We enjoy things. We enjoy doing things. We enjoy a cup of ice cream. We enjoy eating it. We enjoy seeing a beautiful sunset. We enjoy listening to good music. We enjoy the presence of a dear friend.
If these things, persons, activities are so enjoyable, their source must also be enjoyable, most probably in a greater degree.
If the ultimate source of all these things, persons, activities is God as Creator and Father, then God must also be enjoyable.
And if God willed that we enjoy these things, persons, and activities, He also wanted that we enjoy Him.
How then can we enjoy God? I have outlined 4 simple steps which we can take in order that we can enjoy God.
Definite Place, Definite Time
First is: Assign a definite, regular time and place for this activity, enjoying God, in your daily routine. It may be in the morning, noon, afternoon, or evening, whichever is most convenient for you. For the place, it may be in your bedroom, your office, or the transportation as you go to your work or in a garden outside your house. The duration of the time need not be long. Ten minutes will do as a starting duration. What is important is that during this time you are not disturbed.
And it is a regular time, not done sometimes in the morning, at other times in the afternoon, or evening. Of course, there may be emergencies when the regularity cannot be observed. But excepting these emergencies the time for this is fixed and regular, every day.
Awareness of God's Presence in and Around You
Second. Begin your time by being aware of God's presence in you and everything around you. Do not say, as some would begin their prayer, that now you put yourself in the presence of God. You do not need to put yourself in the presence of God. You are already there.
Be aware of God's presence in your body, in every part of your body, in your thoughts, in the words you may speak or read, in your activities, your breathing, your seeing, etc.
Then be aware of God's presence in the persons and/or things around you: the furniture, the trees, the grass, the part of the car, the persons around in the house, etc.
At this point you may ask, How do you think of God, as an old man with a beard, or as a young child with a staff, as a being surrounded by clouds, or as Pure Energy?
I suggest that you think of God simply as a Presence, not as a man whether old or young, not as an object, not as a force, but simply as Presence, He who is present in you and in everything around you. He is the Presence in every cell of your body, in every idea of your mind, in every desire of your heart.
It may also help you to recall His names in the religion to which you belong.
In the Christian Bible He is called the God of Abraham, the "I am" of Moses, the Lord God of Hosts of Elijah. There are other names.
If you are a Muslim you may dwell on one or two of the 99 names of God, Allah, like the Most Compassionate One, etc.
If you are a Hindu you may want to think of the names of God in the Hindu Scriptures, Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva.
If you are a Buddhist you may want to recall the Light that enlightens the Buddha, the Enlightened One.
Genuine spirituality does not discriminate among the different concepts and names of God. It knows that the reality of God cannot be grasped by concepts, ideas or names.
Whatever concept you have of God think of Him as the ever present Presence in you and all around you.
Converse With God About Anything That Comes to Your Mind
Third. Talk with this Presence, converse with Him. What do you talk about? Just about anything that comes to your mind. Thank Him for being there, for creating you and sustaining you. Praise Him for His goodness. Then tell Him about your needs and the needs of others. Thank Him for the opportunity to enjoy Him, His company.
If a tragedy has stricken your life ask Him why He has permitted such a tragedy when He is so good, so wise and so powerful. You may also ask Him what to do when tragedy strikes. Be aware that He is still there, even in the tragedy.
Do not expect an immediate answer from a voice whose sound you cannot see which direction it comes from. If you keep your mind open He will speak to your mind in a language only He and you can understand.
If you are sick, be aware that there too He is present, in your sickness, in the medicines prescribed for you, in the activities suggested to you by your therapist, whether it is stretching your hand or taking a walk, in the health care staff, the doctors, the nurses, the attendants. Talk to this Presence about your sickness. Ask for healing if it is His will.
You may also tell this Presence about your faults, failures and shortcomings, even your sins. And hope for His pardon for He is a Most Compassionate and Most Forgiving Presence.
Just talk to Him about anything that comes to your mind. Even of your desires, your ambition in life, etc. As you talk with Him you will enjoy Him as a dear friend. Your burdens will become lighter and your joys will become more intense.
And during the day when you have some free time, like taking a cup of coffee by yourself, return to this activity even if just for a minute or two. Think of God's presence in the coffee, in your sipping of it, in the cup, etc.
Let This Activity Inspire All Your Other Activities
Fourth. Do not put parentheses around this activity. What I mean is that do not do it and after the time you assigned to this, you forget it and you go to your work. Putting parentheses around this activity would separate it from the normal flow of your daily routine. As you leave the time and place, continue to think about these things as much as possible. Like, say to yourself, I am now going to my work and this Presence is still there in my work, in the pen and paper before me, in the computer in front of me, etc.
In this way the Presence permeates your whole day and this activity of being aware of the Presence becomes habitual. Gradually it becomes part of your system. You begin to enjoy the activity itself of devoting a definite time and place for this.
As you continue this activity you will find life more enjoyable, or more bearable if you are in the midst of great problems.
What To Do When This Activity Seems Meaningless
A caution is in order. Sometime in the course of such an activity, if you are faithful to it, there will come a time when you do not feel God's presence. In fact you may even feel that He is totally absent. The whole activity may seem meaningless to you. You may feel that you simply drag yourself, as it were, to this activity.
Do not despair. Do not force yourself to do this activity. Just keep rested. Do not even force yourself to think about it. Do not force your mind to think about this Presence. He is still there, despite your feelings to the contrary, because He is the Ever Present One. You may not feel His presence because He is going into your deepest center to transform you into Himself, just as you do not feel the activities, the heavings and convulsions, of the lava in the depths of the earth.
You Can See God Face to Face Now
If you are faithful to this activity the Presence will make Himself more and more enjoyed by you. It is even possible that He makes you see Him face to face while you are still on earth, of course not with your physical eyes, but with the eyes of your spirit. There is nothing more enjoyable on earth than to see God face to face with the eyes of your spirit. This is the goal of genuine spirituality.
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Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritdev for your spiritual growth
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
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