First, a poem, for you, my love:
I Give My Life to God Today
I give my life to God today
His truth will show me to the way
In every act, each word I say
His Grace will guide me home
Too long I've sought, and wasted time
sick dreams of tasks, and hills to climb
But now I know that love is mine
I shall never be alone
I will step back, and follow You
But words Love speaks can be the truth
If storms may come, or skies be blue
hear only the sweetest tones
Dear Father, yours are all my thoughts
Your blessings all that I've been brought
The victory won, the battle fought
Your peace, it is my home
As I write this, An immense and ultra-destructive storm, named Hurricane Helene, is sweeping through the Southeast, carving a path of devastation in its wake.
Here in Tennessee, we have been spared the worst of it, experiencing some minor flooding, but nothing like what our neighbors in North Carolina, Georgia, and especially Florida are experiencing.
People have lost so much already. And as the next few days go by, much more will be lost. I can’t imagine what they are going through. And my heart goes out to each one of them. Along with a prayer that they find peace, in this, the dark night of their souls.
And if you are one of those affected, or have loved ones who are, know that you are in my prayers as well.
But my message today is not one of despair but of hope and peace, and that is what I want to share with you.
The torrential rains we are currently receiving serve as a perfect backdrop for that message - which comes out of the lesson I received today from A Course in Miracles.
A Restless Night - And Eventful Morning
Our house is not in a floodplain. So the rain wouldn't be bad at all - except for one thing...
We have dogs.
Four dogs to be exact. And as every dog owner knows, along with most non-dog owners, dogs have to go out - a lot. And they really do not enjoy the rain. Or at least ours don't.
So last night was a struggle trying to get them out. So the choice is to try to get them to do that, or go through a ton of pee pads. (with which they don't always have perfect accuracy in using)
Then, to make matters worse, we got woken up at 3:30 AM by our sweet Maltipoo Max, which is very unusual.
So I coaxed him to come out into the pouring rain. And soon I understood his urgency. Diarrhea. Yes, that oh-so-uncomfortable word that we hate to use, yet is nevertheless a fact of life.
And then, as we woke up and got ready for the day, he kept needing to go out - like every 30 minutes. Each time needed to be essentially dragged out into the yard to do his business.
And with every time I did so, I was more and more tempted to curse my lot. Tempted to think about the things I wanted to get done and imagine how I wouldn't be able to accomplish them now. How all day would be a struggle with the weather, and the idiosyncrasies of our canine companions.
And then I read the lesson for today from The Course:
Lesson 233 - I Give my life to God to guide today.
Father, I give You all my thoughts today.
I would have none of mine.
In place of them, give me your own.
I give You all my acts as well,
that I may do Your will,
instead of seeking goals which cannot be obtained
and wasting time in vain imaginings.
Today I come to You.
I will step back and merely follow You.
Be You the guide,
and I the follower
who questions not the wisdom of the infinite,
nor Love whose tenderness I cannot comprehend,
but which is Your perfect gift to me.
Lead Me Not to Temptation
Too often, we see every day as a struggle. we look at our to-do list, and it already seems overwhelming. Then emergencies come up, little fires that must be put out - and we lose it!
We lash out at those around us, either because we think they contributed to it, or they are just collateral damage when we can not find someone or something to blame.
We make ourselves miserable with guilt and resentment.
We cut ourselves off from God.
This is what is meant in the Lord’s Prayer:
”Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"
Matthew 6:19
We are led to think that temptation is about seeking pleasures of the flesh and of the mind. To lust for power and material possessions. And treat those desires as the evils we need protection from.
But that is not the ultimate truth.
The only real temptation is to think apart from Love, which is to think apart from God.
To think unloving thoughts, in place of God's thoughts - which are only ever of Love, of peace, of kindness, of sharing, of unity.
Within each unloving thought, lies the seed of unspeakable destruction.
And within every loving thought is the spark that contains the power to create unfathomable beauty.
Which will you hold?
Namaste, precious and holy Child of God.
Embracing the Eye