(First, a bit of context: The following came to me while listening to a recent interview with the guitarist Carlos Santana. Of all the artists I seen perform live, Carlos left a massive smile on my face that lasted for days. He is certainly unique and quirky, but his own weird approximation of what he terms as embracing God, leaving behind Godzilla, has an aim to reach outside of time and gravity, suspended in eternity, so that his music is not popular for a moment but good years afterwards.
I think I needed some encouragement. Some people close to me are also seemingly in need of a bit of hope.
I wrote this down for myself to use in contemplation.
Feel free to ignore it if its not helpful. Like with all postings, it is primarily for me a process of making contemplation transparent, as I work through it. I'm not sure if anyone actually benefits from any of these writings, but in a peculiar way, that is almost not the purpose. Long gone for me at least, are the days I needed to preach to others, or solicit any praise for words. But, if this touches you and helps you, drop a comment - not so much for me, but maybe this stuff needs some group work to increase its potency or guide it towards more reality. )
First a prayer and confession:
God love and bless you, fold you up in His embrace.
There is so much grace all around you.
You are so worthy of this grace.
He, the giver thinks so, because you are like Him, made like Him, and He died for you. So you must be something fantastic, beautiful and wonderful.
Just think: 'I am worthy, God made me, I must be really good'
The contemplation:
The seed of God, the flame of His Spirit inside of you is a force so powerful and able, connected with such able and wonderful divine intelligence. This intelligence is ready for you, to guide and give you wisdom and insight.
This love, grace, power and intelligence over your life is a free gift!
Just to be received, without shame or reserve, every single day. Received with gratitude.
Gratitude for such a big gift, is able to lead us upstream to deeper love. Such love inspires the response of devotion, and easy surrender. Devotion and integrity fills us with integrity and the power to alter and override all the challenges emanating either from the false ego, or the inherited tribal ancestral stupid rage and trash of people and the systems of people all around us.
God's divine intelligence by His Spirit orchestrates us away from these infantile, vulgar and crass ways, that twist, distort and torment already fragmented people further with more fear and separation. Something about this planet at this point, is that people are so fascinated with the dangling of money, beyond all other alternatives, and making you believe that the only way you are going to pay the rent, or be relevant, is to engage the prevailing, clamouring stupidness within.
But, we, can determine to make the best emotional investment into all we think, say and do. Learning how to let the rich emotional blend of love, joy, peace, patience, mercy, kindness and self-control flow into and ultimately through our being.
God's divine intelligence, with clarity and certainty, invites us to submit our request, we are of course needy - there is no shame in this. But this need is not just pedestrian, it can be transcendent, it may be both - it does not matter. What right now is the biggest, most challenging hole in your life? We float that, release that and look out for it. It will be answered in someones heart, even God's own. On receipt of which, we find it easy to increase our gratitude and jubilation. That in itself, is already an avalanche of abundant blessing, a kind of miracle, that wants to fill us all round.
Therefore, we find ourselves able to put our precious few gifts to work out of the multidimensional spirit (true) self's partnership with God for the benefit of others. We can use the bit we have with creativity, love and joy. Intentionally conveying as much life and lightness into all our interactions and actions, and choosing to dissipating all the fog of heaviness.
After all, we exist and are who we are because of God, and we have most of what we have because of others. (I did not build my house with my own hands, not did I make my furniture or cultivated the food I eat.)
So it is only right to be ever so grateful.
(Footnote: Carlos is definitely more towards the eclectic new-age personality-less spirituality. I have a personal relational faith. But, what inspired me listening to him is that he is baggage free. He has no responsibility attacks to perform to a tradition-mantra. I wish I can be free of the dualism that envies this freedom to personalise without guilt, but to be respectful and enriched by a tradition that to some extent, I still belong to.)