Mindfulness and Giving

Good day, God, and thanks much for this new day in our lives! I really do appreciate it, and I'm grateful that I have another day to live, people to see and to interact with, food to eat, a place to live, work to do. Today will be another special day, I know, in this life that you've given me.

Of course, it's hard sometimes to make the most of days--sometimes we just let them flow by on their own without contributing to them, without doing anything that might make the day special. We seem to just assume that the day will bring us everything we need and then some, without thinking much of giving back. When we do this, though, we rob ourselves of many opportunities to make our own days better. If I don't give that compliment or encouragement, I never experience the feeling that we get when someone else appreciates what we say or do. If I don't give the time and energy necessary to do my job better, I miss the gratification of having done a job well. I don't have to kill myself and work a 70-hour week to do my job well, of course, but I do need to give that something extra.

If I could ask for anything right now, it would be that I be able to give that little extra wherever and whenever I can, that I be mindful enough to recognize when it's appropriate--even necessary--and brave enough to actually do it. I want to give to the world, not just take from it.

Thanks!

a reply:

You're welcome, as always. And I will do my best to help you to keep your eyes open, but as you know, most of that task will fall to you. Since I'm not a micro-manager, it's impossible for me to control you like a puppet all day, every day. But I can help and I do help. In something like this, my help comes in the form of gentle reminders every day of just what there is that can use your help, be it another person, some trash on the street that needs to be picked up, of a problem that needs to be solved, for example.

Oddly enough, most people ignore my little reminders that have been built into their lives. When their kids ask them for advice, they try to solve the problems instead of taking the opportunity to help the kid to learn to solve her or his own problems. When there's trash on the ground they walk right by it, doing nothing about it--often not even noticing it! When a friend needs someone to listen to them, they tend to talk more than their friend does. It would be very frustrating to watch were I the type to get frustrated.

Giving to the world can be simple, but most people choose not to do so. And that's a shame, as much for those people as for the world, which could really use the help. Keep in mind that while I won't control your thoughts or actions, there are plenty of reminders of what you want and need all around you, every day. Keep your mind and your heart open, and you'll see them. And when you do see them, please act on them. It's for your good, and the world's.

Spring Isn't Bright for Everyone

Good morning, God, and thank you for this new Friday in our lives. I really do appreciate this new day that I have to live through and experience, and I hope that you'll help me to make the most that I possibly can of it.

It's spring here, which of course is an amazing blessing in our lives. The days are becoming warmer and we're enjoying being outdoors more that we have over the last six months or so. It feels good not wearing a heavy coat, and we're all enjoying the sunshine and the chance to go for long walks and to play outdoors without freezing.

For some people, though, I know that spring can be a painful time. When they see others being together outdoors and they still feel lonely, it can be very difficult to get through a day. Not much has changed--people were getting together even in the winter--but now it's all very obvious because it's happening outdoors. For those who feel lonely, spring can be one of the hardest times of all. It's a time of new love while they're "stuck" in their loneliness; it's a time of picnics and pick-up games, while they're still uninvited.

It's for those people that I want to offer a prayer today. Please help them to find the strength not just to get through their days, but to fight the personality traits inside themselves that keep them from making connections with other human beings--the fear, the feelings of inadequacy, the lack of hope, the walls that they've built up around themselves. I offer my prayer for them in the hopes that they will be able to make the connections that they need to make in order to feel better about themselves and also be able to contribute more to the lives of the other people around them, as they really wish to do.

Thank you.

A reply:

You're welcome for the day. Spring really is a special time, isn't it? I hope that you're able to allow it to work inside of yourself, to make you a happier and healthier and more loving person.

Your prayer is an important one, and it is noted. Many people aren't able to fully enjoy the beauty of spring because of the darkness inside of themselves, and it really is a shame. You were there once, as you well know, so you know just how painful it is. I would invite you to consider just what you yourself can do to answer your own prayer, things such as offering a kind word to someone who seems to need it or being there for someone to talk to when they need someone. As you know, though, going through such difficult times is an extremely strong learning experience, and I would add to your prayer the hope that people going through those times learn what they need from them in order to help others. Many people go through such difficulties and learn only resentment and anger, while others learn of love and compassion.

Thank you for your prayer. It always makes me feel good to see people praying for one another, keeping the needs and desires and hopes of others in mind as they go through their lives. One of the most important goals of being human is to reach a point at which the needs of others supersede your own needs, and it's always important to keep working in that direction. It's called love, and learning to love is one of your most important tasks while you're on this planet.

May your Friday be bright, and may your weekend be even brighter.

Just a hello

Good morning, God! I just want to say hello and to thank you for this new day in my life. I hope that I'm able to make it all that it can be!

A reply:

Good morning to you, too! Enjoy the day!

Fairness?

Good morning, God! Thank you much for this new day--I ask you to be with me as I work my way through it, to be a gentle guide so that I can be a more effective teacher for my students, and a kinder person to all of the people with whom I have interactions today.

I've been thinking a lot about fairness recently. We live in a country in which very few people control most of the wealth--few people live in extreme luxury, while many people live in abject poverty, struggling to get by, and no matter how hard they work, they're never able to get ahead or put money in savings or do things that others take for granted, such as go on vacations or eat out at a nice restaurant. And there are no real defining lines for who suffers so much--single mothers, people of certain races, the elderly, people with the "wrong" degrees from college--all of them are represented well on the list of people who struggle so hard and so often.

Of course, I'm speaking of financial struggle right now.  I know there are other kinds of struggle--many other kinds. But many of those are caused by financial stress, and it seems such a shame that so many people are unable to experience many of the joys in life because of the completely inequitable distribution of wealth on this planet. It's such a shame.

A reply:

Good morning to you, too. I will be with you--all you need do is be aware of my presence, and you'll know it. All that you wish to be, you can be. I will help.

Fairness? We could talk for years about that topic, especially about how human beings change as soon as they feel the slightest bit of wealth or power. About how they become so afraid of losing that wealth or power that they start to devote all of their actions to maintaining it, and the welfare of their fellow human beings becomes unimportant to them. It's a pretty horrible tendency, I agree.

But then we'd also have to discuss free will, and the fact that I'm not a micro-manager. I don't control people like puppets, forcing them to get rid of half their wealth so that others can benefit. Boy, would I like to. But that would undermine everything that I stand for, and it would make for a world that in some ways would be even less palatable. I feel extreme sadness for the people who spend much of their lives fighting just to make ends meet. Some of them haven't been prepared for life by their parents; some haven't paid attention to the signs of hope and opportunities that I've sent their way--partly because they haven't been taught how to recognize them when they see them.

It's hard to witness without feeling sadness, even despair. Our ideas of human nature are often formed by looking at the selfish and the greedy--who are really just the fearful--yet their actions are not at all representative of the human race as a whole. This inequity does serve some purposes, but it would take me hundreds of pages--discussing some concepts that the human mind isn't able to comprehend just yet--and much, much time to explain it fully. Let me just give you the short version: adversity builds a person, helps a person to develop; wealth does not. The human being grows stronger through tension, just as your muscles build--only by dealing with things that are difficult, not things that are easy. As Christ said, there will be poor always. Unfortunately, there will also be those who prey on them because they find easy targets in them and because they need to find someone weaker than they are to make themselves feel better. It's only an illusion that makes them feel better, but they need that illusion.

Keep feeling compassion. Help when and where you can. Give when and where you can. No, it's not fair, and it's not how I want things to be. But it's where you and your fellow human beings are taking yourselves these days--and that direction can be changed.

Just a hello. . . .

Good morning, God, and thank you very much for this new day! I don't have a lot to say today, but it's been a while since I said hello on this page, so I wanted to get back to it. I do miss our discussions, but the last few weeks have been quite busy, so my time has been spent on other things. I haven't forgotten you and I still want to talk, and that will happen much more as my semester comes to a close and time isn't as much of an issue.

A reply:

Good morning to you, too. Enjoy the day. And don't worry, I've heard your messages and prayers even if they haven't been here. And remember, I'm God. I don't feel slighted if you're talking to someone else or spending time with someone else. I don't feel that you're neglecting me--I recognize that you're involved wholeheartedly in the life that I've given you. If I were to feel bad about that, I would be pretty petty, wouldn't I? And petty I am not.

It's good to hear from you again. Keep staying in touch!