THIS DAY

I am beginning to type these words at exactly 3:01 p.m. EST on Saturday, August 25, 2018. I do so mindful that this is the only August 25, 2018 in all of human history. I am also mindful that many people that were upon this planet when those digits ticked into place have are no longer alive. For all those who loved them this is now a significant date in a way that can only be felt in the very depths of the heart.

There have also been births this August 25th, and for them and those around them there will be celebrations of this event until said individuals meet their own day of departure. And then another date of significance will mark someone’s heart and calendar.

I am still here, continuing to type at 3:08 p.m. This is not my birthday, and as far as I can tell it will not be my day of departure either.

As far as I can tell.

It is an overcast day here in south Florida, though it is quite sunny inside of me. It is an ordinary day in most respects. I have engaged in spiritual practice. I enjoyed brunch with my beloved husband. I have worked, and in a while I will do some exercise. I am preparing for our Sunday service, and I have had my quarterly hairstyle. I am mostly anchored in this day. I am anchored in this moment and in this embodied experience. I am mostly present to the experience of August 25th, 2018, as it is happening in me. It is I guess an ordinary day, and yet in the context of what I described above it is also somehow extraordinary.

If I knew this was my last day on earth how would I choose to spend it? If August 25th, 2018 was the date that would be significant to those around me as the day I left the earth how would my living have mattered? How would the vibrational frequency of my being have touched all living beings? What traces would I be leaving behind? Will I have given more than I have taken? Will I have praised more than I criticized? Will I have loved outrageously, forgiven freely, and compassioned relentlessly? Will my incessant questioning have opened me to greater possibilities that are now gateways to future generations? Will the wounds I have healed be fertile ground for the transcendence of others?

It is 3:29 p.m. and it is still August 25th, 2018. I am still breathing, my heart is still beating, my fingers are still typing. The preceding questions warm me and move me to heightened awareness and sharpened intention. I will live what remains of this day as mindful and as prayerful as one who knows his time is limited. One day in the not too distant future I will be gone. But today I am here. I am fully, freely, even passionately here. For the sake of those who have died and in honor of those who were born: I am here.

It is 3:33. How is this day happening in you?

QUIET ENOUGH TO HEAR

One of my most favorite definitions of prayer I have adapted thus: Being quiet enough to hear God saying nice things about you.

Being quiet enough to hear God saying nice things about me.

Wow.

So as I am willing to let go of all the theological language, the thee’s and the thou’s and the rote prayers of the ages…as I am willing to stop talking at some far off God…as I become still and quiet and receptive enough I begin to hear a faint affirming whisper right in my own heart.

And again, I say wow. I do not think of prayer as something that I am doing. I experience prayer as something that is always happening inside of me and sometimes I am attentive enough to know that it is happening.

Prayer is an alignment IN God. It is the attunement IN Godness. When I am attuned IN God I feel God moving IN me. I sense it. I hear it. I think it. I relate to and from it. As I listen to IT I intuit Its Voice. IT is always speaking of what IT is. It includes me IN that wordless narrative. For IN God I am of God. IT describes Itself and so me. I am the Word of God. And I am invited to fully become that word. When I step back and gain some internal distance from my own constant narrative I can begin to hear that Voice. I begin to feel and hear words of beauty, grace, wisdom, Truth, and love. I begin to hear nice things being said. About me.

God Itself is saying nice things about me. I am done with interrupting that Voice. I am through with speaking over it. Arguing with It. Contradicting It with my own demeaning commentary.

Shhh…

Be quiet.

Can you hear it?

Will you listen?

Right now. Be quiet enough to hear God saying nice things about you.

Kind of makes you blush, doesn’t it?

God loves that.