dailydatewithgod

One thing that has struck me since I remember hearing in scriptures as a kid is how the people in the bible stories seem to always be requesting signs. I get it, we want proof. We want God to show us that he is who he says he is. On my daily dates with God, I have come to understand that signs are all over the place. The difficulty we have is in what meaning we give them. It is like we are constantly searching for an either-or. It either is evidence of God or it is not. But what if the indicator of God’s presence is something we are so busy ignoring because it is not presenting the way we expect. How much proof of God’s presence is available through a myriad of indications but we are too blind to see it. We get caught up in our version of how God is supposed to show up that we miss out on every indication that God is showing up. When I remember to pause and take a breath, allowing the reality of my body and how it keeps me going I am struck at what an indicator it is to the presence of God. I take it for granted because in my mind it is a given. To all the people who are suffering in body and mind, where most of what they experience is dysfunction in their body, it is not a given. By tapping into the energy of my heart through my breath, I open the door to see the indicators of God’s presence through that act and heighten my sense of the presence of all the other indicators. When I can pause and be willing to let go of my conception of what an indicator of God’s presence is, I am free to experience the multitude of indicators right in front of my face.

Sometimes all that is needed is a flip in our perception. According to A Course In Miracles, a miracle is defined as a change in perception. At the outset it seems too simplistic but how else would you describe being able to see something from a different lens? Given how strongly we all hold on to our perception of what we are seeing and thinking as being true and in some cases the only valid truth there is, it would take a miracle for that to change. God works more simply than most of us imagine. We think for a miracle to occur many forces need to change and there needs to be an alteration in the time-space continuum. What if a miracle is simple and inversion of what we have perceived up to that point? I have learned in recovery that as I change and grow so does my experience of those with whom I interact. It is not because they are changing but because the lens through which I see has changed. It happens slowly over time but some relationships with people, ideas, and experiences are a complete inversion from what they used to be. My relationship to fear is one of the most pivotal elements of inversion I can think of. It does not mean I never experience fear. Quite the opposite as I did not stop being human. The inversion is in how I relate to it. When I become aware of something I am approaching with fear the inversion is not to run faster from it but to walk into it. I pause, take a deep breath, and ask God to show me what it is here to teach me. The inversion is that I do not see it as defining me but as an opportunity for me to learn more about the courageous part of myself. If that is not a miracle of a perceived way of thinking, I do not know what is.

The pivotal scene in the Wizard of Oz is when Toto peels back the curtain to reveal the Great Oz as no more than a man behind a big microphone. The drapery was placed there to hide the truth of what was happening and maintain the illusion that this man had much more power than he did. Drapery in and of itself is not bad. It is how we use it. If we are putting up drapery to hide the truth of who we are to others the only person we are truly hiding from is ourselves. It is clear that the Great Oz clearly lacked the heart, brain, and courage needed to show himself to the world. Ironically the very thing Dorothy and her pals were seeking. When we hide behind our drapery we can convince others that we have what they all want all the while struggling to find it for ourselves. Only by peeling back the drapery can we shed the light on what is lacking and set out on a course to discover it. God has equipped all of us with all the heart, mind, and courage we need for this life. It is in stepping out behind the curtain and engaging with life that we discover what has always been there. Walking around with drapery makes life more difficult. We have to trouble ourselves with making sure no one can peep through the curtain or somehow manage to peel it back. We are not able to see what we are seeking when we allow ourselves to hide behind our own drapery. Life can be rough and I have certainly wanted to draw the curtains and hide out a time or two. God has taught me on our daily dates that when I pause, take a breath which ignites the life energy within my heart I find the courage which gives me the mind to choose to step out behind the tapestry and give life a try. It is a moment to moment decision.

Too often we get tripped up by life because it doesn’t happen the way we expect it.  We spend our time disgruntled by what is happening in contrast to our expectations and wonder why we are exhausted.  I have learned through my daily dates with God that things just are the way they are.  I get to choose how I view them.  This includes what meaning I assign and the way I define them.  The longer I am in a relationship with God and the deeper I am called to grow into the fullest expression of who I am at my core, I am able to see life with a greater sense of clarity. As much as I have great ideas about how things should be, it is best to take a posture of humility.  I cannot possibly know all the angles of perspective or ingredients which will present themselves in any given situation.  Given how much I could be potentially missing, it doesn’t make sense that I would come up with the best scenario possible.  This does not mean I take a victim-like posture, but instead, approach life by allowing the truest expression of myself to emerge no matter what happens.  I cannot do this alone and my truest expression will not look the same each day or even in different moments of the same day. When I fail to rise to my own truth, I can learn from it and keep showing up.  It is not about perfection or getting it right, it is about growing and learning.  It is about connecting to the moments even the little ones that I can string together to show myself that I am growing despite how it may look.  It is about having an internal heart measurement of courage instead of seeking external validation for a triumphant victory.  God has called us each to grow in our learning of the truth of who we are at our core and how the courage to love is ready to ride alongside us and champion our cause.  There are times we forget who we are and we falter.  Those are the moments when the courage to love always ready within our hearts calls on us to take a deep breath and reconnect so we can stand back up and try again.

If we could map out the terrain and know all the twists and turns we would encounter life would be easier, right? I certainly have thought this many times even though it is contradictory to my experience.  It is usually the junctures I did not foresee that became the catalyst that ignited my growth in understanding who I am and my capacity for being. Even when we know the juncture that is coming up we cannot foretell all the variations within that particular juncture. With each twist, there are limitless possibilities as to what direction we can go in.  We cannot know who else will show up at the same juncture nor the angle of their approach.  We cannot know what the chemistry of all the elements present in the juncture will provide the most potent recipe for our growth.  Each juncture is an opportunity to grow our trust in ourselves.  The knowledge we can trust ourselves to get through and survive whatever comes our way is ultimately what we are seeking in wanting to know the future.  Yet it is only when we encounter the juncture we did not anticipate that we get to know with experiential certainty that we have what it takes.  It may sound funny, but life is here for us to play and experiment as we get to know who we are and why we are here.  Unfortunately, many of us bought the storyline that there is the right and wrong way to go about it.  As someone so concerned with doing it right that I forfeit many junctures all together, I know where that road leads.  On my daily dates with God with learning and growing into love as my guide, I am more willing each day to take a chance on me as I face the unknown junctures.  I have learned to trust that God seems to know more about who I am and what I am capable of and life presents junctures unexpected so I can learn to see me as God sees me.

It is hard for our minds to wrap around the visceral space of our experience. Whether it is what drives our decisions or how we find ourselves reacting, our minds are going to push to make sense of the visceral. We find a sense of security in being able to put specific words and labels. It is helpful to have a category to put things in. It puts our minds at ease. When we are not at ease we know it at a visceral level. Our hearts contain the energy to create a place of peace between the intellectual and the visceral. Rarely are things one or the other. Life is simply not so black and white. It is part of the maturity process to grasp what it means to live in a universe full of duality. Like many things it is not the reality which is the problem, it is our resistance to acceptance of reality. We have probably lost track of the number of conversations we have had with ourselves and others about how things are not the way they “should” be or we “expected” them to be. In the context of making peace between our instinct and our intellect finding a middle ground with acceptance of the reality of both and how they operate is the place to start. Our hearts contain the dynamic energy needed to bridge the gap between our visceral and our intellectual realities. A simple breath to awaken the heart gives us the moment of pause to prevent reacting from a place of rejection of either’s viewpoint. Our heart can hold the space for the visceral and intellectual reality in such a way that we do not break into a war with ourselves that we cannot win. God has gifted us with the three minds through which to be present in our lives. When we learn to use all of who we are in our lives we walk in alignment with the truth of who we are.

There is a lot of conversation going on these days about diversity and inclusion.  Understandably many people’s eyes have been opened to the potential downside of only including those whom we are most like in all spectrums of life. It is a natural tendency to create a sense of belonging.  In some cases, it is taken to the extreme, and vital perspectives are left out of the conversation.  Having an awareness of our level of diverse inclusion is part of what it means to be mindful.  God invites us to look at our internal level of inclusion.  Invariably we will find a correlation to what we are experiencing outside of ourselves.  Most of us have gotten into the habit, in some cases socially acceptable or expected habit of only shining a light on our good sides.  We look at what people are showing on their outsides and think we know all of who they are.  We hope they do the same with us.  The downside to only including in our display the acceptable or societally valued part is we deprive others and ourselves of the opportunity to include the gift in the mess.  We grow and thrive as we use the idea of inclusion to allow for all the facets of what it means to be us.  It means taking a look at what we think we do not want to see or know about ourselves.  It means using the courage of our hearts to embrace the inclusion of all of what we have experienced and done in our lives so we can represent the fullest expression of ourselves.  If we cannot have a policy of inclusion that makes room for the diverse nature of the whole of who we are, how can we expect others to want to practice diversity and inclusion on a group level?  Our hearts practice inclusion when it comes to distributing oxygen and blood to all of our cells. If a part of our body is not included in the distribution and energy of our body it will malfunction or break down.  Inclusion is the method by which our hearts can teach us how to hold the space of acceptance for all the diverse parts of ourselves, even the ones we want to keep hidden in the dark.  If we learn to practice inclusion on this level, we develop the eyes through which to see the value of inclusion on a societal level.

There are all kinds of measurements we use to place a value on something.  Within those measurements are degrees from one level to another.  We often place importance on the speed of change from one degree to another.  We concern ourselves when the movement from one degree to the next is too fast or too slow.   We even call it a degree when someone is recognized for having moved up in their measurements.  It is often a combination of one’s size, age, years of study or experience, and perceived potential for a contribution that culminates in the recognition of a degree.  With the degree, one is given the honor and held in high esteem.  Yet the degree usually indicated by a piece of paper and some initials after one’s name in and of itself holds no specific value. A degree is an agreed-upon measurement of intellect and or knowledge that is considered important to have.  How many experiences of degrees in our lives is do not have a title to put on a piece of paper to give someone to honor the work of their life? Those are quarantined to an internal space where the degrees are felt in our hearts, in our minds, in our bodies.  Knowing how to navigate our internal awareness of degree changes in our hearts, minds, and bodies are more powerful than all the paper degrees and initials after names.  One may have the degree on a piece of paper that says they have all the knowledge of the body but if they cannot stand being present in their own and know what it is like when their breath is taken away by awe, how knowledgeable are they?  If someone has a degree stating they are qualified to examine the inner workings of another’s mind but cannot connect to what in their mind is causing their degree of frustration with the other’s mind what does that degree on a paper really mean? The world we live in tells us that those who have degrees are the most powerful and the most knowledgeable.  They may know more and have the paper degree, but the degree to which we each apply the knowledge we have of our own inner understanding the higher degree of agency we have in our lives.  God encourages us to become familiar with the degrees within ourselves which create our perception of what is happening outside of us. It is a life-long path upon which we will experience many degrees of change and hopefully learn to enjoy the ride.

It seems as though the only thing the mind needs to feel comfort is the idea that it is right.  At least, that is what our ego would tell us.  As long as we have the answer and are in the know then we experience solace.  In theory, this sounds great in our heads but the reality comes right up against two twists.  One, it is not possible to know everything.  Two, the moment we know and check out because we do not have to be present, we miss out on the gift we could not have predicted that would show up while we are here.  The logic would then lead us into a defeatist idea that it is pointless to seek solace because it is not attainable.  God invites us to pause for a moment before conceding defeat and notice there is are other options. If we lived only by the dictates of our egoic mind we would suffer at the place of only operating in the known.  We have already established the limits of the known.  Thankfully we are not just our mind.  We are made of heart and spirit as well.  By taking a breath, awakening our heart energy, and reconnecting the pathway to our minds we can find the solace we seek. The kind of solace that allows us to not fall apart when we are in unknown territory.  It is the spirit of life that spurs us forward into unknown territory with the courage of our hearts not to give up on life’s ability to surprise us.

Living in a loud world we have grown accustomed to being drawn in by the loudest voices, visuals, and most tactile experiences.  At the same time, there is a subtle side to life. There is an undercurrent that is constantly running through all of the loud and outspoken voices and sounds.  We find the subtlety present in energy and most often in meaning.  The beauty of subtlety is that its power is not dependent upon mass buy-in or collective agreement.  We can each exist present to our own sense of subtlety and even speak to each other from our subtle natures.  There is a constant exchange of energy that occurs when we exchange the words out loud or move for the eyes of others to see.  Our intentions exist in the subtle nature of things and they drive the true power of our words and actions.  We pick up on the subtle incongruencies between the actions and intentions of others and push back on it for a reason. God encourages us to notice the subtleties of our own nature so our words and actions are integrated with what we are sharing with the world.