“All of me, why not take all of me?”

“All of me, why not take all of me” has come into my life as a theme song, a prayer that I lift up to God: “I’m no good without you!” Day after day over the last week or so, these words have reverberated in my heart and mind. A year and a half ago I was praying for union with God. And now I am hearing this song; I am singing it; I am reminded of it; I am heartened by it.  I know the song wasn’t written as a spiritual plea to God, but still the words echo my earlier prayer.

I have to say that this is the first time that I can remember that a song has so captivated me. But it speaks such truth to me, it speaks to such longing in me. It’s like the Lord is singing it to me, affirming my need, my call. So now I’ll see where it leads me.

How does He call you? With music or poetry or the beauty of the natural world or through dreams? How does He embrace you? Pray with you? Gain your trust and love? What stops you in your tracks? Evokes awe in you? Who or what speaks to your innermost, deepest self?

Are you aware that we live in two realities: in our limited selves and in God’s world at the same time? It’s really up to us to choose where we live. Or to allow both to speak to us, but not to limit who we are. It’s like a paradox where both things are true. We live through our own small lenses and through God’s lens. Unfortunately, mostly we are only aware of the little, limited lens, until the bigger spirit-filled world breaks through. And it is like they are both true and we can live in both. In fact, the more we live in both realities the fewer limitations our small personal lenses place on us.

When we live in the awareness of both realities, we can see the limitations of our own small experiences and how they color everything we see. As these limitations drop away we can see how the reality that God offers us is unlimited, expansive, loving and more. We can see the sources of all our limited seeing and hearing and compare it to what God is showing us about ourselves and our world. And then the wonder of who we are and of the world, the whole world that is ours takes hold of our consciousness.

I believe that we carry this limited human consciousness until the day of our death, but we don’t have to be limited by it at all. It’s there; it’s always been with us. And yet, it is not determinative of who we are. Think on that!

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Questions to ponder over the week: How does God call you? What do you respond to? Which reality do you choose to live in? What do you bring to your relationship with God—all of you or only the best parts? Are you aware of your own longing for union with God?’’

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Blessing for the week: May we be the people of God who hear and heed His voice. May we be aware of His presence in nature, in other people and in us. May we dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

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Check out my other website, deepeningyourfaith.com, for information about spiritual practices and more writings about the spiritual life. New posts 2x a month. 9.1.19.19’s is entitled “All of me, why not take all of me.”