Dying to Live

Posted on March 31, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by jplenio from Pixabay

“Love, not death, is the eternal thing.” – Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond

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Listen to my song “Love Will Always Lead You Home” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the reflection below. Thank you!

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Psalm 69:8-10

For it is on your account I bear insult, that disgrace covers my face. I have become an outcast to my kindred, a stranger to my mother’s children. Because zeal for your house has consumed me, I am scorned by those who scorn you.

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To be a follower of Jesus means to follow in his footsteps.

And that means the path of the cross.

Jesus emptied himself in the name of love.

He stood up to the powers of government and religion and stood with the marginalized.

And Jesus did all of that nonviolently.

He preached that whatever you did for the least of these you did for God (Matthew 25:40).

He called for us all to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), to forgive always (Matthew 18:22), and to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).

The only way to do this, is to empty yourself.

You must let go of your self-centered, egotistical desires, the trappings of the false self, in order for the ways of Christ to rise in you.

In other words, you must submit to the crucifixion of your false self.

That will mean bearing your share of insults.

It’ll mean becoming an outcast to your kindred, and perhaps even a stranger to your siblings.

I know the zeal of following Jesus and the resulting feeling that I am dying.

All that is false about me needs to go.

And just as this process has always shown me, new life is just ahead.

Resurrection is on the horizon!

This is the path of restoration and salvation.

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Listen to the song of the day “Love Will Always Lead You Home” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Pay It Forward

Posted on March 30, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by RENE RAUSCHENBERGER from Pixabay

“God has created and redeemed us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human life.” – Henri Nouwen

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Listen to my song “How Wonderful to Me” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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Psalm 71:17

God, you have taught me from my youth; to this day I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

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As I look back to my youth, I can now see the tender love of God that was always with me.

This Love upheld me and embraced me through the unfolding events of my life like a nurturing, compassionate mother.

It carried me through the storms that presented themselves as a part of this earthly realm.

I distinctly remember lying on a hospital gurney as an adolescent awaiting to have a minor surgery.

For a time, I was alone looking up at the lights above me.

There was a moment when I sensed in my heart that I had nothing to fear and that this experience will help comfort me later in life when there will be a more serious matter.

That memory came back to me as a 38-year-old when I was in a different hospital being transported on a gurney to have an emergency appendectomy.

I again felt the comforting arms of a God who is like a loving mother cradling a babe in arms saying, “Do not fear. All shall be well.”

Several days later as I lay on my hospital bed very sick due to the paralysis of my digestive tract, this Love suddenly filled me with an intense experience of my oneness with God and all things.

The whole experience was life-changing.

It led me to pursue a Master’s degree in Religious and Pastoral Studies, to record four albums of music, and to publish two devotional books.

To this day, I proclaim God’s wondrous deeds in words and song!

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Listen to the song of the day “How Wonderful to Me” on the Live to Love album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Original Blessing

Posted on March 29, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by Scottslm from Pixabay

“The greatest gift you can give (yourself or anyone else) is just being present.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru

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Listen to my song “Mercy Reigns” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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Isaiah 42:1

Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased. Upon him I have put my spirit.

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When Jesus read these words of God through the prophet Isaiah, he took them to heart.

They became personal.

God was speaking these words directly to him.

In Christianity, followers of Jesus are called to become the body of Christ in the here and now.

We eat the bread of Communion, the very body of Christ, so that what we eat becomes us.

We are sent forth to be Christ to the world.

Now, read the scripture verse for today again.

This time, know that God is speaking to you.

The Holy One, the Loving Creator of all, infinitely loves you.

The Spirit that gives life and breath is energizing you.

Be consciously aware of this.

Rest in this truth in silence.

Set aside 20 minutes to simply let go into the Holy Presence.

(Centering Prayer is a wonderful practice.)

Then as you live your life, attend to those you encounter and to those the Spirit places in your heart.

Hear the words of the prophet Isaiah as God speaks directly to you:

“I, the LORD, have called you for justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”

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Listen to the song of the day “Mercy Reigns” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Persevere in Love

Posted on March 26, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by symphonyoflove from Pixabay

“Don’t worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth.” – Dorothy Day

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Listen to my song “I Want to Follow You” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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Jeremiah 20:10

Yes, I hear the whisperings of many: “Terror on every side! Denounce! Let us denounce him!” All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine.

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The prophet Jeremiah is in misery in today’s scripture passage.

He feels betrayed in doing what he thought God called him to do.

The people did not heed Jeremiah’s prophecy but instead turned on him.

That’s what always happens to prophets.

Jesus knew this well.

Look at what happened to Martin Luther King, Jr.

When you stand up for the marginalized, you can expect to be slammed by those in power, those who are very comfortable with the status quo.

I’m convinced that many people define themselves by finding someone or something to be against.

This reflects the ages old practice of scapegoating which is defined as: “Blaming someone or something for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency.”

Let us blame the desperate immigrants coming here as the problem instead of trying to find and fix the root problems that are causing them to flee their countries.

Or, let us blame the immigrants instead of fixing an immigration system that has been broken for many years resulting in a process that takes 10 to 20 years for a person to legally come.

Jesus called on us to care “for the least of these” stating that whatever we did to them, we did to him (Matthew 25:40).

Our mission here is to take part in the Flow of God’s loving creativity so that the kingdom of God, as Jesus called it, can come into being in this time and place.

Jesus warned us that we would be persecuted, but he also said: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way” (Luke 6:23).

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Listen to the song of the day “I Want to Follow You” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Be

Posted on March 25, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by Alexandra ❤️A life without animals is not worth living❤️ from Pixabay

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Listen to my song “Listen to Your Heart” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the reflection below. Thank you!

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Psalm 40:9

“I delight to do your will, my God; your law is in my inner being!”

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What is doing the will of God?

To get insight into this, perhaps we should look to Jesus as the expert.

What did Jesus say and do?

First, he said that “whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35).

This is not speaking about martyrdom but about the here and now.

He followed that comment with, “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Mark 8:36)”

In other words, materialism, consumerism, and fame – the pursuit of worldly stuff – is the realm of the false self.

If you invest your time in those things, it’s like losing the life you were meant to live.

To be your true self, you simply need to be who we are!

Each of us has been loved into existence by Love itself (“God is love.” 1 John 4:8).

Live knowing you are loved.

Then ask yourself: what gives you joy?

How can you do what you enjoy in the service of others?

If you identify as Christian, you can look to Jesus’ mission statement.

He quoted Isaiah in stating, “(God) has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18).

Jesus also gave these explicit instructions: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:35-36).

Basically, God’s will is found in being present to others’ needs, especially “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40), in each moment.

This is the act of dying to self, letting go of our ego’s desires in order to realize God’s desires.

These desires are found in our innermost being, in our hearts.

You don’t have to look anywhere else but inside.

Spend some time in your “inner room” (Matthew 6:6) with the Holy One; let go of your thoughts and simply be.

(Centering Prayer or other form of meditation is very helpful.)

You just may find yourself delighting in the life that unfolds.

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Listen to the song of the day “Listen to Your Heart” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Self-Emptying Path

Posted on March 24, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by Joshua Woroniecki from Pixabay

“Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny.” – Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

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Listen to my song “Pour Me Out” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection. Thank you!

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John 8:42

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

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As I read this scripture verse today, it struck me that each of us could make this same statement.

Read Jesus’ words again, as if you were stating this to another person.

Each of us come from God.

Each of us is here in this present moment and situation of life.

Each of us did not come on our own accord, but are only here due to a Loving Creator who placed us here.

Do you live your life in conscious awareness of this?

You and I were spawned by Love itself (1 John 4:8), to be this Love in this time and this place.

How is this Love incarnating in you?

How are you laying down your ego’s self-centered desires, in a sense dying, so that new life can rise in you?

This is the Paschal Mystery and the path to living as your true self.

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Listen to the song of the day “Pour Me Out” on the Give Praise and Thanks album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Rebirthing

Posted on March 23, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by Andrew Poynton from Pixabay

“As the mystics everywhere have repeatedly told us, it is only in accepting death that real life is found.” Ken Wilber, Grace & Grit

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Listen to my song “Take the Road Less Traveled” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection. Thank you!

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Numbers 21:4-9

The people’s patience was worn out by the journey; so the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” So the Lord sent among the people seraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray to the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses: Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and everyone who has been bitten will look at it and recover. Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.

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Today’s scripture is a story with a lesson.

It’s all our stories really.

Sometimes we feel like we’ve been uprooted by situations in life that seem out of our control.

We may feel like we’ve been forced into a desert.

This happens.

We must let go of our old life in order to experience new life.

What we need is a strong faith that God, a Benevolent Universe, a Great Good, is leading us.

But many times when we are overrun with troubles, we instead play the blame game.

We find a “scapegoat” to blame for our troubles.

I would suggest that the serpents in today’s story were not sent by God as a punishment.

God doesn’t do that!

The snakes were a natural occurrence.

The Israelites had already been angry at God over their living conditions, or in other words, they were angry at what life was presenting them.

As Paula D’Arcy said, “God comes to you disguised as your life.”

Life was in the process of taking them through a death-to-life-struggle.

That’s how growth and transformation happens!

But in going against God, or Life, or Reality, or the Flow, they ran into more obstacles as in the biting serpents.

And what was the cure that God prescribed?

Mounting the scapegoat, the very thing they were blaming, on a pole so they could look up at it and see it for what it was: a SCAPEGOAT!

Years later, Jesus himself would become the scapegoat, the one on whom the people would place the blame, the one to get rid of so they could remain in their self-centered, unjust ways.

Look up at Jesus on the cross and see the cruel absurdity in placing the blame on one person for the group’s refusal to unite in allowing God, or Love itself (1 John 4:8), to transform them.

Struggles and hardships are not punishments but opportunities to unite and be transformed.

We must allow a Great Compassion to warm our hardened hearts.

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Listen to the song of the day “Take the Road Less Traveled” on the Live to Love album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Come Together

Posted on March 22, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa

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Please listen to my song “Radically Okay” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection. Thank you!

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John 8:3-5

Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

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Women of Jesus’ time had no standing at all.

They were regarded as the property of men.

Chances are, even in the case of adultery, the woman in today’s scripture passage had little say in the matter.

Men had all the power.

Note that the woman here is being held responsible.

There is no mention of the man involved.

And somehow a “sexual sin” was elevated to a capital crime when other sins were not.

Jesus saw the blatant hypocrisy in these male accusers, disabling them with his famous line, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).

As the men slowly dropped their stones and left, Jesus told the woman that he did not condemn her either, but added that she should not sin anymore (John 8:11).

Jesus could both hold her to a moral law and not condemn her!

His compassion undoubtedly transformed her life.

This lesson on tempering the strict enforcement of the law with compassion is so often overlooked by Christians today.

Just look at the desperate refugees looking for help at the U-S southern border.

We can also look at today’s scripture as a lesson on how men have wielded power over women for centuries.

In our time, we are finally seeing women being recognized more and more as equal to men although we still have a long way to go.

Many times men, especially white men in our culture, still do not see the power differential.

Hate crimes against Blacks, Asians, as well as LGBTQ people are also a testament against our openness to love “the other.”

How different the world would be if people actually followed Jesus’ basic and most fundamental teaching: to love God with all your heart, soul and mind as well as to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40)!

The profound truth is, as Thomas Merton put it, “We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. What we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.”

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Listen to the song of the day “Radically Okay” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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All Is Sacred

Posted on March 19, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

“In the days ahead, you will either be a mystic (one who has experienced God for real) or nothing at all.” – Karl Rahner

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Listen to my song “Breathe On Me” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the reflection. Thank you!

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Matthew 1:20

Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.”

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Finding God in all things is part of Ignatian Spirituality.

God, the Holy One, is all pervading.

If we are attentive, present to each moment, we are apt to see the movement of the Divine.

When you live as if all things are sacred, and they are, then you are more likely to experience the Sacred.

A number of years ago, a friend and I were driving several states away for a special event.

Our church band was being featured on a Christian TV show due to my original songs.

Unfortunately, I was coming down with a bad sore throat and cold.

When this happens, usually my voice is the first thing to go.

As my friend drove, she was trying to lift my spirits by looking for God-spots, those little signs that God is with us.

We found many things.

Then, as there was a clearing in the tree line along the highway, we got a brief look at the most stunning sunset.

The sun’s appearance in the clouds was in the perfect form of a blazing orange and red heart.

We were literally awestruck.

We felt sure that this was a comforting message that all would be well.

The next day, despite a cold and sore throat, I felt amazingly well and managed to sing perfectly.

Right after the show, my voice started to quickly fade. When I returned home, I was sick for the next several days.

The Divine Presence is present!

And this Presence can break into our awareness anytime, anywhere.

Like Joseph in today’s scripture, it can happen in your dreams.

It can happen in a song or poem, a work of art, in nature, through an animal like your pet, or through another person.

Regular journaling will give you new insights into the thread of the Divine running through your life.

Be present.

Each breath you take is a participation in the Sacred.

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Listen to the song of the day “Breathe On Me” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Awaken

Posted on March 18, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by jplenio from Pixabay

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

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Listen to my song “Slow Me Down” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the reflection below. Thank you!

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Psalm 106:19

At Horeb they fashioned a calf, worshiped a metal statue.

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Worshiping a metal statue?

Really?

Before taking a victory lap for not being that crass, I ask myself: What do I worship, or, give reverence to?

What do I put on a pedestal?

What am I attached to, something that I give top priority to each day?

Is it social media?

Is it pride?

Is it the desire to be right?

What about the desire to be affirmed or noticed?

I realize that I am uncomfortable just stating these things because I know there are kernels of truth here.

Let’s face it: We all have attachments.

It seems to be a human foible.

But as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, “We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Our souls are beautiful, eternal beings.

Look at your time here as your growth opportunity in this physical realm.

Jesus modeled a life led by the Spirit.

He showed us how to let go of self-centered desires and be present to what God desired.

It’s that simple and that painstakingly hard!

Usually it takes some sort of awe-inspiring event to be totally present to the Spirit.

We’ve all experienced that moment when we suddenly encountered a stunning, spectacular sunset – and we’re left speechless.

Or have been on a night drive when suddenly we are awestruck by an immense, bright orange, full moon on the horizon.

Moments of deep love or deep sorrow can also lead to sudden experiences of overwhelming Divine Love when tears spontaneously flow.

These moments are possible at any time if we step away from the non-stop, addictive thoughts that continually vie for our attention.

Centering Prayer or other form of meditation would be a helpful practice.

Being present to the Divine Presence takes but a moment.

And any moment will do.

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Listen to the song of the day “Slow Me Down” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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