Greetings Precious and Beloved Ones!
I have often quoted the familiar saying that, "Life is God's gift to us, but...what we make of our lives is our gift to God!". While that has a ring of truth to it, let's consider the fact that we have life at all, is the gift.
Life is indeed precious and sacred and fun and full! The key is to take all of it, the good, the not so good, the ups and downs, the twists and turns, and love it all!
Take who you are and love it all! The good, the
perceived not so good, the beautiful and lovely parts and the deep not so lovely hidden parts, and love it all! Oh, if we could but offer Love and Grace to ourselves unconditionally, how different our sense of self would be. We would actually feel free and happy! It is time to simply love life! And, to love ourselves Uncontionally!!
The questions for the day are:
. Are you loving life? How? What is your favorite thing about life?
. What would loving yourself unconditionally look like?
. What is the gift you are giving back to God?
Lov'in it All,
Rev. Sylvia
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The key points that resonated with me in this lesson, were:
ReplyDeletethat my love of life must become unconditional;
that I must say, “yes” to all of what life has to offer - the good and the bad;
that any negative thoughts I might have about myself and others are born from a lack of awareness that life is precious.
Any cynicism I have is not about life itself, but usually about what other people are doing with theirs. I now know I must extend my love of life to include an understanding that despite how some people are showing up, their lives are also precious - as it is! In other words, let go of judgment.
I love life about 70% of the time. I find good in every day most days. I love life even when I'm not able to love MY life in the moment.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about life is how mysterious it is and full of "coincidences" which I see as God's flow of goodness in my life. When a set of coincidences happen, I can see what God is calling me to do and we are guided if we are open to seeing, hearing, and embracing that guidance.
Loving myself unconditionally starts with first thing in the morning as I wash my face and look in the mirror affirming out loud, "I love you Ka as a perfect child of God, loved and cherished. I get to be a source of love, grace, healing and service today as I allow God's presence to flow through me." Taking time for meditation and prayer, I always receive some direction for my day and the key is to take the time, listen, and follow the guidance given and live the day with expectancy that doors will open. And as I ready for bed to write at least 3 things for which I am grateful.
My gift back to God, is gratitude for my life and my willingness to be a channel for God's grace, healing and service in the world and my willingness to listen and follow the guidance I receive in prayer and meditation.
My gift back to god is my faith in god and my love for god!
ReplyDeleteToday, I will love myself and others unconditionally come heaven or high water!, we really should remember just how precious and brief life is. When we do, we are more willing to simply "let go,"!
Lov'in Life,
Rev. S
When I wake in the morning the first thing I do is give thanks to God. I hear the birds chirping outside my window and know that GOD is in everyone and everything, including me. I try to be the best I can everyday and as I walk to my job I have a smile on my face and GOD always reflect my smile back to me. I don't always love myself or other unconditionally, however that is something I work on daily. My gift to GOD is my faith and love of her presence in my life.
ReplyDeleteI am loving life! I just had a moment for pause when I got all caught up with error thinking around a monumental birthday. I had to erase the old paradigm about what 60 looked like and what I wanted to achieve by 60 and hadn’t. What I was ignoring was all the great accomplishments I had made and the tremendous flexibility to adjust plans as needed along the way to my dreams.
ReplyDeleteAfter just reviewing my life this past week, I have a greater appreciation for waking up each morning and seeing daylight, breathing on my own, walking on my own, laughing at the silliest and smallest thing, appreciating and admiring my loving children, having awesome friends and family who demonstrate their everlasting love for me constantly, and a prosperity consciousness that knows that All Things Are Possible through Christ Who Strengthens Me!!
Loving myself unconditionally would look like me not being so harsh on myself for the extra inches on my hips or thighs; a deeper valuing and celebration of my talents and skills; and appreciating the wealth that I do have and not getting hung up on not being financially wealthy YET – still have 60 more years to go!
My gift to God is sharing my talents, skills, abilities and resources with Unity of Washington, DC; being a open vessel and vehicle through which God works; sharing joy and love with others who need my joy and love; and being the expression of God on planet earth as much as I can.
Rev. S - You may not take credit for it, but one of your greatest gifts back to God has got to be your teachings. How many of us either would not know God; would not understand a relationship with God; would not understand what faith is; would not have gratitude for who and whose we are; would not be further along our spiritual paths; would not know what the journey looks like; would not ... ?(the list could go on and on) Plus you are so funny!
ReplyDeleteI can truly say I am loving life today and have been for some time now. I am loving life in so many ways just by doing what I want, whenever I choose. And this amounts to everything from traveling, gardening, volunteering, or just relaxing all day because I can. I was blessed with the gift of freedom (retirement) at a very early age-39. Some advised me to get a second career or I would get bored, well seven years later and I am still having a blast, swinging my golf clubs, etc. What I love about life is that it is like an enormous amusement park, so much to do-and I believe so little time. There is something for everyone! I'm pretty easy on myself most days, but I could get in the jacuzzi tub more often, I always feel unconditional self love there:) God put me here to experience the joys and woes of life, I give back by opening up fully to the experience, every time I overcome fear and experience something new or see something from a wider perspective I know that God is pleased.
ReplyDeleteKim Davis
There are moments when I am truly just happy to be alive. Then there are moments when I find life burdensome. Other moments I am on automatic pilot and just doing. I can experience all three in a single day.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I just love about being alive is looking at the sky. When I think about the vast distance between me and a cloud, the sun, or the journey of a rain drop it makes me happy to simply witness the mystery.
If I loved myself unconditionally life would look carefree and easy. It would look like a baby's smile.
My gift to God manifest in random acts of kindness. There is something about reaching out to strangers that resonates deeply within me.
I am learning to really love the good and challenging parts of my life unconditionally. It is a process. Growing up and into adulthood I believed love the good and hate the bad. I did not have the concept of love the good and heal the challenging aspects of my life. I cherished and honored only the aspects of my life that I or others deemed to be good. The shadowy aspects of my life I ignored, suppressed and left unhealed. When you know better, you do better. Now I know I must work toward loving myself the way God loves me.
ReplyDeleteMy single favorite thing about life is laughing uncontrollably. Few things are better than laughing until I cannot catch my breath and my stomach hurts.
To love myself as God loves me is unconditional love. To love beyond human physical and mental appearances to spirit is unconditional love. To love myself unconditionally means I have perfectly balanced self esteem - not narcissistic nor self-deprecating. I would have an impenetrable armor of love for self and others. I would perpetually be in the mode of forgiving and releasing self and others. I would dance in public.
My gift to God is to live a God-center live, love Him and love others and live in faith and obedience to His will.
I never really thought in terms of loving life unconditionally. It's a radical concept in many ways, and I'm trying to put it into practice. Like the author, I have had family members and friends pass on, and have developed an appreciation for the finite quality of life and the need to live life fully. I also have always loved the passage quoted from Luke, "consider the lilies of the field..."
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about life is the physicality of it -- the awareness of being a spiritual being in a human body -- and wanting to experience all life has to offer as long as I'm in this body in this time and place.
My gift back to God is trying to love others unconditionally, and empower them to reach their full potential in life.