Never alone.

If you follow my blog, facebook, etc., you will notice that I no longer believe in much of what most people would say a Christian should believe.

I've let go of my attachment and certainty to believing the literal, black-and-white stories and tenets of the faith.  The creation story.  The flood.  Sodom & Gomorrah.  The virgin birth.  Hell.  The resurrection.  These are some of things that I no longer believe literally happened and yet, I still find profound meaning and new views of God in many of these stories and teachings.

One of the things that I have let go of is the idea that God is somewhere far away, in the heavens, and if I pray/worship/live right/etc., then I might be able to persuade God to work in my life, to let me feel and know God's presence, and maybe, my prayers will be answered.  That idea of God is now like a childish "Santa Clause in the sky" to me.  I think it defames and degrades and limits who God is.

So, I don't pray anymore.
At least not in the old way I prayed.  I don't ask for answers to prayer.

What I do instead is listen.  I listen to the noise in my spirit.  I listen to the fear.  I listen to the anxiety, the worry.  I listen to the striving and the stress.  I listen to the loneliness.  I listen.  And usually in the space of that intentional, sacred listening, I begin to have compassion for my humanity.  I begin to experience love and compassion for myself and in that moment, I am reminded that THIS... this love... is the very presence, the substance of God.  It is the presence of that which I am made up of.  And in the presence of that Love, the shadows and the noise just melt away and I am returned to that which I am.

That's my usual practice.

And I try to avoid teaching, prayers, mantras, and music that reinforces the "santa clause in the sky" beliefs.  They are simply distasteful to me now.

However, every now and then, I will hear a song that blends these two worlds... my two worlds... the old literal world and the new Love world.  I want to share a song with you now that dances between these worlds and has become one of my favorite prayer songs.

It's called, "I know you are for me" by Kari Jobe.

It reminds me that Love is for me, Love is with me and that ultimately, all there is is Love.  I am never alone.