God Breathes As We Breathe

Sometimes I think we believe that in order to connect with God we must "go within" or effectively tune out the things that we feel and sense around us. We think that we can experience God mainly by eliminating all of the sensory stimulants that we feel; that is, we say, when true prayer can begin.

But what if God is instead fully incarnate in our bodies? What if a good thorough cry is as good as a prayer, a belly laugh as beneficial as going away on retreat, and making love as divine as times of worship? Surely it's not an either/or dichotomy, but how often do we retreat from the very vessels - temples - that we have been provided with in our bodies?

What if God cries as we cry, laughs as we laugh, makes love as we make love, and suffers along with us when we feel pain? Furthermore, what if God inhabits the very parts of us that we find undesirable in ourselves - the gut, the stretch marks, the receding hairline, the blemishes?

As long as we have breath in these mortal bodies, we have countless opportunities to encounter the divine.

God Is Like An Octopus - Updated

I believe that God is like an octopus and we are their tentacles. Each person, each living thing has been and is a chance for the Creator to experience this thing called life and to be in relationship. There are so many colours and cultures and religions, each seemingly different but really we're all One. Instead of simply being God, we have - so far - made an idol, called God separate and worshiped them. When all God desires is to live and to experience and to love. Each of us is a wave in the great ocean of God. We are never truly born and we never truly die - we just change shape. We rise and we fall. It is so tempting to pray TO God, but today I feel like praying AS an expression, an extension of God in this grand universe. And all I can say is this: May I swim boldly in God's great sea of love, experiencing love in every face and with every interaction and every relationship. Amen.