"The Story" Behind the Love Letters From God Blog...
She knew as she was writing this stuff that it would "stand witness" later, for herself and those she loved, when she or they went through a "dark night of the soul". That it would stand witness to say GOD WAS HERE, look you can see it! And so she knew it would also mean that He's STILL here, which holds the deepest healing of all. As a healer she knew that...that the deepest kind of healing was simply knowing we are not alone down here, that we are truly in God's hands. And that is why she kept that ancient journal, to show He really was here, in all the little ways she could see.
That dream never left me and I started journaling and living that way, noting the daily miracles. The dream had happened on a trip to Canada and it was over there that I took it to heart and lived that way (see below). But bit by bit it started slipping as time went on. I can get so enmeshed in the stresses of my life I can woefully forget to open to the little miracles each day, the knowing He is HERE. And I want to change this so deeply.
The image I often picture for our daily miracles is them being love lettters from God. Love letters that no post office can bring us, love letters that mean the most, letters He writes on rocks and leaves, whispers in stories and songs, touches through in little daily events in our lives. And we can miss them. My life is completely different I have noticed when I am reading my "love letters" and when I'm not. I remember back to that above mentioned trip to Canada. I was staying in a little house by a river and every single day I would meet up with this little dog I just adored and we would go for our walk by the water. And every single day there was a love letter from God. A rock in the shape of something special, a special feather or leaf, a stirring sighting of an eagle or osprey or sparrow or frog, coming upon bear tracks, finding a tender cub's fur, a touching sunrise or sunset, sounds that draw, the shooting up of a flower, the fall of a leaf, the sun's patterns on the water, the dew on the grass, the feel of the sand under my feet and sun upon me, something in the clouds, something someone said or did that day, something that happened ... simply whatever little event or feeling that moved something, whether in nature or at home, asleep or awake, through whatever avenue or "coincidence" (co-in-see-dance, God dancing with us) He chose. God writes in our life.
And so after I came back from that trip, I still carry the momentos, the most special love letters from it, but I've found that as time went on I stopped looking for those love letters each day now. Its kind of like forgetting to check the mail. I'm sure God is still sending those letters...I've just been forgetting to look. And when I dont look for and find those little "letters" things spiral down. I need them, those little touches and reminders each day that simply and tangibly tell me He is HERE. I long to start "checking the mail" again each day somehow. I miss the love letters so much, and we can only see them when we are present in our simple little day to day lives, IN them, not zooming by, not always thinking of the future,just IN them. IN-ness.
It's not just about the happy stuff either, this "in-ness". As Christine of The Sacred Art of Living puts it:
"In a culture of mobility and restlessness, I can so easily pick up and move when things get uncomfortable or brighter horizons beckon. This happens with relationships as well as places. Even in the absence of the option to physically move, there are many ways for me to feed my desire for distraction, whether it is television or internet or other entertainment. Loving the place where I find myselfmight mean the physical location, but for me also refers to the emotional place whether grief, rawness, or anger. It is the foundation for relationship, saying will continue to be here and work through this with you.”
Being present, even in the pain. There truly is something healing about this. And vital...for it is then that we need those love letters from God most of all, those letters we need to be present to find. And this presentness has many layers. One layer I feel is a perspective of gratitude, such as focused on so beautifully by Ann Voskamp of The Holy Experience of Listening in her 1000 Gifts challenge.
Another layer felt is a perspective of self honesty...admitting where we are from and that our past has helped make us who we are, whether it is something to embrace or conversely to heal from, the honestly and integration there is still vital to that 'in-ness'... it is very difficult to be open to that around us when we are detached from our own heart.
Another layer I believe is realizing that there is no such thing as a mere coincidence--becuase there is no such thing as us being alone. A coincidence is really a co-in-see-dance, God dancing with us. Knowing that, really knowing that concretely by seeing that hand of God happen in real mundane things, that changes things.
And lastly, it seems the more simply and directly we can live, the closer we can get to that 'in-ness', to those eyes of the head and heart opening, even through the small little things like reclaiming simple pleasures. Make that perhaps especially through the small things. It really does : )
