The Divinity of Now
“The Kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There’ for behold the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.! -The Bible- Luke 17:20-21
A cool breeze caressed my skin on my walk to the river the other morning (rare for June in Texas). The sun shine was golden hued and flowers bloomed in divine abundance. The grass was soft and green from recent rains, and the water crystal clear. After walking alongside the beautiful spring fed river for a while and back, I took my shoes off, tossed my phone and t-shirt aside for a quick dip in the river. The feeling of the cool water lowering my temperature while the earthy mineral smell of water permeated my nose, changed me. I became grounded and revitalized.
As it was 10 in the morning on a weekday, there were only a few people scattered about. There was a scuba diver, a talkative woman who swims laps in this section of river, the tan blond kayaker who is there most mornings playing Billy Holiday and other jazz as he stops and sits in his kayak and then there was the “Sun God” a man nicknamed for his tan skin, white hair and his habit of raising his hands and shouting at the sun, shirtless, every morning (he has been doing this for over a decade at least). And of course there was me, damp and sitting in the sun intentionally absorbing its healing light.
In this moment, I felt so abundant and so full of life. I wasn’t as energized as The Sun God but in my own calm way I felt the divinity of the now.
It may seem odd for me to lead with a Bible quote that discusses that heaven can not be observed and then proceed to describe my divine sensory observations, but the heavenly experience was not bound by the place or the material alone but in my perception and allowance of it.
The “Kingdom of Heaven is in the midst of you” has often come to mean to withdraw the material senses and focus solely on the internal experience. I have gained so much deep spiritual insight and beautiful unconditional love and joy in that state but the divine is not only there, its everywhere.
The “kingdom” is the realm you abide in when you let the light of the divine in through all things. When you open to receive the beauty, love and goodness with in you and through your senses you enter into a new realm.
We may not stay there at all times but even for a moment, you get a glimpse of what’s possible. It was admittedly easier to experience it in that sacred place, than on my walk home smelling the newly laid asphalt on the street. But I let the awareness linger. I could recognize that certain things like asphalt are not as much a match for me as grass and Billy Holiday and still be in the divine joy of existing.
While everything can be witnessed from a spiritual lens not everything is in as much harmony in its “dominant” energy (there is spiritual essence at the core of everything some forms are harder for us to feel that in). We feel better in nature and beauty because it is expressing its more true divinity, while asphalt and plastic trash are elements of nature in a state of control, divine in the way that we have the power to create anything and experience what we intend, but not as free or filled with overt divine essence. We can find beauty in the functions and intentions of the creations but their frequencies may not give us the liberated feeling our hearts crave.
As I sat with my my face to the sun, eyes closed, I was aware that I hadn’t manifested every specific item on my internal list, I hadn’t traveled the world or done anything exceptional at all (in that moment). But I was really here. I was open to receiving the goodness in what is. I would return to calling forth the new, but is this not all I really want? To create and to receive.
I share this with you to remind you, that creating is our divine gift but receiving fully from what is in the right here and now is our divine right.
Intend and allow. Intend and allow. Masculine and feminine. Effort and flow.
We have mostly all gotten better at the intending masculine effort and forgotten the super important part of just receiving, of letting the sun and the water in. There is great healing in being present and appreciative in the now. There is also more ease in doing that somewhere that naturally inspires joy. So take a moment this week and find somewhere beautiful and just let it in. Notice the world around you from your lens of divine awareness. Receive the feelings and the sensations and welcome life.
Trust me. You deserve this.
If you find this hard or do not know where to begin, know that it isn’t lost on me that I have worked to cultivate a life that creates space for this and a mind and body that knows these truths’ as second nature, although I too can misplace them from time to time.
I often feel very lucky, and in the ways that life is a blessing I am. In other ways, I remember that while certain doors where more obvious to me in my life, it was actually a lot of inner and outer work that led to just letting in the divinity of sunshine. I released a lot and opened even more. My upbringing didn’t hand me these things, it was quiet the opposite really. It did however motivate me to find it.
I want to help you do this too. I want to help you discover how to really live and call in your own versions of abundance. That’s what mentorships are for. On going longer sessions for a period of time to truly make change. We can do so much on our own but it’s not only easier but more loving and fun to get the support you need.
There was a time when almost every area of my life felt like it was foreign, like it belonged to someone else. And now, I see my own divine hand in all areas, even the ones I am still creating. And now more than ever I want to show you how to do that too.
If your curious about really living differently inside and out email me to find out more.
In Divine Beauty,
Avery