Dear Ultimate,
So I have been thinking this month about devotion and what I am devoted to and how I express my devotion. Recently, someone asked me how I can express my devotion without being a part of a formal worship community. I smiled as I realized that for me, I am part of a formal worship community. I gather each day with my readers around the world in our own way and in our own time and we meditate on a thought you have led me to each day. Then I give thinks for at least five things that have happened or I have become aware of in the last 24 hours. Sometimes I feel like there are more than five, but I always feel as if I am supposed to stop at five for some reason. Maybe that is because the number 5 is about your grace and goodness. I remember reading once that the Ten Commandments are really two sets of five commandments. The first five have to do with our treatment and relationship with you and the last five have to do with our relationship with others.
Then I take a moment to listen to or become aware of what is inspiring me that day. Sometimes it is something I have read, like the thought for the day, or an image, or picture, or smell. Sometimes it is something I have heard or seen or touched. Sometimes it is something more grounding like the deadlines which are before me. Sometimes it is about breathing, it is about inspiring, inhaling, being in the present. Sometimes my inspiration comes from that time of breathing and meditation.
Then I take a moment to write down my intention for that day. I try to think about the spiritual practice I am working on this month, like devotion. My intentions help me focus on the present and what I am working on that day and that moment. It is interesting in time to go back and reflect on what has actually been manifested in my life which began with my setting out the intention to create something.
So I guess that is in part how I express and practice my devotion to you, but it is also about how I express my devotion to the divine within myself. It is my way of holding myself accountable for the direction my life is taking. It is my way of remembering that I am the author and artist of my life. Together, we co-create that which I am bringing into fruition and I listen to you when you, well most of the time, when you suggest I look again or that I listen more closely. I guess if there are other things you would like me to do, they will be revealed to me through my other practices and I will continue to grow in my devotion to you and to your presence within me. Talk to you soon.
