Category: Presence of God

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The Parent-Child Connection

Well, today was…interesting. It rained on my parade–literally drove me off the beach and back indoors.

But you didn’t let the rain ruin your afternoon. You went out looking for hearts, and you found them.

Yes, and now I’m sitting trying to Connect, on the couch watching the Super Bowl with a husband whose team is losing. I reckon it’s a great time for me to, what? Not test what You say, but prove it true in my experience. Sort of, if I can manage to hear You here, in the middle of distractions, sounds emotions–then, then, it’s true that anyone can hear You anywhere. Right?

One of the unforeseen and unfortunate consequence of community worship has been to discourage the discovery of the Presence of God in all the other hours of the week, especially in the middle of messy real life days. Think of how you have heard prayer time described: Quiet Time. But what about all the rest of the time, when life is anything but quiet?

I want you to think back to your experiences deep in the pelican and tern rookeries. In all the chaos of birds flying and waddling, of biologists banding and then releasing, somehow all the baby birds managed to unite with their right parents. The connection was stronger than the chaos. Now, do you think the connection was stronger on the baby bird’s’ side or the parent’s side?

I would guess the parent’s side. The babies have need, and the parents are hard-wired to meet that need.

So it is with Me. The Connection between us is always maintained on My part, and as you are learning right this minute, you can actually hear, clearly, My Voice even in the middle of other voices. Even in the middle of other voices shouting. You have learned to recognize My Voice. I don’t have to shout, to make Myself heard. You know My Voice by now. So the Super Bowl lesson for you is, no matter how the game goes, no matter how loud life gets all around you, you can still hear and respond to My Voice within.

You can turn, answer your text, and talk to Me.

You can look up, respond to anyone in the room, and hear from Me.

This is what I mean by no separation. You don’t have to wait for Sunday, you don’t have to wait for your early morning quiet time, you don’t have to wait, period.

So I have a question. Why did it take so long, then? What about all those years I could barely hear You at all? Were You not talking just as much then?

For years, you were schooled to believe I speak in particular ways, at defined times, and often only through select people. You had to line up all the conditions, just so. Can you feel Me laughing? Can you see Me dismantling all those barriers to My Presence? Now that the River is flowing freely, you will never experience drought again. Even the rain will remind you of all the ways My Spirit waters your soul.

So for folks reading this now, who may be where I was, what can they do differently to find this kind of Connection, where You speak in the middle of busy days at work, or loud kids, or the TV blaring? What steps can they take?

The best way to begin is to expect I will speak into their heart. And the best place to begin is to find some quiet.

I thought You just said we don’t need quiet.

Quiet is a good place to start, so that you can move beyond it. Everyone uses the bathroom. Everyone takes a shower or a bath. These are great times to turn off any background noise and reach out to Me. Once people experience My Voice within, even one time, they will know what to listen for, like a mother who can recognize her child’s voice in a crowded classroom at the end of a day. Then, as happened with you, the experience of connecting with Me, however briefly, will create a Holy Hunger for more contact, more awareness of My Nearness. And very soon, they will be sharing with others of how their experience of Me has deepened and changed.

As for you, keep being open and honest. And now that you have been able to hear Me here, expect the particular timbre of My Voice to be even more evident all throughout your day.

Happy Birthday! See, you’re smiling. Now what would you say about your day?

Uh, how about Wow?

Wow is good. I like Wow. I specialize in Wow, in fact. And even before you can think it or take the time to write it out–since I know your thought beforehand–you are so welcome.

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Look for the Light

God, I want to talk to You about the dark night of the soul, when You leave us and–

I will never leave you.

But–

I will never leave you, nor forsake you.

But what about Jesus saying from the Cross, why have You forsaken Me?

Do you really think I would forsake My Own Son? You have a great fear of being left alone, being abandoned. Many humans do. Jesus was speaking out of His humanity, expressing honestly the feelings many humans have, especially when tragedies occur, of being left alone, separated or forsaken by God. But this is false–I Am. There is nowhere, no time, no circumstance, in which I Am not. That would negate My very Being. There is a difference in being Present to you in all things, and being the cause of all things. We have talked about this before.

So, then, what is this whole Dark Night experience, if it’s not some test, like a fast from your Presence?

That notion is a lie, a particularly insidious falsehood, because it sets in motion the thought that, when difficult circumstances happen, humans must muddle through on their own. The truth is, the human tendency at such times is to withdraw and turn inward. The clouds of circumstance appear to your thought and feeling to obscure the sun, but the sun has not changed its magnitude. You mistake the clouds of your circumstance for My deciding to withdraw from you. If your sun suddenly disappeared, so would life as you know it on planet earth. Similarly, you cannot live without My Love, without My Presence.

In the Genesis story, after all the spoken, it is good, what did I say was Not Good? Aloneness. Not Good for humans to be Alone.

Don’t fear an illusory Dark Night. You know what grief and loss feels like. I promise you, you will never face grief, never experience loss, apart from Me–or from many who love you and care for you. You have My Word on that.

So I need to…

Look for the light. Look for the Light of My Presence. Even in the seeming darkness, if you open your heart, open your mind, open your eyes, you will see. You know this photographically. You mount your camera so it is still, and you open your shutter. And what happens? What you cannot always see with one glance from your eyes, your shutter reveals. So it is with your heart. Be still, listen, look. You are never, nor have you ever been, Alone.

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Thirst

Lord, I don’t have very much time.

Actually, you do. You have all the time you need. And you are joined, right now, in conversation, with Eternity, with an eternal perspective, with One Who is Timeless. Who Was and Is and Is To Come. So why do you feel you don’t have very much time?

Because I need a message.

No. Not really. What you really need, what your world really needs, is not a message. It has lots of messages, some truer than others.

So what do we need? What do I need?

Say you’re hungry, or you think you are hungry. You have many choices, some nutritious, some not so. You could eat a snack filled with protein or one filled with sugar. But what if you are actually not hungry at all? What if you are really just thirsty? Your world’s need, your need, is more based in thirst than in hunger right now.

Okay, I understand the difference from a body’s point of view. But You are talking about our souls, our spirits. What is the difference between soul or spirit thirst, and soul or spirit hunger? I don’t understand.

Your great thirst is to be healed and to be free. Hunger is a signal that your growth needs nourishment, perhaps deeper understanding or clarification. But thirst…thirst is a signal that your soul needs refreshing. You can live longer in the natural without food than you can without water. The same is true in the spirit.

So how do I go about quenching my thirst, then? How do I play a role in quenching anyone else’s?

By experience. You can for a season nourish yourself or others with words, yours, other people’s, even Mine. But to quench the soul’s thirst, you need experience. Music can help refresh a weary, parched spirit. So can beauty, which is why art can be healing as well as merely decorative. You find personal renewal outside in nature, a great source of spiritual water for you. And you have had direct experiences of what you have come to call My Manifest Presence, that extra sense that I Am Here. I Am always Here, always Present, but you are not always aware of My Presence even though you acknowledge it mentally as a spiritual fact. Acknowledging something and experiencing it are vastly different. You need to experience My Presence again. In fact, the more tired you are, the more thirsty you are, you tend to push yourself harder, not easier. You tend to chide yourself for not having more stamina when I have designed both your body and your spirit to send you powerful signals of thirst —not so I can scold you, so I can refresh you.

Lord, I am going to say what I started out saying—I don’t have very much time.

 Yes, your days are very scheduled, and will only become more so. I know. That is why it is a very good thing I Am Timeless. So I will let you in on a secret. There is more to the verse, He gives to His Beloved even in his sleep, than you know.

Turn out your light, lay down your pen, walk away from the computer, and fall asleep in the deep knowledge that I Am infusing you once again as you rest. See if you don’t wake more refreshed in the morning than you have in a while. Let go all that troubles you, even for these few hours, and relax into My Presence.

 

 

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Today I Am Grateful For…

Lord, You know how I like to write first thing in the morning. The past couple of days, though, I have been either out of the house early or been interrupted, so I had to get quiet at night instead. What I like best is having my longer quiet at the page, in my journal, in the morning, and then writing out my gratitude list at night. Journaling in the morning helps me start the day calm and centered; gratitude at night helps me reflect on all that went right during the day.

So why don’t you journal your gratitudes here, now?

Oh, well, I could. Sure. So today I am grateful for the practice of gratitude, period. I am so grateful for my friend Karen who recommended the practice all those years ago.

And why was that so important?

I was in a mess. I was hurting and grieving a loss, and she wisely said, you already know everything that is wrong in your life right now. The practice of a gratitude list will change your focus to the smallest of blessings that are still present. She challenged me to write ten things every single day, ten different things. She warned me I would find it hard at first, but if I persisted, the practice would change my life.

And why do you think it did change your life?

Honestly, Lord, I started looking for things to be grateful for. I knew that list was coming at bedtime! I started being alert for items to put down. It started as a challenge and became sheer joy. Some days I had so many things to list, ten wasn’t nearly enough. That practice reawakened me especially to how much nature was all around me, and how much I loved it. I’d become numb, blind, deaf in my grief. Gratitude was like springtime–it brought so much forth that had been sleeping and waiting. 

So what else are you grateful for today?

Well, I am grateful for our new gallery space, and for our landlords that are working so hard to make it possible.

I am grateful for the warmer weather as I look back a week and edit images from our second snowfall; they are beautiful but they look cold!

I am grateful that I now have super warm gloves and coat and boots, so the next time it snows, I will be much cozier.

I am grateful to have seen a beautiful Westie in Home Depot, and that the owner let me squat down for her wags and kisses. I miss Mikey terribly and seeing this affectionate Westie didn’t make me sad, it made me happy.

I am grateful for a yummy lunch out with Pete, like a date! 

I am grateful that this new project is giving him so much joy. He lights up when he has the chance to design something. It feels so good to see him happy. 

I am grateful for all the heart shells I found yesterday. 

I am grateful for all the support I have from friends and staff–not just for work stuff, for life stuff. You told me years ago that I would have help, and now I do. I am so, so grateful for my tribe. Thank You.

Oh, I am grateful for a new lyric! You know how I love to write. Anytime there is a new song, it is a favorite. So I love having time here in the winter to work on music a little. 

Right now, this second, I can hear the tv in the living room. But I feel surrounded by Quiet. The quiet I feel in the morning with You. It is the same peaceful sense, not at all empty, very full. Full of Peace. Full of Your Presence. Is there something You want to say?

I Am Grateful for you. I Am grateful for your vulnerability, the same vulnerability that just brought those tears to your eyes–the vulnerability you sometimes see as a weakness, I see as one of your greatest strengths. I Am Grateful you are so sensitive to My Presence. People say, try harder. I say to you, try easier. Gratitude is an easy way to peace, to calm, to assurance. You don’t have to try so hard. You are here. You are present, present to me, and I Am present to you. And that is more than enough.

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A Whale of a Thought: God’s Presence With Us

We are nearly two weeks in, in a New Year. Holiday revelry–whatever it was–is well past. I find this time of year both exciting–I can think, I can plan–and challenging (I can think, I can plan). I’m always wondering, at the bottom of every thought, where are You? Where are You in all my thinking and planning?

I’m right Here. Ever-Present, ever available. Humans tend to discount the idea of God being involved in little things, or they trivialize My Presence by limiting Me to being a Granter of Endless Wishes. Both are neither wholly wrong or wholly right because neither is a whole perspective.

Jesus was different from the religious leaders of His day, and different from many religious and spiritual leaders since, because He didn’t separate Himself from the crowds. He taught, He healed, He feasted, He provided miraculous resources for everyone who came. That’s the Mystery Jesus came to embody–God fully Divine, fully Holy and fully present.

You have done well to set aside these regular, daily times of conversation. But even you limit Me to these finite minutes. If you let yourself understand Emmanuel, the awareness of My Presence would forever erase doubt, banish fear, overcome anxiety.

-Be Not Afraid–for I Am with you.

-Be Believing – for it is I Who Am speaking with you.

-Be Anxious for Nothing – for I Am Here to receive your every care, your every concern.

Yes, Lord, but, pardon me for this, You are not a wizard and this is not a fairy tale. People die here. People get hurt here.

And I Am Resurrection and Life. I Am Healer and Restorer. If you, if humans could really experience My Presence, be aware of My Presence, for one 24-hour period, the world would be changed overnight. Like the influence of a powerful magnet, the awareness and experience of My Presence would re-align motives and character, would influence actions, thoughts and desires, and would solidify choices for goodness and kindness, for Love and Peace. the outflow would be tremendous Joy, overflowing Joy and Abundant Life, just as I promised!

Death, rather than being feared, would be seen as the Door to Glory it is. Life would no longer be lived in its shadow. All the focus would be on living Love, here in the human body, there in a deathless body. Life unto Life, all in Union with Me.

How did seeing the whale yesterday make you feel?

Exhilarated. Excited. Happy. Expectant.

A few minutes, with a great, huge creature, in all the vast ocean, which I made–as you recall–to sport and play, gave you all that?

Yes, Lord. It did.

Then imagine what a day, as you reckon time, in My Presence, would do for your soul. For your body. For your spirit.

Are You saying that’s possible?

I’m saying it’s essential.

Kaylee comes in, barks for dinner, Pete comes in, I check the roast. Essential.

And here I Am, as if you’d never left My Presence, because, hear Me, you never left My Presence. You cannot go anywhere I Am not present. To live the life you were born to live, it is essential you begin to live this truth. Not just believe it, not acknowledge it, not think about it, not ignore it, not forget it. Live this Truth. Today, tonight, tomorrow, the next day. Glory awaits humanity here. Thy Kingdom Come is not a futile, fruitless, impossible prayer! But you are living as though it is! Is God not Father? Is God not Holy? You strive for daily bread instead of asking for daily bread. Ask for daily bread so you can do your part in being daily bread, in feeding the world My Hope and My Love and My Peace and My Joy, My Kingdom, My Will, My Abundant Life. Do you really think I gave these words as meaningless, ritualized rotes, or as dynamic promises and prophecies? Live My Presence. BE My Kingdom Come, on earth, as in heaven.