the content. On our daily prayer and meditation dates, God calls me closer through my breath to be instead of do. Living most of my life as a human doing instead of a human being means letting go of some well grooved ideas in my entire being to allow for this possibility. God is all about possibility and willingness and when we take a moment to step back and look at our lives from the space of what is possible there are multiple insteads. It is not even about a choice between two things. It is a recognition of life being this instead of that or what instead of whom or how instead of when and each one expanding on the other. I do not pretend to know where this relationship is heading because the moment I think I do, God leans in and whispers “or instead . . .”
Be From Instead!
My prayer for us is the courage to show up for the ultimate connection of love within us and be open to exploring what is present there instead of thinking we already know.
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Be From Solidity!
God has never swayed from the view or belief in any of creation’s inherent good. As the Creator, God has no reason to doubt that which she designed. When I find myself feeling unsteady in the belief that love is still present I reach for God’s hand to remind me of the truth. I am gently led to the space of my heart to listen to the whispers of creation that are limitlessly defying my unsteadiness. The solidity of love’s presence in my life is no more breakable than God being breakable. Sometimes the eyes and ears of my heart are drawn to someone else who can remind me of the solidity of love in their life. Other times I am given a symbol from my own experience and I find myself recalling the memory of a time in which I was relying on the very solidity that I feel falling apart beneath me. Each day on our date, God shows up and invites me to breath in the gentle and simple reminder of the solidity and certainty of love as the air flows in and out. The pause to take a few minutes at the beginning of the day and breathe brings me to the center of my existence where the solidity of love is and always will be present. I have a greater chance of remembering it as I go through my day if I make the time to connect with it first thing.
My prayer for us in times of uncertainty and doubt, may we have the courage to pause and breathe in the solidity of love that is present within us all times even on this day.
Be From Interconnectedness!
There is a greater depth to our being that we are often not aware of. It is the realm of who we are that is intricately connected to all creations of God. We sometimes sense it in moment of serendipity or happenstance. When we find ourselves in the flow and a sense that all is right with the world, we are in the space of knowing this interconnectedness. It is an inherent element of being a child of the Great Creator. Instead of stepping into what may feel like another realm, we have entered into the reality of our hearts. Our very bodies model this experience of interconnectedness by how the different systems interact and flow into each other all working together for our good. Most of the time we don’t stop to notice until something gets disconnected. God invites us to notice the subtleties of being an interconnected member of the world of love by guiding our hands to our hearts and taking a deep breath. In moments of frustration and discord I lose sight of this interconnection, but God is always ready to guide me back. I am humbled by the fact that the reminder is never farther than my own heart. All I have to do is take a deep breath and be in the beauty of all that is interconnected in me and allow it to give me life in the moment.
My prayer for us is the willingness to trust in the interconnected nature stemming from our hearts ready to invite us into the rhythm of love and life when we choose to focus on it today.
Be From Similarity!
God has designed each of us in an interconnected way. Why else would we all be capable of the same feelings and thoughts. Why would we all have ways of moving from place to place or ability to add numbers? If we were not connected how is it that we all survive by breathing? It may seem arbitrary that our ways of being are the same but perhaps it is a clue as to the ways in which we are invited to connect to each other. How might an experience of conflict switch if the two people involved stopped and both breathed in and out at the same time? Or went for a walk together? What kind of power could be generated by two people committed to bringing about a solution shared the ideas that they generated in their minds instead of competing with each other to come up with a solution? These similarities in ways of being and living are indications of the power of a joined experience to create and generate life and love. God is inviting us to utilize them as opportunities to experience the multitude of possibilities of love.
My prayer for us is the openness to discover how our simple similarity with the person next to us can create a portal to experiencing love in a new way today.
Be From Nature!
When we recognize the inherent nature of all things, including ourselves, we are able to interact in the best way possible. It is the decisions we make about what things mean that determines our reality. However, a number of those meanings are no longer true. They are constructs and rationalizations of our mind based on past experiences. They may have been true at one point in time, but they block us from being present to others and experiences in this moment. We bring our past meanings and overlook the true nature of what is right in front of us now. We also forget the nature of God within us to provide what we need to face what is in front of us. God encourages us to let go of our meanings and trust that we have what we need to interact with the nature of what is happening currently. Either God is strong enough to show up in nature or not. We can demonstrate the courage to be present to life when we trust the nature of what is in front of us and believe in the nature of God within us is enough.
My prayer for us is the courage to let go of our meanings from the past and be with the true nature of the moment and thus with love as much as possible today.
Be From Revelation!
The last book of the Christian scriptures is the Book of Revelation. It is a book that tells of the end times. People have speculated on the metaphorical descriptions and been working to decipher its meanings presumably since the beginning. The idea of revelation often has a very dramatic underpinning even in every day language. God is ready to reveal all kinds of things to us all the time. Some dramatic, most simple. The only way for us to experience revelation is to let go of the idea of what we think we know. For something to be revealed we are called to be open to possibility, newness of sight, and awareness. Revelation asks us to be in a space of discovery and questioning. This is why children are so excited and amazed when they uncover something because a new idea has been revealed to them. Over time we become hardened by those revelations and turn them into beliefs we think cannot be questioned. The gift of revelation comes from the courage to let go of the fixed idea. It is a gift of being present in the moment.
My prayer for us is the willingness to allow all kinds of things be revealed to us by letting go of what we think we know about them today.
Be From Desire!
When we stop and pay attention to that which drives us in our doing, we see our desires. Those desires are the underpinning of our decisions and then our actions. Our desires speak to the longings in our heart and our alignments. God provides us with indications of the direction from which to live our lives in our desires. I used to think that a desire to do something or be something was wrong. How did I know if that was God’s will for me? I was more concerned with being the good little Catholic girl who got it right than slowing down and listening to my heart. It was not until my heart broke open out of desperation and exhaustion of trying to be what I thought I was supposed to be that I started listening. In our daily dates, God guides my attention to my heart so I can restore the connection and bring it into coherence with my mind. As I go through the day I can pause check in with my heart and know if I am being led by the desire of my heart which is of God or the dictates of my mind.
My prayer for us is the courage to cultivate a listening of our hearts and learn of the desires of love to be lived in and through us today.
Be From Vulnerability!
The letter of the V shape conveys the idea of openness to that which is above. It is about inviting it into the smallest space of who we are at our core. Being open to the power of God to connect us to our core has the appearance of making us vulnerable. It is however, the very thing that will enable us to operate from a place of power. There are many powerful words that begin with V and the message contained in that beginning letter may simply depend upon which angle you are viewing. Or, more accurately, it is the eyes through which we are seeing the power of the shape. This tells us whether we are victorious or a victim. Maybe they are all rolled into one. When we see our victim experience and do not use it to close off our openness but instead extend our vulnerability, we are victorious. It is a belief in the power of love to reach us. In the pulling downward of our victim story we can begin to think that the only solution is to close off the opening above. It is what I thought and felt for a long time. The only problem was that my soul on some level could not deny my victorious nature. In my willingness to stay open and vulnerable I am able to transform my victim story into a victory story one choice at a time. We all experience these Vs in our lives and we are invited by God to choose vulnerability in love or try to hunker down into the smallest part of our existence.
My prayer for us is the courage to embrace the vulnerability of our victim experiences and take God’s hand as we choose to keep open the love that is ready to pour into us and make us victorious today.
Be From Then!
Why do we always think that when we get there, it will all be better? How often have I told myself I would wait until then? Whenever or whatever then is, it seems more appealing because it provides some relief from now. There is also the version of fearing what will happen then. Those are the moments I want to stay where I am due to fear of what the future may hold. Or I want to hold on to how it was then because I can’t imagine it being any better. I clearly plan to use time for my particular purposes. I forget that there is no time now or then where God is not. If I am willing to pause for just a moment and believe or at least be willing to believe that God is greater than any experience I am or will have there is no need to focus on then. If the then I am imagining is good, I can take on the characteristics of who I am going to be then, right now.
My prayer for us is the willingness to take what we perceive the then to have been or will be and integrate it into who we are now today.
Be From Depth!
When I first learned the distinctive way to take a deep breath my body seemed to fight it. It felt uncomfortable to take my breath past my lungs into my belly and allow it to expand. I realized I had spent a lot of time holding my breath. It was a way of being less visible and when in a state of fear it happens naturally. The relaxation of the body that occurs with deep breathing was unfamiliar to me. I also recognize that I had a lot of judgment of how I breathed. As a fat girl I judged myself and made myself wrong because I was more out of breath than the other kids after PE. Even as a dancer I did not want to stand out as not being able to keep up so I would hold my breath. This constriction of a natural process made less of life available to me. But it allowed me to survive. As I step day by day into living a fuller life, the depth of my breath increases as well. I am mindful now of ways that I decrease the depth of living in my body out of fear. God did not give me a body to be afraid of it, I experienced situations as a child that did that. But I am no longer a child. As I learn to breathe and live with greater depth, trusting in God’s vision for my life, each day is a little easier and a little more profound.
My prayer for us is the willingness to notice where we might be living on the surface of our lives and ask God for the courage to step into greater depth today.
dailydatewithgod 