dailydatewithgod

When we pause to take in the miraculous nature of this universe, of our bodies, of the lives that we have created it can be a bit overwhelming.  All these intricate systems in place that seem to be operating without our direct input.  I don’t know about you but I don’t stop and tell my heart to pump, or the earth to spin, or my place of employment to open the doors.  In fact, more things that are going on are outside of our direct impact and control than not.  So what makes us think that if we think something is not possible, then it can’t happen?  What makes us think that we know so much and control so much that if we don’t take care of it, nothing will happen? Is it because that is how it happened once? Our version of nothing happening is really just our way of saying that it is not happening the way we want it to.  But what if God has got it?  What if God truly is Infinite Intelligence present in all beings, all cells, and all particles and atoms?  What if the impossible is happening all the time all over the place but we just don’t see it with our eyes?  My prayer for us today is that we trust and be open to see that the impossible is in fact possible in God’s world and ask for the courage to see it with our hearts.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

When you examine the particles of light of the sun they no longer look like solid beams.  Looked at closely, some of the most profound light productions are a mess.  They are particles that are all over the place, there is no straight line, yet something holds them in place. Something coordinates them so that they function the way they are supposed to and carry the message of light.  What if our lives were the same way?  What if when looked at closely, they are a mess.  There is no straight line. Yet somehow there is a greater power that is making sure we are still able to carry the message with which we have been gifted.  The path we take and the experiences we have don’t match up with our ideal experience yet we somehow bounce back and grow.  We go through things that we are certain will destroy us but do not.  Hmm.  Perhaps the Great Creator revels in what we deem as messy and imperfect.  What if God does not see the trajectory of our lives the way we do and makes use of all things?  My prayer for us today is that we be open to embracing some of our messiness as a portal through which our gifts can be used.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Have you ever been awestruck by something in nature?  Maybe you have been to the Grand Canyon or Yosemite National Park.  Just being in places of nature’s grandeur you can sense the value in their creation.  There are such intricacies in these places of large-scale beauty and magnificence that it is clear much energy was put in creating them.  Did you know that you were created with that same energy and value?  Did you know that nothing you can experience or believe in this lifetime will cause God to see you as anything less than the grandeur that you are? It can be hard for us to even imagine the truth held in that statement when we are used to defining our value by our doingness instead of our beingness.  We live in a world that on the surface functions by ego-centric definitions of worth.  Our value is based on how much money we have in the bank, what job we have, what we own, and if we match some societal idea and expectation of the status quo.  It is because the ego needs a way to distinguish us as other and so placing us into categories is one way to do that.  The spiritual reality is that we are not separate from the magnificence of the Grand Canyon or the beautiful intricacies of the seashells.  God does not place one of his creations as more important than another.  God, help me to see me as you designed me to be today.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to trusting that God was intentional in our creation as a part of the grand design and own that in our hearts.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

The world is full of experiences of courage, beauty, valor, might, love, power, simplicity, and delight.  If we look at what our personal experiences sometimes we feel aligned with that and other times not.  Most likely the times we feel in tune with that power of the universe is when we are doing and being our best selves.  We all have certain gifts and talents that if cultivated allow us to shine.  When we shine it is because we are the channel of Light (God) for the world.  This is being in our strength.  It is not about showing off what we can do best.  It is about being the light of love for the world to feel a sense of God.  Think of how special you feel when you see a spectacular artist perform or the player dunk the basket. It can be electrifying!  Us maximizing and utilizing our talents allows for the same experience.  It may not be happening on a large stage or on TV, but those who witness it are no less impacted by it.  My prayer for us today is that we take note of our strengths and ask God for the courage to cultivate them so that we may bring light and love to the world as our gift.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Life is here to be lived and to be enjoyed!  There is excitement in taking a chance on living it.  There is fear and anxiety in taking a chance in living it.  The funny thing is that both excitement and fear can manifest the same kind of physical experiences in our bodies. If fear and anxiety is more familiar to us then we will most likely interpret the feelings as being fear and anxiety.  But what if we are actually generating excitement? What if we are standing at the gate of an awakening not knowing what is on the other side and imagine that it could be good?  I know that I was more familiar with fear and lack of safety that I just assumed that even if I was feeling excited it wasn’t going to last.  Sooner or later the reality would show up as something to be feared.  In other words, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.  That was because somewhere along the way it did, perhaps more than once.  It was simply programming that was causing me to expect it.  The best thing someone ever told me was that God doesn’t wear shoes.  😉  Therefore if I stick with the One without shoes I need not fear the dropping of the other shoe.  (Or maybe start first with expecting a flip-flop instead of a construction boot.)  Sure nothing stays forever, but why rob myself of the experience of excitement and aliveness of life in that moment instead of waiting for it to end?  If I believe that God is with me no matter what, then I can be in the momentous experience of excitement for as long as it will last and maybe even enjoy it.  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to take a chance and walk with the barefooted One and be in excitement of one thing in our day.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Happy New Year!  Can you feel it?  The energy shift into a space of newness and unknown.  The spirit excitement at the cleansing of a new year.  We are standing at the opening of a beginning and we have no idea what awaits us this year.  Whether 2014 was a year you would like to forget or one that you want to repeat, it held its lessons for us.  The beauty of a new year is that it will hold the same for us.  There will be lessons–some hard, some easy.  There will be moments we wish to forget and moments we will want to last forever.  It all is what we make it mean.  So actually where we stand this morning at the beginning of a new year is the same place we stand every morning when we accept that first breath.  We say yes to life, to God, to the Universe on that first inhale.  In fact, we say yes until the moment we make our last exhale. What is occurring this morning is a collective attention on the newness, but it need not end three weeks from now when we realize we realize we are in the throes of this human life and don’t feel the newness anymore.  God is all about now and that now begins right now.  We can be in a space of newness anytime we decide even half way through the minute at 10:46 a.m. on January 16, 2015. this moment holds an opportunity to grow in love, be love, and convey the message of love for which we were designed. How we allow that to enfold is up to us. My prayer for us today is that we remember our ability to recreate a new moment of love by saying yes to God and step into newness at any moment this year.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

We can measure the value of our lives in many different ways.  As we come to the close of 2014 and get ready to embark on 2015 we can reflect on how we have spent our breaths one day at a time over the course of a year.  I have no idea how many more breaths I am going to get, but I hope that the ones I do have will bring more life, hope, peace, kindness, and love.  It may seem simplistic but nothing happens without the breath. When we stop breathing the game is over.  I often take for granted that I am breathing and moving until I find one of those things hindered.  This is why my relationship with The Breath of Life is so important to me.  Unless I remain connected to All That Is, I am likely to think that I can somehow master and control all my surroundings and that it is my job to do so.  On the contrary, my job is to breathe, show up, and be the love from which I was created.  This keeps me connected to God and to all.  We are all one, we are all children of God, we are all here because we are supposed to be.  How do I know that?  We are all breathing.  My prayer for us today is that we be willing to take five of our breaths today and think the word love as we take the breath in and out and just see if our minds follow our spirit.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

In this beautiful world that we inhabit there are many systems in place.  Natures’, society’s, family’s, and personal systems that guide our thoughts and thus our beliefs which are the basis for our decisions.  One of the great opportunities of living and growing is to question those systems.  Once our blueprints have been put in place in our formative years we have a set of guidelines.  Typically we go along with them until they come into collision with either something we want or something we witness as different.  Our ego mind however wants us to believe that it is not really okay to question those systems because we are dependent upon them.  Therein lies the illusion.  The only thing I am truly dependent upon is God.  All things of this earth–ideas, possessions, relationships, etc., but if my connection to God remains intact then I know I am right where I am supposed to be.  The good news is that a relationship with God does not require me to abandon all those other things.  The relationship allows me to collaborate with a power greater than me and enable me to survive when one of those systems shifts or breaks down.  If I am not only identified with that system when it falls apart, I do not have to fall apart with it.  I can be affected by it, question it, or determine if I am as much a part of it as I thought I was. I do not have to become nothing.  God is not nothing.  God is everything.  My prayer for us today is that when we encounter a typical way of doing something, we have the courage to stop and ask, Is this what God would call me to do or am I just doing what I have always done?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

This crazy world we live in, the lives we are given each day with our breath, and every little moment all carry choices with them. Some choices are varied and difficult, others are simple and easy, and others have multiple stages to them.  When making decisions we attempt to balance the information we have in our minds with the sense in our hearts and the nudging of our spirits.  We look at things from our own particular perspective and perhaps we have an insight into others who might be impacted by our decisions.  There are multiple factors even in simple decisions.  Sometimes we can become paralyzed by these decisions.  We think we have to make the “right” one or the one that someone else won’t question.  One thing that I am continually given opportunities to learn is that God sees decisions as something different from my mind’s perspective.  My mind looks for the right or wrong result of a decision.  God looks at the process and if I am given a chance to learn and grow in love as a result of the process.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to being in the process of whatever decisions we make from what words to say to what money to spend, or even how to think about something.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

aaaaaLooking at the design of nature we see that it functions with a smoothness that is awe-inspiring.  Life seems to keep moving forward.  The seasons unfold one right into the other.  There are growth times and harvest times.  There are times of restoration and hibernation.  And when that particular phase is over the next one begins.  All this happens without much thought or involvement on our part.  It is as though a Higher Intelligence is guiding this beautiful experience of life and death.  Is it possible that this same Higher Intelligence is operating in our lives?  Actually, the question would be, who are we to think that the same Higher Intelligence is not connected in our lives?  Nature also has this quality of dependence that happens rather effortlessly.  The plants depend upon the soil of the earth to be fertile.  The earth depends upon the rain for water and the sun for light so that it can be fertile and receive the seeds that are planted.  The seeds rely upon the wind to carry them to fertile ground and so on.  Aren’t we just as connected to people and things around us for our growth?  Growing up my friends and I went through a phase of fascination with folk music and we came across the work of Simon and Garfunkel. Their song, “I Am A Rock” stuck out.  We used to sing it at the top of our lungs.  I remember thinking, wouldn’t things be easier if I was? As the song says, “A rock feels no pain and an Island never cries.”  But what if the pain causes us to wake up and move in the direction needed to ultimately relieve the pain?  What if the crying causes us to cleanse from the inside out and see through clearer eyes?  The Grand Design of our lives seems to have a way to make use of all things, not just those that we deem as worthy.  It would seem as though nothing is wasted in a spiritual sense.  All can be used to foster growth through love and openness to learning.  Maybe if I remember that my dependence on God’s perspective of life allows for me to see value where my mind has placed none. Then I can be set free from feeling as though things are a waste.  It is as though God allows for creation at every turn.  Nothing comes from nothing.  The Author of the Grand Design develops the next thing or experience at every turn.  My prayer for us today is that we be open to what can be created from that which we have deemed a waste in our lives.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen