Signals

Signals

I can’t tell you how many times I have put “Improve my relationship with God” on my list of hopes for the new year. I have searched for the latest devotional, bought the newest book, and even set up the most intimate meditation space in my home, as if I could somehow manufacture the relationship. Rarely has any of it had lasting effect. Like so many new year intentions, my efforts felt like duties, obligations, and, I hate to say it, burdens. As you might imagine, they never lasted.

Recently, a friend gave me a completely new way of looking at things, and I want to try and share it with you in a way that might help you on your spiritual journey. Instead of beginning with devotionals, books, or disciplines, she suggested I focus on the “god within.” By that she didn’t mean I was somehow God, but there’s a part of God within me and I should focus on that part, nurture it, and let it come out and “play,” (my words not hers). That’s how the relationship deepens and grows. It’s already there; we just need to use what’s been given.

It's like God sends signals out into the world like a radio station, she said. We have built-in antennae to receive the signals (an antenna installed by the creator) and when we use it, we feel a stirring within and ideas come out of the blue. Of course, we have a choice to listen and act on that signal or not, but when we respond to what we receive, our hearts swell and we feel a connection not only to the world around us but the one who created it all. Like ET’s heart light at the end of his finger, that God-part of us lights up when the connection between the sender and receiver is made. You can feel it when you go search for someone who’s lost, say something encouraging to someone who’s struggling, or forgive someone who’s messed up. (So, too, you can feel it dim when you say or do something unkind, dishonest, or think only of yourself.)

Things like devotionals, books, church, and times of meditation and prayer are the ways we keep our antennae tuned to the right station, but they do not provide the signal. They improve our ability to receive the signal that’s always been there. The bible says we’re created in God’s image. I think it’s referring to the God part that dwells within us. It’s what connects us to God. It’s what leads us to say and do (and don’t say and don’t do) things that look and sound like God. The connection is remarkable and indescribable. 

If we listen and respond, our relationship with God improves in ways no resolution can manufacture, no outside source can provide. All we have to do is use what we have already been given.