Richard writes that “everything belongs” when we loosen our ego’s grip and allow ourselves to receive and dwell in the present moment:
At the level of contemplative consciousness, we move beyond dualistic, either/or thinking. At this point, life and death, goodness and badness are not opposites. The one does not cancel out the other. There is enough spaciousness for everything to belong, a return to an elemental innocence, some kind of radical “okayness.” Our dualistic, logical minds keep coming to offer us the satanic temptation to eat again of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but this time we refuse.
It is only the first level of consciousness that needs that kind of security system and explanation for everything. That is what it means to be like God: I will be the decider. So many Christians are absolutely sure they know who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. What a strange and horrible comfort that must be! Why would anything except the tiny mind want that? The great mind hands that back to where it belongs, with the only mind where everything does belong—which is, of course, the mind of God.
Every bit of resistance to this contemplative consciousness comes from some previous mental explanation of how things should be, or what we want or expect them to be. If we start our day with ten expectations, we have just set ourselves up for an unhappy day. When we live out of our minds, it just creates expectations and reasons to be disappointed. Don’t do that! We’ve got to choose God here, in this moment, and whatever happens, happens. I don’t care how crowded or late the bus is or even if it breaks down three times. It’s okay. We don’t always succeed at this, but when we do, we know that everything belongs. We know that God can use even this and that maybe the experience really was all right.
It seems that simply allowing ourselves to be here, to recognize the sacrament and the grace of the present moment, is enough to allow God’s loving gaze to happen. What we are doing in the allowing is returning the gaze. That’s it. We are completing the circuit and saying it’s okay.
I am not advocating for some kind of cheap universalism. We don’t want to become people who glibly say “everything belongs” in the face of suffering and injustice. I hope you don’t hear me saying that. It might sound like I am contradicting myself, and our calculating minds may be saying, “Come on. It can’t be that simple.” I think that is why the diabolical, beguiling mind keeps confusing us and trapping us in head trips, instead of surrendering to the naked now that God always inhabits. This is the place where the incarnation is always taking place, and where God is mysteriously present in every moment, perfectly hidden and at the same time perfectly revealed.
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Sarah Young Jesus Listens
Blessed Jesus, I invite You to permeate my moments with Your Presence so I can see things from Your perspective. When I’m around someone who irritates me, I’m prone to focus on that person’s flaws. Instead of this negative focus, I need to gaze at You through the eyes of my heart and let those irritants wash over me without sinking in. I know that judging other people is a sinful snare—and it draws me away from You. How much better it is to simply be joyful in You, my Savior! Strength and Joy are in Your dwelling place. The more I fix my eyes on You, the more You strengthen me and fill me with Joy. Please train my mind to stay aware of You even when other things are demanding my attention. Thank You for creating me with an amazing brain that can be conscious of several things at once. I want to keep my eyes on You, Lord, enjoying the Light of Your Presence continually. In Your strong Name, Amen
MATTHEW 7:1 HCSB; Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.
HABAKKUK 3:18; Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
1 CHRONICLES 16:27; Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place.
HEBREWS 12:2; fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Young, Sarah. Jesus Listens (p. 205). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.