Questions

I guess if I can write lyrics on envelopes, I can talk to You on envelopes!

You can talk to Me anywhere, anytime, about anything.

Okay, then, I want to follow up about hearing from You. I mean, hearing from You about others. 

In what way?

Can I? May I?

Sometimes the best way to talk is to listen. Ask a question and then listen to the answer. Often the answer is itself a question.

Yes. So?

So instead of talking to those you love, if you ask a question, an inspired question, you will actually be prompting them to listen to their own heart. And that is where they will find Me–just as you did.

Okay, I understand. So…what’s the question?

Ah, yes, the question. Well, there’s not really the question. But here is a question. What in your life, right now, brings you the most joy? Why don’t you answer it first?

The most joy? A lot of things bring me a lot of joy.

Yes, but I asked about the most joy.

Honestly, Lord, it’s You. It’s knowing–I am smiling just writing this–it’s knowing I am connected to You. That You hear me and I can hear You. I didn’t use to have this connection and I so treasure it.

You always had this connection, you just didn’t know it. And now you do.

Yes, and that knowing–that brings me the most joy.

So here is a question for you to think about for tomorrow. What brings you the most peace?

 

 

 

The Clockmaker

Lord, You know what Oct. 18th means to me, that day long ago that I heard from You in that church service when those visiting pastors came. I can’t believe I spent that day of all days in the ER!

Every day is that day for you, now. Unlimited access, 24/7, 365. Then, you needed validation, assurance, healing. Now, you need confidence, boldness, healing. Then, you believed hearing directly from Me was reserved for the few, and you felt fortunate to receive a few paragraphs, spoken from the mouth of a prophet, with your name attached. Now, you know My Heart is to have a deep, abiding relationship with everyone, everyone on the planet. That is My Purpose. And, as the Cross demonstrates, I will go to any length to have it, even play to human wants for justice that are misguided.

Misguided?

Much of what passes for justice is really revenge. What I want is so much bigger, so much deeper. I want forgiveness because I want transformation. I want everyone and everything in right relationship, in harmony and in balance. I created the Universe as that place.

But we sinned, we didn’t listen to You—and we got kicked out of that place.

 Think of the story this way. Humans managed long, long ago to upset the Balance, to introduce enmity between themselves and the natural world and between one another.

Wait a minute! Wasn’t the Serpent the Enemy?

Not until they listened. Not until being out of balance seemed more attractive than in balance, and war seemed more attractive than peace, and hate seemed more attractive than love. Imagine a different ending. Imagine Eve saying to the serpent, I think you are mistaken. Let’s go talk to God about this. Imagine a role where humans were—as I intended—stewards and teachers, learning from Me and teaching others.

But the kicked out part?

Eden is just another word for life lived in balance. They destroyed the balance. That is what led to the separation and the sense of shame, guilt, and fear I never intended for My Creation.

But…but if You really are the Creator, I mean, if You began everything

Think of Me like a clockmaker, crafting and then winding a clock. The clock is designed to keep time and keep it accurately. But dust or dirt can clog the works, causing the clock to malfunction. A good clockmaker will clean and oil his clock as well as keep it wound. The possibility of it winding down always exists—but so does the reality of all running smoothly as long as the clockmaker stays involved. But what if the clock could somehow run itself, wind itself? I gave the clock—humanity—the power of creative choice. I give that same power to every baby born.

Because each child is born now into an out of balance world, each child has to choose at some point, and then choose over and over, who to believe and who to be. You are choosing to believe in Love and Peace and Joy as a Way, a Way of Being in the world, a way of living moment to moment and day to day. It is, in Native American terms, the Good Red Road. It is, in both eastern and western terms, the Way.

Every human who chooses this way helps tip the earth ever so slightly back toward the balance I created in the first place.

Steadfast Purpose and Power

 

Lord, is it wrong to want things to get easier?

No, not at all. But easier really isn’t the issue–neither is harder. The issue is, approaching your whole life, which is to say, your life moment by moment, in joy.

How do I do that?

By remembering the why–the why behind the what and the how.

The why?

Yes, the why, which is another way of saying the reason or the purpose. What is your purpose? Not the general purpose that might list work or marriage or family. Those are components of your life, and how you approach each of these components is determined largely by your why. Your purpose. So let Me ask you again–what is your purpose?

Lord, we worked this out before. Like a personal mission statement, one for life. And my life’s purpose is to connect deeply with You–with You and the natural world–and to share those connections, in words and images, with others. 

Your connection is like the electrical current that runs all through your house and it powers everything, from the essential-to-you appliances to lights and heat to communication devices to entertainment. You know how dark and quiet it gets when the power goes out in a storm. Don’t let your power go out. Stay connected and flip your switches on. This means recharging here with Me and outside, where you take your deepest cleansing breaths. Your friends who told you to get some time outside were speaking My words to you. I made you to connect in both ways to Me, here at the page and in My creation. So take some minutes in this storm and make sure your power and the lights don’t go out.

Now, when the power is working efficiently, you can almost take it for granted. Some malign that phrase but I want you to think a minute about exactly what it says. My Power is granted–to you and to everyone who plugs in–as a gift, for you to receive, to take. I WANT you taking My power, as granted, as gift. I WANT you living My joy in all your circumstances, in all your relationships. Power all your relationships just as the electricity in your house powers all your rooms. Power with purpose, in Joy.

Even in the storms?

Especially in the storms. That is when you need the light and warmth the most.

Bring your feelings

Gosh, God, I am tired. Julia Cameron counsels morning pages for first thoughts. It’s nearly 9 pm; these are definitely not first thoughts. My first thought, after how good the puppy was to wake me to go out, was panic. Panic inside and efficient calm outside because that is what I do. Now after a long day in the ER, Pete is resting quietly and who knows what happened this morning, what was the cause of his weakness. You know. You really know. And as hard as today was, all the love I felt, from friends and family really helped get me through. But all that talk yesterday about joy, honestly, I didn’t have much of that today. And now I am at that little kid point of tired where I am just rambling. 

You are like a tea kettle. You need a place to let off steam, in this case, the steam of pent up worry. Even your efficient responses today created steam, since you had to think and do rather than feel and be. And you did. You did, and you thought, and you managed. The danger for you now is to stay in that mode and not take time to go ahead and let off the pressure, and allow yourself to feel and express that feeling.

God, You say that and I tear up. I was afraid. I’m sorry but I was afraid.

Of course you were. You need to bring those fears and feelings to Me, not out of sorrow or shame but out of confidence and faith, like a young child who brings a hurt to a parent to make it all better. It’s like breathing; you can let out your held-in breath now. You can breathe. You can relax a little. You were vigilant, tense, on alert, all day.

I don’t know what is going to happen.

You do know what is going to happen–you just don’t know when, or how. So what I can tell you is, the time to grieve or mourn is not yet, not now. Trust Me at least this much, for at least this. Take this assurance in with each breath. And know that when the time comes to let go, I will be with you; you will not be alone. And when your own time comes to let go, again I will be with you and I will also be with all of those who love you, who must let you go. I want you to greet tomorrow’s sunrise with gratitude for the day and all the blessings in it. Take time tomorrow to rewind today. Each time you feel that fear, that angst, I want you to lift it up to Me. You can give me your fears and your feelings again and again and again. I can handle them. I can carry them. And I can ease you, over and over, and make your load lighter and easier. Tomorrow will be a better, easier, more joyful day; paradoxically, every moment of laughter and ease tomorrow will be sweeter because of today’s challenges. So allow yourself to feel all your feelings–the difficult ones and the more joyous ones. Don’t hide them from yourself or from Me. I know you have to have a public face. But not here. Not with Me. Never with Me.

Play

I’m feeling a little better. Phone has dinged. I need to skeedaddle. Lord?

See how playful a word “skeedaddle” is? See how differently you feel, writing skeedaddle instead of “hustle” or “rush” or “dash”? What if you found playful ways to express your day? Your life? Puppies are all about play—it is how they learn in the world. This puppy will restore your sense of playful adventure within your “ordinary days.” And you need that. True creativity is pure play. You need to play more—a lot more. You spent weeks watching your fox kits play. Remember? Let this puppy infuse you, infuse your life, with playful joy. Get ready to laugh and smile more than you have in a long time. Life doesn’t have to be so serious.

But Lord, there are serious things happening!

And what did you learn when serious things were happening with your parents and their health? “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” I just said, creativity is play. You want to make a serious impact in the lives of those around you? Then spread more joy. Give joy like bread. Bake up a loaf of joy and peace and watch what happens as you pass that around. Mercy with cheerfulness, remember? You have to carry a life preserver with you if you jump in to save someone drowning; otherwise, you will drown, too. And the life preserver is My Joy. So get ready to play! It will do you—and those around you—so much good.

I Am

So, Lord, this is really weird.

What is really weird?

I am sitting here, trying to hear, in advance. I need to post ahead; I mean, I need to schedule a post ahead, since I will be out of the house most of tomorrow, and it could even be past midnight when I get home. I know You said I can use past conversations, and I already have done some of that, but tonight I felt I needed to be in real time. So…how can I schedule ahead?

By remembering I Am Timeless. Where you are going, I Am. Where you have been, I AM. Where you are now, this minute, take a breath, this minute, I Am. Eternity is a hard concept for your finite mind to grasp, not because you are not smart enough, but because every facet of your earthly existence has limits, has boundaries. You have boundaries of time, of physical space, you have physical limitations, and of course you eventually deal with death, which seems the biggest limiting factor of all. But I have no limits, no boundaries. I have no barriers, no obstacles to overcome. I simply Am. Eternity and Timeless are really the same thing, a life, an existence without boundaries, without limitation.

Because I Am, it follows that I See, I Hear, I Perceive, I Know. This is how some people sense future happenings in advance, or have what seems to be deja vu knowledge of what once was. They have been able to connect, even if only briefly, with the essence of Who I Am. In that connection, all knowledge, all understanding is available.

So you can rest in believing that what you write “now” in this time with Me is also, in its own way, timeless. It was spoken before the stars were formed and will echo long after your earth’s existence has faded into memory.

I Am. This is all you really need to know, as a foundation. Everything else flows from here: I Am Love, I Am Peace, I Am Joy, I Am Hope, I Am Faith, I Am Light, I Am Life.

Here I Am — I’m Yours

So, Lord, I definitely, desperately, need You to lead me, photographically with Your spiritual foundation. My gift is the being led part—I mean, the following-Your-lead part.

Let your heart expand into what it loves—into what you love. Find extraordinary connections in amazing light—but seek out the new. Don’t try to “repeat success.”

The “nations that stream to the brightness of your rising” are the wild kingdoms. You attract them. You welcome them and you love them. Pay no mind, give no mental space or attention to what anyone else is doing. You go and you do the work I Am giving you to do.

Here I am—I’m yours. So here I am: here is my heart. Here is my mind, my brain. Here is my mouth. Here are my eyes, my feet, my hands. Here are my words. Here are my songs, the notes that make music. Here is lyric and poetry; here is melody and harmony. Here are words, essays, stories, prose. Here are images. Here, the works of my hands. Here is my lifelong connection, and longing to connect, with animals. It’s all You.

 These are like the days of Noah to Me—there isn’t any animal that won’t—or can’t—teach you, that won’t come to you. My entire creation is yours, is available to you. Remember the legend of Arthur. Your kingdom is Peace. Call your nations, the wild ones. They will all come to you. From elephants to ants, they are yours. They will companion you always. They will teach you of Me.

 

 

In the Moment

Being creative takes time. Shucks, even coming here to the page takes time. It gets harder, not easier. I feel I’m straining and rushing. My phone keeps dinging. Distractions. Sorry.

Eve, this is your life. You don’t have great swathes of time. But, please, listen. Neither does anyone else. No one in your field of impact does. That is exactly what makes you—and your work—so impactful, so special. You don’t have weeks and months to write in. You have moments. You don’t have days on end to photograph: you have moments. You don’t have weeks to retreat to put together an album: you have moments. You find Me in the Moments, in the In-Betweens. That is your life and that is your impact. That is your calling: to live a full-on connected life in the midst. Moments in the Midst, the photographer’s way, the writer’s way, the composer’s way. That’s it. That is the “it” you have found so elusive. You have thought you had to wait—to publish, to write polished essays and stories and lyrics, to create a photo book—until you could carve out great expanses of time. But your strength is in the moment. Spontaneity is your strength. Call, and having wildlife respond, is your strength.

Joy in Grief

God, I’m tired. Pete stayed for the vet, he came around 3 pm, and Mikey insisted on crawling into his lap instead of mine. Please, I want just a few minutes, here.

Rejoice, and again I say, rejoice. Sounds almost cruel, doesn’t it? But you can hold joy and grief in your heart at the same time, just as you can hold Love–or peace–and anger in your heart at the same time. Staying open to joy, to its appearance even if sudden or fleeting in your days will help keep your grief from overwhelming you. Holding to peace and love can help keep you from drowning in anger, being consumed by it. You’ve been very afraid of drowning in one or the other or both, for a very long time. But My Spirit lives in you, and its fruit of Love and Joy and Peace has grown deep roots in you. Don’t look for a banner crop right this second in your feelings–but do look for signs of flowering and growth even in this season. I promise you they are present and they will help you through these next days.

Thank You, God. I love You, Lord.

More on Faith and Love

The vet came, and we are going to have to put Mikey down, soon. I am thinking maybe even today. It’s wild, I journal yesterday about him, and now, this. I might’ve said, I don’t have the faith to see him healed but now, after what You said yesterday, that is not it. Is it?

Love would let him go. Sometimes Love holds on and sometimes Love lets go. True Love is discerning–it knows its time. It knows its purpose in each situation, each decision. When Love knows it is not yet time to let go, then Love energizes faith; the knowing what is best, what is most loving, gives the power for healing to happen. True Faith is believing in the reality and power of Love, in what Love can do in the world, whether it be in a sick body or a broken heart or a devastated community. And since I Am Love, Faith at its deepest and purest has eyes to see Me in every situation, to see My Hand in everything–not as Cause, necessarily. Sometimes as Cure.

If you can learn to live from Love, let Love be the foundation for everything you do and think and say, you will have the kind of faith that can move mountains–if moving a mountain is truly what Love needs to happen! You can also have the kind of faith that moves you–that inspires you to take action, all based in Love. So you see, letting Mikey go is an act of Love, and therefore, also an act of faith, an assurance you are doing the best thing.

But it still hurts.

(Gently) Yes, little one, I know. I better than anyone know the hurt Love experiences in the world. This is little comfort to you now, but the world I envisioned, the world I first created, the world where Mikey is now, has no hurt, no time, no limit, no end. It is only and always Love. Mikey has simply returned to that which he was created to inhabit all along. He is the one who is Home; you are the one still absent. Remember how I said yesterday, Faith connects others to Me through your Love?

Yes. What did You mean, exactly?

If you can believe, you will experience the connection to everyone you have ever loved, who has passed from sight, but is with Me, alive, in joy. There is no separation within Myself. You really do inhabit parallel universes–that is one way of phrasing it. The more you can open yourself up to eternity, the more of eternity you will experience in your earthly life. You have had moments of this, dreams of this, flashes of this. These were not anomalies. In a real sense, any sense of separation you experience–from Me, from those you love–is the anomaly. Love Is. Mikey is now held in purest Love. Allow your heart to rest in this knowing, if only for brief minutes at a time, and that knowing will comfort you beyond your mind’s understanding. And you will experience what you call “faith”–walking the bridge that connects you to Me, and to others. You pictured a tightrope, high, scary, windy. See how solid it really is? See how beautiful the country? You have glimpses and then the vision fades. Be not discouraged. Just feel the Love.