God Is in All Beings

If we open our hearts to receive, others can reflect to us what we are unable to see in ourselves.

I experience a sense of wonder and joy each time I remember that I am an eternal expression of God and that God lives within me every moment. I feel gratitude for having been born into this human existence with the opportunity to demonstrate God with each breath I take.

But sometimes I forget. Perhaps you, too, have lived through events where you were challenged in remembering that when we open to our divine nature, God is present in each aspect of our lives.

In 2018, my home burned down in the Northern California Carr Fire. My husband and I escaped through the flames with only the clothes on our backs. Neighbors helped each other flee, and one neighbor drove us to safety in his SUV. In my fear, I constantly repeated the mantra, “God is, even in this.” It helped ground me in a sense of sanity when what was happening around me was incomprehensible.

I continued to use my mantra over the next days and weeks. I believed that God would bring a perfect outcome for me and our community, yet often it was only an intellectual belief that didn’t reach my heart. I was afraid and challenged in feeling my divinity and in remembering how the Divine works in life.

There are times we need others to reflect to us what we are unable to see in ourselves. We only need to open our hearts to receive.

The weekend following the fire, I visited my daughter and her family. They have a menagerie of animals, including two large dogs. I have a fear of big dogs, especially ones that jump. Pinecone, their hefty, white rescue Lab/Shar-Pei mix, particularly intimidated me. This dog, however, helped me begin to recover from the losses I felt.

From the moment I entered my daughter’s home, Pinecone became my rescuer. He gently walked up to me; looked at me with a knowing, compassionate, and loving gaze; and didn’t leave my side during my weekend stay. He rested against my leg. If I wept, he put his head on my lap and made soft, throaty, soothing sounds. I felt comforted. There was something in this dog that responded to my pain with deep understanding. I felt as if Pinecone recognized my divinity and was reminding me of who I am, regardless of conditions. He knew that I am love, and he responded with love.

I no longer fear Pinecone. During a challenging time, we developed a relationship that continues to this day. When I visit my daughter’s family, Pinecone sits by my side or follows me through the house. He reminds me not only that all human beings and I are expressions of the Divine but that all sentient beings are. He reminds me that whatever is happening in the outer world, God provides emissaries to show us we are loved unconditionally, and we are expressions of that love whether we feel it in the moment or not.

When I feel disconnected from my divinity, I think about Pinecone and am brought back into my wholeness, knowing that God and I are one, and that God is, regardless of outer conditions. I remember that God always sends messengers to assist us, and there are times we need others to reflect to us what we are unable to see in ourselves. We only need to open our hearts to receive.

Affirmation

I express God with each thought I think, each word I speak, and each action I take. God and I are one.

Affirmative Prayer

In this moment, I breathe the breath of God. I remember my divinity and honor the divinity in all humankind. I express God in my unique way, trusting my inner guidance. With a grateful heart, I nurture my divine self as I grow ever more greatly into my Christ spirit.

Excerpted from Five Principles for Spiritual Living, a booklet from Unity.