Category: Fulfillment

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The Missing Piece

Lord, you started to say something this morning as I was getting ready to leave the house, and I found it extraordinary, and I kind of cut You off, because I was so afraid I would forget it, and I wanted to write it down. So can we start that whole conversation again, please? I was trying to wrap my mind around uniqueness versus self-centeredness, and that is when You interrupted.

Yes, you were thinking, as you often do, in dualities. Selfish or self-centered versus self-sacrificing or self-denying.

Yes, that was it! And You said there was a Third Way! Please, tell me again.

I told you to think about a jigsaw puzzle. Being selfish or self-centered would be like thinking you are the most important piece in the puzzle. Being self-sacrificing or self-denying in this sense does not mean putting the needs of someone else ahead of your own, which you all need to do from time to time, but not always, or in every single circumstance. Being self-denying as it relates to the puzzle would be to say, my piece is not important at all. The puzzle doesn’t need my piece.

The truth is, every piece is important to the puzzle. Have you ever tried to complete a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing? Isn’t it frustrating until you figure out that not all the pieces are in the box? And if you get nearly finished and then discover a piece is missing, don’t you feel a great sense of let-down, of frustration, because without that one missing piece, the puzzle is incomplete.

Further, by trying so hard to be inconspicuous, even absent, that missing piece actually becomes, in a negative sense, the first thing you notice when you look at the puzzle in its entirety. You notice what is missing, not all the pieces that are there, in their places. You notice the lack first. By trying to be of no importance, the missing piece actually becomes the most important.

But what happens when every piece is in its place? The whole puzzle fits together, no matter how many pieces there are, no matter how intricate the pattern or design. Each tiny piece is essential to complete the pattern and to create the whole.

If everyone simply accepted this fact, that every piece is essential and important, that everyone has a unique contribution to make, and gifts to share with the world, what a different world you would inhabit!! No one would be trying to occupy the wrong space. No one would be vying for a larger or more important position. Every piece would be revered if only everyone had as a goal completing the whole picture. There would be no war and no enmity, for the purpose of completing the pattern would predominate over every other concern.

So do not worry about taking up more space, or less space, or no space. Take your place, fit yourself in to My Grand Design, and watch everything fall into place, like pieces of a puzzle, all around you.

But Lord, what if some pieces won’t play? I mean, what if some demand a larger share of the puzzle, or refuse to be a part of it at all, even if their motives for refusal are shyness, or fear, or even, they have been told they mustn’t take any public place? 

Don’t worry about other pieces. Just diligently search to find your own niche, your own place, and your own shape there. Complete your part of the puzzle in real time, in the time given to you. Do your part in making the picture beautifully and wonderfully complete.

So, Lord…I had this idea, what photograph to make to accompany this, and it is a Lion puzzle I have, which I thought was neat, because of the Chronicles of Narnia, and Aslan, so I chose it, and set up the image and realized after I clicked my shutter that the gap formed shows a heart! A heart on its side.

Yes, that was My little gift to you tonight. Can you dare to believe that you, as an individual and as a stand-in, as it were, for every human on the planet, that you complete My Heart? It’s true. Every human, as each one becomes his or her best self, completes My Heart, fills in the gaps that My Love has created specifically for them to find and fill. My Love is fully complete, you see, when it is received and shared.

God, You are amazing. Thank You.

 

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A Peachy Life

Lord, for years I heard the same Sunday message, about caring for the poor. Then we gave our offerings, and ate our breakfast and came home. Next week, we would do it all again. So what was I missing? Why the feeling of missing? What is it I want to hear?

You want to hear what everyone secretly wants to hear, that your life makes a difference. Not the five minutes it takes to decide whom to write your check to—all the other minutes. And it does. You have no idea how far a couple of hours with you, a few minutes with you will take those you encounter.

If your life was like a peach, what would you do with it? Would you eat it all, savoring each bite? Or would you stare at it on the counter, wondering if it was ripe enough, wondering how you’ll manage if you eat it all too quickly, until it rots there, waiting—as you wait—when I Am Lord of the Orchard! Eat your life! Enjoy the sweetness in every day. Let your own life and its particular joys nourish you once again.

Count your joys and watch them multiply. If you will eat of My Joy, then everything else you desire—health, financial stability—will also be yours. If it doesn’t make you happy, don’t think it, don’t wear it, don’t buy it, don’t photograph it, don’t entertain it, don’t welcome it in.

 

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Kaleidoscope of Choices

Recalculating…it’s like You do that all the time, instantaneously as we, all of us, make our choices, billions upon billions of choices, large and small, second by second. It boggles the mind.

Just don’t let it boggle your heart. That is what is most important, a steady heart-rhythm. Don’t let your love falter or skip a beat.

So when You see the future…

 I see all possible futures. The future you create is largely up to you. If you don’t like the direction your life is going, you can choose to make changes that will change the outcome.

So much seems random, God. Illness. Accidents. Kids born into poverty; kids born sick, or who become ill, young. I falter, right there. My heart, it skips and stops, right there.

Because you still think of Me as the Cause of Everything.

Well, You are still the Creator, right?

Creator, yes. Puppeteer, no. There is a big difference. As Creator, I bestowed on you, on humanity, the gift of creation. You procreate, you have children. And your choices, individual and collective, create the world those children are born into. I Am present, not running the show, but available to be a Creative Partner to anyone who asks.

The truth is, few believe in Miracles anymore. And the few who do are often mocked or ridiculed by the rest, just as Jesus was. The masses who need a miracle often see or hear My Power and Love reduced to shiny objects—just as the crowds in Jesus’ day clamored for bread, for food, when they could have asked for so much more. Imagine if there had been a way to defeat Rome’s harsh rule, not through war or uprising or revolt, but through love, My Love. Imagine if Pontius Pilate had listened to his wife and her prophetic dreams. Imagine if Herod had listened to John the Baptist. There are examples in Scripture and history of dramatic turnarounds, when rulers were willing to listen and change course. Some of those turnarounds could have prevented diseases from even beginning, much less spreading, as living conditions for all would have been healthier and safer.

Imagine if all children born on the planet grew nurtured to be the best version of themselves, fully developing their gifts. Imagine every adult engaged in activity that fully utilized his or her skills and honored each one’s passions, as each contributed to the good of the world. No occupation would be menial. All would work in ways suited to them, to their needs and gifts. Imagine a world where each person lived to maximum fulfillment. Then, just for a minute, lest it shatter your heart, consider your world as it is.

One proof that I exist is that I exist—that the I Am Who I Am is still present, still here, and still willing to be at work in your world, in every individual life who hears the invitation to partner with Me. The Miracle is that My Own Heart has not shattered, or shuttered. That is how I can help heal humanity’s brokenness. Because I hold all possibilities simultaneously, so that I can bring good out of evil, and light out of darkness, I continue to hope and work for My Kingdom Come, a choice for kindness here, a choice for peace, there.

You cannot hold your town or your neighborhood or even your family in this kind of knowing. You can hold only yourself and your own choices, and even the import of those escapes you most of the time. But the more in tune you are to Me, the more aware of your best self you will become. That will lead to more, to even more loving and kind and peaceful and joyful choices, and that in turn will create, moment by moment, a more fulfilled and fulfilling life. And that will inspire others.

So…I can choose to worry?

Indeed you can. You can, literally, make yourself sick with worry. Or you can ask Me to lead you, to help you make wise choices, with the least amount of stress. You can ask that and live that, moment by moment over these next weeks. You cannot control others’ choices, only your own. I promise you that your choices will have an effect on the way these next weeks unfold.

Okay, Lord, please help me.

I Am helping you all the time. Just keep connected in mind as well as in heart, to Me.

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Advent

Lord, it’s a busy time, before Christmas. What would You say here, now, to my heart?

Look for My Coming. The Shepherds had to look—they had to go and see. The Wise Men had to look, to seek, in order to find. And what they found was totally unexpected.

So…?

So I want you to look for Me—and for your life’s purpose, your right-now-today, in-this-chapter, in-the-moment purpose. I want you to find the settledness and assurance and confidence that comes from the “I know”, as in, “I know God is leading me.” I sent angels to the shepherds, a guiding star to the wise men. They didn’t stumble around in the night. I don’t want you to stumble around in the night of wondering, wondering if you are on track, on the right path. I want you to walk confidently in knowing, in the wonder of assurance. So look for Signs of My coming—to you. Through you and your life. That is the Advent I want you to seek. Then I want you to receive gifts, the gifts of My Presence with you, the same gifts given to Me:

Gold—Business and financial prosperity. And yes, stellar recognition for your own work.

Frankincense—The sweet anointing of My Presence and Spirit on all you do.

Myrrh—My comfort for any sorrow.

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The way west

Lord, You got anything for me? Anything with my name on it?

I always have something for you, but you’ve lowered your expectations.

I know I have. It’s like I am trying to fly under the radar.

You are afraid blessings bring curses, bring a backlash. Yin-yang, push-and-pull, sweet-and-sour. You think you can keep sorrow at bay by turning away joy. I’d like to roll up with an armored truck loaded with blessings, more blessings than you could ever imagine—but you have to be present to sign for it.

Present to sign for it. Hmm. I get present—aware, alert. Right? And in the present, not the past, not the future. Put my name to it. You sign for a shipment when the sender wants to verify you’ve received it. Lord?

This isn’t a loaner. You would have to sign for a loaner, too. This is yours. This isn’t something you have to send back.

Lord, why can’t I let go of the West? What is its hold on me?

The West is part of My dream and My plan for you—that’s why you can’t let go. Trust Me to get you there.

I miss it. I look at my pictures and I don’t know what I want, but they are not it. And I tried so hard…

I don’t want you to try so hard. I want you to feel. Feel, then see. You are trying to see, then feel. That’s backwards. Feel, then see. That is your way forward. Not science. Not composition. Not art. Connection. Feel. Feel the air, feel the sea, feel, feel, feel the light, feel the clouds. Feel your way back. The blind move by feeling their way. Feel your way back to sight. Let others be artful—you be connected. They will have their audience, their market, and you will have yours. Feel your way back home. Draw close. See far and see near. Find your heart again. You nourish many others, but I Am not asking you to do that at the cost of your own life. Come to your beginning place. Let’s begin again. Feel, and you’ll see.

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Incubation

Dear God, before I jump into “do”—what would You say?

There is much within you, waiting to come forth. Some lies at great depth and some is just below the surface, awaiting only your attention to emerge. Incubation is all about waiting, but purposeful waiting. Waiting in the foreknowledge and assurance that powerful and wonderful changes are already underway and will soon be manifest, be visible. You are incubating now.

Incubation is not passive. A diligent mother turns her eggs, makes sure they are warm and sheltered. A diligent mother feeds herself so that when the babies hatch, she has the energy she needs to take care of both them and her. A diligent mother keeps knowledgeable about her own food sources. You are afraid that paying attention to the stirrings within will somehow harm them. This is a lie. You must heed the stirrings within in order to birth them, and in order to nurture them to their full potential.

Again I say, I did not give you this life to strip it from you How would you live each day differently if I told you that your nesting place would weather any storm and that you are destined for both wondrous migratory journeys and a stable home-base? That your calling is to combine word with image and bring hope and encouragement and healing to the broken-hearted, and encouraging vision to the newly emerging, and a sense of purpose to those seeking direction or lost in confusion? What if I said, beauty is your Bible? That your lens—your view of My world—is the Yes and Amen that I, the True Word, intend and need to speak through you?

Your eggs are hatching asynchronously: word gifts, visual gifts, and music gifts. And you have had earlier seasons of hatching, which you’ve assumed were to be your only times of bringing-forth. No, you have many seasons yet, many incubations to come. For now, pay attention to this season. Quit apologizing for what stirs within you, for those inner longings you keep trying to silence. They are trying to emerge—encourage them! They will soon have wings. Pay attention to every dream, every longing. If it is stirring within you, it is from Me. We are birthing together. Don’t let these become stillborn. Turn your eggs, feed yourself and incubate in joy.

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Ripple Effects

God, I still get so impatient. I’m so sorry. Can you help me be better?

Not if by better you mean that you devalue everything you’re doing or thinking. This is an awkward, in-between stage for you, where you are transitioning from discounting everything “you” – your likes, your wants, your dreams, your plans, your work. It seems as if you are over-emphasizing those because for years you gave them zero place, no importance, so any attention now feels selfish, self-centered. I Am asking you to be self-centered for a while. Pull your focus back, away from everyone else, and let yourself relish what you think, what you want, what you love. Dream Big Dreams and Make Big Plans. I Am a Big God. In the words of TreeBeard, let’s do some Big Things together. And for that, you have to focus on you, on your life. Center there and we shall ripple outward with great and wonderful impacts on the world.

 

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Dancing Butterflies

Lord, I knew this new puppy would be exhausting. Thank You, by the way, for the extra hours of sleep last night. I am so grateful for some rest. What I did not anticipate and I don’t know how to handle is that the schedule is making it much harder to have my time in the morning with You. The past few days it has been impossible. Right now it is nearly 6 pm and I am snatching minutes before supper to sit, and think, and talk to You, and feel.

And what do you feel?

Honestly, it wasn’t a bad day. But You said to keep connected to You, and how am I supposed to do that, when I don’t have a regular, concentrated time to journal and to listen?

What did you do this afternoon?

Ran the errands I needed to run. Took Pete to the bank, we stopped at Yellowhouse, came home, put the puppy pen together outside.

Besides all that?

I took a few minutes and photographed the monarch butterflies on my lantana bush.

You noticed them. And you took some time to watch them and then to photograph them.

Yes.

Do you remember the verse that says, whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me?

Yes, of course.

You treat yourself in your own thinking as less than the least of these. You contributed charitably, you helped your friend get his car, you finished up the long refi at the bank, you did business tasks at home before that and after that…and in the middle of all that, you gave your attention to honor these winged flights of beauty–and you felt guilty for those few minutes. Didn’t you? Isn’t that why you laid your camera down and moved on to another task? All those errands and chores you did to help anyone else, they count for something in your thinking, in your assessment of your day. But taking time to count butterflies? Not so much. Yet those few minutes were actually minutes of serenity and calm for you. And although you were not uttering prayers, you were actually praying the whole time. You were living moments in deliberate honor and gratitude and you were noticing the beauty of your world.

Lord, it was amazing! There were monarchs and painted ladies and I don’t know who all, on that one bush!

There is more than one way to set a bush ablaze. With Moses I chose fire. Today with you, I chose wings the color of flame. Drink beauty like water. That is one more way to stay connected to all that is, and to Me, as the Source and Creator of all that is. I Am glad you enjoyed the dance of the butterflies. You could not hear them, but angels were making the music they could hear and all to refresh you. Now, let me ask you one more question. How do you feel right now?

Relaxed. Refreshed. Grateful. And somehow leaning on You. And You are smiling.

Yes, yes I Am.

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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.

 

 

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List What You Love

I have some time-space in my days. What should I be doing? I keep putting on the brakes and trying to accelerate simultaneously. All this does is rev the engine, waste gas, and create a rut! Or should I just put it in park, take it out of gear? That’s a choice.

What time did I say it is?

You said not to ever doubt my purpose. And when the tide turns…which to me implies the light changing and time to take the foot off the brake, or the car out of park.

You can take your foot off the brake and coast, or drift. That is not the same as driving. And you need to steer as you drive. You need to stay on course. Stay on your main road. This isn’t a race. This is a journey. This is a road trip. You love adventure, you love new places, you love new experiences. You’ve been putting the brakes—for a long time—on what you love. You’re afraid you will only be disappointed. Why don’t you list what you love, starting with close to home.