Holy child, the never-ending song of Love begun through very creation itself has never yielded its truth to silence, nor could it. You are the Love from which you were created. No form could reflect your magnificence. No form could contain nor isolate your truth. You are the child of Love, of Truth, of Light, and are born in the very image of the same.
Heaven’s light fills you as the joy of Love brings peace and safety to your understanding of who you are in Truth.
Guided Meditation
Our identity is so rooted in how we look, or where we stand in comparison to others. We spend our lives in constant judgment of ourselves. Sometimes it’s exhausting.
Sit in a comfortable place and take a deep breath. Now take another. Invite God to be with you. Think about how you see yourself. Are you judgmental about your body? Do you worry about how you look, what you wear, or what others have compared to you? Think about that for a while. Try to view those judgments as something apart from yourself. Tell God about your worry and judgment.
What would it feel like to really know that none of those judgments matter to God? What if He had no judgment upon your physical appearance, or your clothes, or your financial standing?
What if God loved you simply because you are His child? What would that feel like? If you really knew that, would it help you to be more accepting of yourself and others? How would that help you? Share this with God.
Now let yourself hear Him tell you how much He loves you simply because you are His. Sit with that love and acceptance.
Your Thoughts/Experience:
“Happiness is our natural state. Happiness is the natural state of little children, to whom the kingdom belongs until they have been polluted and contaminated by the stupidity of society and culture.”
Anthony de Mello
Little children wonder at the world. Flowers, sky, ocean and snowflakes awe them. With open hearts and hands they accept what is presented on face value. The laughter of toddlers rings with delight and glee as they endlessly explore the world running, walking, tripping along their day. The space of pre-judgment is where the child dwells. A space where smells, tastes, sounds and sights are miraculous to behold and where one complete moment follows one complete moment.
It is an unfortunate truth that the adults in charge of children are also the keepers of spiritual toxicity. Adults systematically and consistently squeeze the wonder and awe from little children in the name of norms and expectations. Norms and expectations have no need for wonder or glee.
Norms and expectations of society feed spiritual toxicity bloating its owner. In turn, the spiritually toxic spill waste upon the young, for whom living, laughing and wondering are as natural as breathing in and breathing out. When the sheer joy of living has been acceptably terminated, the child is guided down the road to adulthood filled with societal expectations so that the process can begin once again. Unless of course one brave individual once in a while just says no.
No thank you to the norms and expectations. No thank you to the spiritually toxic spills and warnings regarding refusal. No thank you honestly. I’ll hold on to my joy.
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made now in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 4:22–23
Take a Moment to Listen:
Precious child: Do you know who you are? In Truth you are no less than the delight of Heaven itself, of total and complete Love from which you have been given breath and breadth. All wonder and expanse lay safely still within your heart. No fear or doubt could erase that which you are. Come walk with Me awhile.
Guided Meditation
As a young child we gaze with wonder at the natural world. Everything is an adventure. We are simply delighted by life. As we get older, it becomes harder to remember that joy and wonder. We worry too much about all of the expectations we impose upon ourselves.
Find a comfortable spot and settle in. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Once again invite God to be with you. He loves you unconditionally and offers you joy. Was there a place outside as a child you loved to explore? Perhaps it was in a wooded area, or on a farm, a park, or even in your own backyard. Let yourself think of it now. If you didn’t have such a place you can create one.
Is there a tree with all kinds of birds? Are there interesting bugs on the ground and dandelions you can make wishes with? Whatever it is that would give you joy, you can allow yourself to explore it now. Take your time. Have some fun exploring. There is so much joy God wants you to feel. You can talk to God about your experience. Allow Him to respond. Hear Him tell you that He wants you to feel more joy in your life. Then tell Him how you might be able to give yourself more of that joy. He wants you to have it. Write down your experience if you like. You can always come back to this lovely place in your mind whenever you need to do so.
Your Thoughts/Experience:
“As long as I am this or that, or have this or that, I am not all things and I have not all things. Become pure til you neither are nor have either this or that; then you are omnipresent and, being neither this or that, are all things.”
Meister Eckhart
Society conspires to wipe away the paradox that exists between perception and Truth. The conspiracy tirelessly works to disengage our experience of living, from our purpose for being. In return for our agreement, society bestows accolades upon those who achieve the proper type of profession, the proper type of accumulation and the proper kind of social interaction.
The fine print to this contract is blurry however; consequences to signing on the dotted line results in a spiritual anomie of sorts. We are not sure of who we are, what we are doing, how we are living, or even why we need to perform the functions of co-conspirator. Like good soldiers however, we carry on identifying what we have and what we do as the definitive answer to who we are. We become the function of the conspiracy, losing our direction and our identity in the process.
Somewhere along this ill-fated route lie the rewards of discontentment along with a circle of endless questions that cannot be answered due to the very nature of the relationship.
“Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
Psalm 100:3
Take a Moment to Listen:
There is but one identity precious child, which cannot be found in actions of fear or actions to gain yet more accumulations. You are the Love from which you were born in Truth. It matters not the form of how Love manifests its being in the world, for the function of Love is to extend and embrace without regard to form.
The Truth of your identity is the Truth of Love itself. All actions from this Truth become the manifestations of the function of Love.
There is no greater or lesser among you. You are one another as you are your Self. You are the joy of the Love that first created who you are in Truth.
Guided Meditation
We are often attached to our way of accomplishing those things we consider necessary—even prayer. Our identities become tied to what we have accomplished, or accumulated. What would it be like to identify instead with openness and freedom? How would it feel to know that God is leading us?
Go to your favorite place and relax. Take a couple of deep breaths. Ask God to be with you. Think about some of the ways in which you identify yourself. What are some attachments you may have—even attachments to forms of prayer. Can you only allow prayer to be a certain way? Do you judge other’s prayers?
Now what if you let yourself feel more open or unattached? What other ways could you pray? How might God be leading you in a relationship with Him that you hadn’t expected or considered? Could there be limitless possibilities for a connection