Photo by Trapac
A guest post by Jonathan Mead
Hands covered in dirt. Wet, brown-black soil between your fingers and under your nails.
Sweat pouring down your back on the treadmill. Powerpoint presentation that you can’t get to work. Tuesday afternoon toddler throwing oatmeal at the cat. Deep red leaves falling off an old Oak.
That’s where God is.
Monday morning, can’t find your keys. Late for work, spilled coffee on your new pants… yelling at the idiot who cut you off in gridlock traffic.
That’s where God is.
Have you ever noticed… we spend so much time looking up for God, when God is really found by looking down.
I’m guilty of this too. I try to seek amazing experiences, reaching for God in the skies. I’ve searched for great views from tall bridges. I’ve meditated until my legs felt old and stiff.
What I forgot was… the Divine is found by looking down and around you. Witnessing and realizing that the mundane isn’t so mundane after all. Everything you do is really a miracle.
I mean, haven’t you ever just stopped for a moment and thought: “This is really trippy. How the hell did I end up here? How does everything even exist?”
But the thing is, we get caught up in the details, the minutiae and dramas and we forget that life is a miracle. It’s hard keeping in perspective that there are no ordinary moments.
Here’s an idea to change all that…
Worship 2.0
There seems to be an old rigidity and stuffiness attached to the idea of worship. We think of angry priests admonishing us about fire and brimstone punishments for unholy acts. We’re often advised to worship God as it’s something above us. Something so holy that it’s unreachable to us imperfect beings.We can’t put ourselves below God anymore, we are It. We are creations of the divine. It’s impossible for us to become separate from it.
The problem is we lose sight of the true meaning of devotion.
See the point isn’t to worship the Divine only in private. Life — Divine Creation — should be worshiped in everything you do. Every time you feel, see, kiss, taste and every time you move.
Worship 2.0 is about realizing that there aren’t just certain things that are Divine. Everything is Divine. Your body is Divine, it’s sinful not to worship it. The food you eat is a Divine gift, it’s an offense not to savor it completely. Your breath is also a gift. Your very existence is a gift.
But again, it’s easy to get caught up in the drama of life, isn’t it? It’s easy to get whisked away by your ego into some pointless brooding that disconnects you from what matters.
So here’s what you do: Everything that frustrates you, turn that into a reminder for worship. If someone or something bother you, let that be a reminder to appreciate. If something pains you, that will be your signal to remember the precious divinity of life.
By doing this, you transmute your pain into joy. Your suffering becomes gratitude and appreciation.
The drama that used to eat at you becomes your deepest gift.
Something different and beautiful
Maybe it’s that search for ascension that’s holding us back. Maybe, just maybe the Divine isn’t realized after sitting in the lotus posture until light shoots out of the top of your head.
Maybe God is found where you least expect it.
Maybe God is in the mud.
What do you think? Leave a comment and let’s discuss…
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This article was written by Jonathan Mead. Read more of his articles on Illuminated Mind or follow him on Twitter.
Check out Mary’s guest post on Zen Habits: How to Find Islands of Ease in the Chaos of Life
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Definitely a great perspective shifter. Thank you for sharing this wonderful insight. I will commit myself to paying more attention to what is truly a miracle and truly divine…… everything!
Clint Stonebrakers last blog post..Leadership Always Counts
I can’t think of a way to say this without sounding mean. I DO enjoy the point of your post. But omigosh I think I’ve finally seen the article with the new 2.0 cliche taken to the extreme I’d like to gouge my eyes out.
Discuss?
What’s to discuss?
There is no God.
We have moved on (well, some of us have) and we don’t need Fairy stories to explain the world, the stars in the sky and ‘where we came from’.
We have rational explanations derived from Science and Mathematics.
So ‘God’ is in the minds of the infants, the ones that are scared and need a comforting bed-time story to make sense of it all.
I, like many others, marvel at Nature and the Cosmos without having to have some mythical Magician make it all.
I adore this post! I do believe that the Divine is everywhere and in the subtleties not the extremes. The analogy that pops into my head is giving my kids their nightly baths. It can become tedious at times, yet it is really in these “chores”, so to speak, that connection and bonding really occur. The same for Divinity. It is everywhere and often, in the most mundane. We just forget to looke there!
Thanks,
Brenda
Brenda|Soul Realignments last blog post..Are You Ready to Serve? Yes!
I believe that the divine source is within us all; we are all divine beings connected with “God” through our spirits. I believe that when we interact with each other in loving kindness, we call divinity to us, through us. All acts of service, of kindness, of love, of compassion are where we find God. The world needs more Mother Theresas, and less preachers, teachers, and “masters”. To truly connect with divinity, you must place yourself beneath others, not above them.No matter how you envision Him/Her/It, “God” is within you, as you are within It. As are we all.
Jay Schryers last blog post..Assume Love
@ Clint: It definitely shifts your perspective immediately. It’s just a matter of developing the habit of staying present of the divinity around you.
@ jdp: Sorry to hear that. I thought it was a good way to explain the difference, or moving to a new level. Maybe it was a little cheesy though. =)
Great post. Thank you Jonathan.
The other day I heard a lady say “I didn’t realize God was all I needed until I realized he was all I had.” I could relate.
There’s a line from Ragamuffin Gospel that is something like… “It’s not definitive prove that God exists we seek, but the experience of his presence.” My God is in the mud, she was there with me. I don’t understand the Divine, I don’t need to. I do “know” the loving spirit that guides me, provides for me, if and when I open myself to it. I can’t deny it, I experience it everyday. I experience it through miracles happening in peoples lives. I see it in the homeless mans face standing on the street corner. I am him. I see it in the mother addicted to crack grasping for a reason to live. I am her. When I see these people open their hearts to the possibility of something more powerful then themselves, and they begin cultivating self-worth and purpose in life, I experience God, the Divine, something more powerful then myself.
Call it law of attraction, the spirit of the universe, whatever, I don’t care what it is or need to define it, I just open myself to the possibility of it and experience it.
It works for me, but then I was desperate.
Jared Akerss last blog post..If it’s uncomfortable, I should probably be doing it
Yes! God is in the mud. Love that title. Submitted to Reddit.
I truly believe God is everywhere. Scientist believe that 99% of our body is made up of space. Matter is empty space. How is it held together?
God!
Karl Staib – Work Happy Nows last blog post..30 Days of No Complaining – Wisdom Multiplied
It is the same as the ancient Hindu Vedanta philosophy – Tatvamasi and Aham Brahmasmi. Tatvamasi means “You are that” meaning you have divine in you and so is everyone and everything in nature. Aham Brahmasmi – is you are the creator and you are capable of creation.
Dineshs last blog post..Rasam-a-Touille
I absolutely loved this post. I totally agree. I grew up going to church every Sunday but my most precious memories of God’s presence come from the real, everyday world. We just need to be aware, in the moment, and we will see his spirit all around us. Great Job!
Chad Prigmores last blog post..Recovery: the act, process, or an instance of recovering