dailydatewithgod

Our creation event was full and complete. God designed us as is, no changes needed.  Within us was placed the blueprint of love and from it would grow everything necessary to experience the fullness and joy of life.  We our responsible for maintaining the gift of life we have been given.  This, of course, is a choice.  We can choose to let it go and see how far we get on automatic pilot.  I tried this way.  Yet within our very hearts exists a hope and spark to engage in life more fully.  It is the spirit within us that nudges us in the direction of alignment with our creator.  Sometimes we become aware of that nudging in the subtle forms that it shows up.  In my case, it wasn’t until I had broken down due to self-destruction that I was willing to listen to that voice of hope. It wasn’t until I experienced the hopelessness that I was willing to fix what wasn’t working in my life.  To fix required to let God in.  To remedy my life situation I had to experience true humility.  I had to let go of my ideas that I knew how it was all going to turn out.  I was open enough to admit that perhaps I wasn’t as all-knowing as I thought I was.  I thought what needed to be fixed was me.  I was certain that I was messed up from the core.  Actually the only thing that needed fixing was my thinking.  I became open to seeing things as God sees things.  In so doing I realized that the fixing meant acknowledging that I did not even know my true self.  The true self that didn’t need fixing, just acknowledgment of the truth of who I am.

My prayer for us is the ability to acknowledge the ways in which our life has gotten off from the fixed path of joy and fulfillment that is who we are at our core today and every day we choose to embrace it.

If you knew that who you are is already a fixed experience of joy and love what thoughts would you be willing to have fixed to align with this today?  Share in the comments.

My prayer for us is in the moments of our day that we think we can no longer take the next step in our pilgrimage that we have the courage to take just one more breath.

What steps on this pilgrimage of your life could use some fresh breath to keep you going today?  Share in the comments.

In the story of Adam and Eve it is said the serpent tempted Eve with the eating of the apple telling her that she would not die but be like God, have her eyes opened to see both good and evil. After she and Adam ate the apple they realized they were naked, and when God called to them they hid in shame.  I find it interesting that they were enticed with the idea of becoming wise, as we all would be. But this supposed wisdom that the serpent convinced Eve was so desirable caused them to hide from the very God they were now supposed to be able to be as wise as.  Sounds like a con job to me.  Their perspective was altered but not the way that they had hoped.  If my perception is altered to cause me to see myself as something that needs to be hidden, I know that I am on the path that is the opposite of God.  God is all about being visible and transparent.  With God there is nothing that needs to be hidden.  The eating of the apple did not bring the wisdom promised by the serpent, at least not what Eve and Adam had in mind.  It caused us to fall asleep to who we truly are.  It caused us to want to hide our true selves. I see the story as an analogy for how I have approached God when I am confronted with my lack of power in a given situation.  I have been known to plead with God to just help me to see the bigger picture because then perhaps I could make sense of my suffering.  If I knew why something I was going through the experience wouldn’t be so bad.  We all cling to our whys and our stories as though they are the real reality.  Perhaps the reality is the process of coming to terms with our limitations in this physical world so that we can reach out and remember that we are only limited when we are relying only on ourselves.  Perhaps the gift of the apple was the dance we then embarked upon with God.  Stepping in and out of recognizing the duality of this world and the Oneness of God which is where we really reside.  Perhaps all we really wanted to do was ask God to dance but we didn’t know how.  Perhaps it is not about getting it right and being deserving of God’s goodness.  Perhaps it is about being willing to ask God to show us how to dance and being teachable.  Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps . . . now there is a good dance song.

My prayer for us is the willingness to learn our dance steps for today by asking God to be our eternal partner.

If you knew in that the only thing required for a successful day was the willingness to ask God to show you the steps of today’s dance, what would make you be willing to ask?  Share in the comments.

“Behold, I make all things new.” This expression from the Christian Scriptures’ book of Revelation states a profound understanding of God.  Newness is God manifest.  The purity of the essence of any living energy is where God lives.  God is in the right now moment where there is no future or past.  In this moment which has never before occurred, newness is all that is.  When we become conscious of the present moment we join with God and become new.  There is no where we have been that means anything in this moment.  There is no where we are going that means anything in this moment. It is a gift to be aware of our newness in God.  The present is gratitude.  The present is joy.  The present is unattached to any outcome.  The present sees only love as real. The present is in our new breath.  The present is acceptance of what is.

My prayer for us is the willingness to receive the gift of newness that comes with this present moment.

If you have is the gift of newness in this present moment, what new experience would you want to be having or being?  Share in the comments.

God is the Ultimate Observer.  God’s presence is so profound that nothing besides being need be happening.  When we hearken to the message of God our ears and our being is tuned into the channel of love.  The vibration which enters our being while being in the presence of the Almighty rocks us to our core if we let it.  It is being one with our core that we recognize our true selves and embrace the message that vibrates through our hearts.  The beauty of God is such that it is simple to hearken to the message of God.  We don’t have to climb a mountain top, spend days in the desert or fast for several days.  We can utilize the experience of our lives to hear the message of God.  Each interaction and circumstance is an opportunity to be tuned into God’s vibration if we listen carefully.  There is no person, experience, or situation past, present or future where God is not.

My prayer for us is the courage to hearken our hearts to the message of God’s presence in the simplest of circumstances and experiences of our lives today.

If you knew that you could hear God’s message of love no matter where you went or with whom you interacted today, how often would you recognize God loving you and in what ways?  Share in the comments.

God is in all.  God created all.  God abides in all. This vast array of conglomeration that we call the human experience are full of so much love and light.  The difficulty arises when our eyes are no longer open to that love and light.  Our vision becomes clouded and we only see what separates us.  When we look at people and situations all we see is what is physically happening.  We have lost sight of other’s hearts and spirits.  I tell myself that you are the reason I am suffering.   I convince myself that if my circumstances were different I would feel different.  But nothing is going on outside of me that is not already happening inside of me.  My reality is a projection of my mind.  Just think of how dark and cloudy the world looks when you are in a bad mood versus how wonderful and loving people seem when you are in a good mood.  The people and situations are only different because the lens through which you are seeing them is different.  When I am in a space of being angry, I experience strife. When I am in a space of being fearful, I experience anxiety and doubt. When I am in a space of being loving, I experience love.  I learned years ago that the quickest way for me to have a different experience is to act differently and the thinking and the feelings will follow.  God makes room for all of these experiences.  One is not better than the other but some have more peace than others.  Some perceptions make me want to be included in this vast array of the human experience, others want me to remain separate.

My prayer for us is the courage to ask God to change our perceptions so that we might experience being included in peace today.

If you could be included in an experience of love and peace, how might you see the circumstances you are about to walk into today?  Share in the comments.

In the first book of the Hebrew scripture, Genesis, it tells of the creation story.  It gives details of stages of creation of all of life as we know it over the course of 7 days.  At the end of each it remarks that God saw that it was good.  It is clear that God was pleased with what had been created.  There are no exceptions in what God found satisfactory.  God is pleased by everything that is now in existence.  A similar story occurs in the Christian scriptures as Jesus begins his public ministry.  It begins when he is baptized by John the Baptist.  Immediately afterward it says that the heavens open up, a dove descends, and the voice of God is heard to say, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”  This is before any miracles were done, apostles chosen, preaching from mountain tops, or walking on water.  God sees us in the same way.  The moment of our creation, God is satisfied.  God does not see lack, a list of things to get done, or what should be better.  In God’s eyes we are whole and complete just as we are and God is satisfied.

My prayer for us is to be willing to embrace God’s satisfactory view of us and breathe in that God is pleased with us today.

If you knew that you were pleasing and satisfactory to God just as you are in this moment, what would you see differently about you today?  Share in the comments.

One foot in front of the other. One breath and then the next.  Everything we do is a series of steps.  A progression in a particular direction.  This is always obvious  when it comes to how we physically progress from one thing to the next.  The same applies to our spiritual and emotional reality.  Everything is connected in a flow and when we step into the flow we move forward.  When we fight the flow we are resisting reality. We don’t have to fight it but we can interrupt it and redirect its course. We have a thought and then comes the feeling based on the thought.  We then progress by attaching to the energy generated by the emotion and we act.  When we repeat the same thoughts and feelings we create a habit.  Our habits then form a character or way of being.  Our destiny is designed from our way of being.  If we go back to the beginning of the progression and pay attention to the thoughts and feelings to which we attach ourselves, we can interrupt the cycle and make progress down a different path.  We can even ask God for help.

My prayer for us is to attune to how we progress in creating our destiny by paying attention to our thoughts and feelings today.

If you noticed your thoughts and feelings today, how do they tell of the progress of your destiny?  Share in the comments.

There are many sayings in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures that after 12 years of Catholic school, a religious studies degree, and a lifetimes of attending Catholic masses stand out to me.  I know them by heart and can quote them.  Then there are ones that pop up in my mind as needed.  Like an angel on my shoulder it is a whisper.  As this new year embarks and I am looking at what is ahead and what plans I might set in place, the beginning lines of the one from the Hebrew book of Jeremiah (29:11-13) came to me.

     “For I know the plans I have for you“, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

It reminds me of the alarm I have on my phone that goes off at 2:30 pm each day and says, “Hey Colleen, I got you on this one. Love, God”  In my times with God on our dates I am reminded of the simplicity of the Great Creator who not only gives me breath in which to sustain me throughout the day.  These whispers remind me that God does so much more.  This morning my reminder is to relax into that breath and trust that God has plans for me that include lack of harm (i.e.- I am safe), prosperity, hope, and a future.  I just have to keep doing my part which is come to God, share with God, and seek God in all things with my heart.

My prayer for us is to breathe in the message of plans for lack of harm, hope, and prosperity are taken care of for us today.

If you knew in your heart that a future of hope, prosperity, lack of harm were in the planning of and for you from the beginning, how might you act today? Share in the comments.

When I sit quietly in the space of my heart today, it is amazing how soft the space is. I spent much of my life trying to protect my heart in various and rather extreme ways.  Since my experience taught me that it was going to hurt and I didn’t like it I concluded as a child that the best bet was to construct some armor around it.  That armor eventually manifested into a physical barrier of over 300#s.  Beyond that was the emotional barrier of not fully letting in others, unless they proved themselves worthy.  I used humor and sarcasm to keep from showing my real feelings, lest they be considered unacceptable yet again.  It is actually quite brilliant the lengths that I went to in guarding my heart.  Unfortunately, that means that I blocked out a lot of the good stuff too.  When I encountered positive experiences of the heart through friends, boyfriends, and family I didn’t know how to take it in.  I was certain it was fleeting and not real.  I could hear my mind questioning it when someone would share and demonstrate their love and concern.  Thankfully I was able to ingest enough so that I wasn’t teetering on the edge of madness.  I think I figured most of the reason for the love and affection was because I was doing things right.  I was meeting their approval.  So as long as I kept in line, the good stuff would keep coming.  It is a mind warp, highly conditional, and a massive set up for failure and being inauthentic.  It meant I could not fully express who I was because I always had to be sure it measured up with what is okay with you.  Working my way out of that pattern has been a long process and I still have ways to go.  It began by being so broken down and not being able to keep up the wall to a slow process of getting to know myself again or perhaps for the first time.  I have had to look at all my ideas and beliefs and determine, is this in alignment with my heart and my spirit or is it because it is what is expected?  Is this an authentic way of being for me or simply what I have always done? Thankfully on our dates, God has guided me step by step through the unknown.  Most importantly, God has opened my eyes to see that my heart needs no protection. Its fullness and vitality are always present in the mind of God.  I need only to present it to Him with sincerity and ask, how can my heart be love and receive love today?  What ideas do You have so that I may be the fullest expression of myself?  Who I am is love. Who we all are is love.  Nothing that exists can undue or make that unsafe.  It would be like undoing God.

My prayer for us an awareness of the fullness and vitality of our hearts in God’s eyes this day.

If you knew that nothing you experienced could change the vitality of your heart, what is one simple way you would be willing to live from your heart today?  Share in the comments.