dailydatewithgod

The wonder of a life invested in growth is the continual surprises and flips in perspective.  It may seem better or easier to operate from a fixed perspective because it is familiar and known.  However, even a little openness can make room for some swank in our lives. It can be humbling to honor the fact that so much of our lives are unknown to us and we can slip into fear.  What if what God is encouraging us to do by growing from things is to try them on?  What if it is about seeing what kind of swank we can display for ourselves in the world?  What if we have more swank than we realize and are hiding it behind the facade of who we think we are supposed to be?  Maybe the swank in ourselves is ready to burst through our hearts but the last time it showed itself it got a little bruised?  God assures us over and over again through our breath that we have exactly what we need to allow our swank to show no matter how the world receives it.  In the end, we can do nothing about what happens outside of us or how it receives us.  We can do something about what we choose to give and share because of the gift we are.

The funny thing about a framework is the longer one operates within it the more one does not realize it is operating only within it.  We are very adaptable as human beings. This is to our advantage.  If we were not able to adapt we would probably no longer be alive as a species.  Evolution is all about adaptation as is growth. At the same time, we get comfortable with our particular constructs of what a world is and how we see things based on what we know. While we can adapt readily if given the choice we typically resist at least a little.  The potential unfamiliar causes us to project possible fears which activates levels of discomfort and in runs resistance to the rescue.  If you don’t believe me think back to when you were presented with an idea by someone who had a completely different frame of mind than you. Our first reaction is typically to deny the validity of his or her framework.  It takes conscious effort to choose to be open to the ideas of others.  It takes the intention of a willingness to learn and not personalize what is being presented.  Our fear stems from the belief that to accept the framework of someone else would mean we have to alter who we believe ourselves to be.  We are very wedded to our ideas about ourselves.  We go around telling people about them all the time.  How often when asked to describe yourself do you start with your age, gender, physical characteristics, political and religious affiliations, roles we embody in our work and family lives?  Our ideas about who we are providing the framework by which we perceive the world.  God invites us to step out of the framework of our mind and open ourselves up to the framework of our hearts. A willingness to see another person outside of their framework is one way to start.  We limit our capacity to embrace and grow in understanding of love in whatever way it might show up when we choose to operate only within our own mental framework.  Our hearts’ framework recognizes the other and the unknown by its existence in the same moment, this one.  The heart’s framework does not need to know what will happen next or what it all means.  The heart’s framework only intends to hold the space for as much love as possible.

How often do we blink our eyes and take a second look?  Did you know that a human being blinks on average 15-20 times per minute? With each blink we have an opportunity to look again, to see differently, and to re-spect.  There is a natural inclination which we are party to all day long which provides the opportunity to respect what or who is present in our lives.  The lens through which we see can change, as they say, in a blink of an eye.  Our involuntary blinking response may be a clue into how we are given multiple opportunities to adjust our lens on life.  It coincides with the idea of learning to be in the moment we are in by seeing it with respect.   Noticing something or someone of value and esteem may not be present to us at this moment, but perhaps with the next blink.  When we blink and still see the same we can pause, take a breath, touch our hearts and ask God, how do you see this?  We can own that we are not able to adjust the spectacle before us and humbly invite God to help us see as God sees.  The wonder of it is we can do it many times throughout the course of the day.  According to our blinks, we can do it without having to think about it around 28,000 times in one day.

When we like something we are drawn to it. We don’t have to make ourselves pay attention to it.  We don’t have to direct our attention to it.  There is a flow that exists when we find favor with something or someone.  It is as though we are pulled in by some unknown source and feel compelled to be close to it or them. An element of understanding of who we are and what flows naturally to and from us comes in noticing what we favor. It tells us something about our hearts when we notice the pulling of its attention toward what we favor. Beneficial or not it tells us about the state of our hearts. Some favors are consistent throughout our lives and others are the favors we connect to in the moment.  God encourages us to notice what we favor and see it as an opportunity to get to know the state of our hearts. God invites us to look past the facade or form of the favor and connect to the feeling and the energy in motion which draws us to it. If we are open to using the energy of our hearts to accept what we favor regardless of our thinking about it, we can gift ourselves with understanding and inner knowing. The acceptance opens the door to curiosity and whatever information the favor may have to share with us about life and the course of love.

In our deepest and whole sense of self we are the luster of God. We reflect the presence of God from the truest part of who we are. The reason we do not see the luster of God in others is we have forgotten it exists in us so we can see it in others.  Like attracts like.  Light recognizes light.  If we can remember the luster of God within us we will use it to guide our seeing of ourselves, the world, and others.  We are fascinated by light and seek it out because it reminds us of who we are. When we reach for the hand of God and tug at it with the request to recognize the truth of who we are the luster will grow.  When we breathe in through our hearts we open the possibility of allowing the luster of God to move in and through us.  We then become the reflection of God for ourselves and others.  It does not mean we are perfect.  It does not mean we do not sometimes get lost in what we think is all dark inside of us.  It means we recognize that the avenue to get us reconnected to the luster of God is by pausing to breathe.

When we exist solely in our place of knowing the world seems very secure.  It is nice and cozy until the unknown dashes some cold water on us. In some cases, the dash feels like a bucket dump of ice-cold water. On my daily dates with God, I have seen my openness to the dashes of unknown growth.  Over time as we learn to embrace the dashes of the unknown, we can cultivate a sense of security in being unknown.  Dashes can come into our experience in such a way that we revel in them.  By residing in our heart’s courageousness we have more strength to welcome in the dashes of the unknown with appreciation.  Curiosity becomes the lens through which we see the dashes of life’s unknown because we recognize it as love’s way of introducing us to another element of ourselves.  Grounding ourselves in the truth of who we are at our core, we know that the dashes of the unknown will not and cannot alter our knowledge of who we really are and who God knows us to be.  We can even seek out the dashes of the unknown because we desire to grow the power of love in our hearts for all of life. Any time we find ourselves drifting into a story that tells us the unknown dashes of life will disrupt the core of who we are we have lost sight of who God knows us to be.  All we have to do is pause, take a breath, connect to our hearts and see God readily holding the space not altered by the dashes of life unknown.

The Persian mystic poet, Hafiz creates life-giving playful depictions of God.  It is simply a joy to see God through his eyes. My eyes have been opened to seeing God in many new ways since embarking on my journey of recovery. The very least I have learned from my daily dates with God is how much God is present through simple existence.  I say simple not because existence is easy or simplistic, but because it is fundamental.  We often want to find God in extraordinary and majestic ways and there is nothing wrong with being dazzled by God, it’s quite fun.  More often than not, the path of spirituality is about witnessing and embodying the presence of God in all of existence.  Over and over again it is the simple moments of being which bring me to meet God.  The more I am willing to let go of how I think God could, would, or should show up, the more I am graced by God’s presence in the littlest elements of existence.  The beauty of this openness is the degree to which it lightens the experience of existing.  Life takes on new meaning when we can see the thread of love’s presence in all that is.  Yes, even the dark and messy stuff have light connected to it. The beauty of existence is, in fact, it’s simply being what is.

So much of our focus is outside of ourselves.  It is important to keep our eyes open and looking at what is in front of us, if we don’t we will bump into things.  What we lose sight of with our outside focus is how much of what we perceive outside of us comes from our interior view.  If you are not clear on how this is possible, next time you witness something ask the person next to you what they witnessed. You will notice a difference in what they saw and heard from your version.  How many times have we wondered, were those people watching the same thing?  How could they not see what clearly happened?  How much frustration stems from other people who do not see what is so obvious to you?  We cannot know or understand the reality of other’s interior but we can know and own our interior.  God encourages us to remain connected to the interior landscape of our being because it contains the truth of who we are.  Maybe we think its silly to pay attention to our interior.  Maybe we are afraid of what we will find. I have learned that no amount of seeking outside of myself has brought me the peace and freedom I have found when I was willing to let go of my ideas about what I would find when I explored my interior world. When we learn to make peace with all of what makes up our interior landscape we see peace in our lives.

At the end of my first ever relationship, I remember a pivotal conversation I had with God. I informed God my heart was closed and moving forward I did not want to connect with anyone until I met the person I was supposed to marry. I laugh out loud and have a great deal of compassion for that young woman who was sure the only solution to the pain (aside from the food I was already using) was to shut down my heart. I did not understand until many years later, I was asking to turn off all links to love with anyone including myself.  We have ideas about what love is and what it is supposed to look like and when it does not show up that way, we don’t see it.  It is much the same way when we approach our relationship with God. The reality is we are far more connected to love than we can see.  The links to the presence of love are deep within us.  It is part of our makeup.  We could no sooner disconnect from those links than turn the planet to move in the reverse direction. On my daily dates with God, I continually encounter the subtle and profound ways God chooses to introduce the links of love present in my life.  When I stand in the courageous space of my heart and hold the open breathing space of possibility, I see with the links with the eyes of my heart as much as the eyes of my mind and body. I would share some of those love links with you now but I do not want to taint the options your heart wants to show you of your love links.

As I walk through this experience of facing the world as it is I am constantly surprised by how palpable God’s presence is.  When I was willing to step outside my knowns of God and get connected the deepest part of myself my whole world opened up.  Palpability of God is not a constant experience but it is a consistent one. On our daily dates with God, I have learned to let go of my ideas of how and what God is supposed to be and find God in all the wrong places.  The palpability is not always a literal touchable experience although I have had those.  The unexpected palpable experiences of God are the ones I sense internally.  It sounds all woo-woo and bizarre but it is as real as a handshake.  It is the moments when my heart skips a beat.  It is the time I find myself smiling unexpectedly because I am touched emotionally by something or someone.  It is the rush of gratitude when provided a new perspective on how to see a troubling situation.  The palpability of God is only limited by my willingness to experience God as touchable.  My prayer becomes, God how are you touching me in this moment?  God, how are you making your palpable presence known in my life right now?