God Laughs

Emerquinox by Sharon Mau

“We make plans and God laughs.”

I have always hated that saying. It seems so cruel, so dismissive, like God is mocking us. I don't like the idea of a God who makes fun of our efforts, however wrongheaded they may be. I like a God who is kind and loving at all times, like us at our best.

And then there is another quote:

“… the standard of success in life is not the things or the money – the standard of success is absolutely the amount of joy you feel.”

Ask and It Is Given

p. 103

Abraham Hicks

This quote I love. And if I look at God laughing in the light of the second quote, I think I get it.

God knows that the real point of being here isn’t how much stuff we acquire, how many accolades we get, how many deadlines we meet. God knows that the real stuff of life, the real point, is the joy we feel and the experiences we have.

The Heart of Life by Tori Yule

Even in business, smart organizations are starting to realize that it is the experience customers have with their brand that is important.

So we make our plans – and aren’t our plans always about what we’ll get or what we’ll accomplish or how we’ll check this thing off the to-do list – and God sits up in the heavens laughing gently at us for being so much beside the point.

So … enjoy the day. Enjoy the people. Don’t worry about what you get done or don’t get done. Feel the joy. Follow your bliss.

Manna

Manna from heaven. What a fabulous sound that has. Blessings raining down from heaven overnight, there for the taking in the morning. Amazing.

The Gathering of the Manna - 1460-1470

And yet there is a rule, a law, to the manna.

To refresh our memories, when the Israelites fled Egypt – after years of slavery, after the plagues and Passover, after the parting of the Red Sea – they faced even bigger challenges. They were on the way to the Promised Land, but meanwhile here they were in a desert with only the provisions they could carry with them. As it turned out they would wander this desert for 40 years, as the story goes, but, even in the short term, what would they eat tomorrow. Or today?

So God told Moses that he’d rain down manna every night in the desert and in the morning the people could gather the manna and have their food for the day.

The Gathering of the Manna
James Tissot

And here comes the rule: manna is supplied for this day only. One was not supposed to take tomorrow’s manna today. Except for the day before the Sabbath, one was only supposed to take enough manna for today. And, in fact, if you took manna for two days, when you woke up and wanted to eat on day two, that manna was spoiled. The manna only lasted one day.

One might say why would you take two days’ manna since more would be provided tomorrow? But believing that tomorrow’s manna would be there tomorrow requires trust. Since we know the end of the story, since we know that God kept supplying the manna for as long as the Israelites needed, we have that trust.

But imagine being out in a desert with your whole family, wanting and needing to provide for them, not really knowing where you’re going, not knowing where your next day’s food will come from, thinking that perhaps this manna on the ground today is just a one-time serendipity, a fluke. Under those circumstances one could be forgiven for sneaking a bit of extra manna into one’s pouch … just in case.

But the rule of the manna is: you are provided with what you need for today. Don’t try to take for tomorrow or it will be spoiled.

And aren’t we in the same predicament in our lives every day? We have what we need for today and we worry about next week or next month or next year. Not that we shouldn’t be prudent and save and take whatever steps we can to provide for a secure future to the best of our ability. But after a few prudent steps taken in faith, we really need to let it go. Being upset that we don’t have September’s mortgage on August 1 is not helping us. God provides for today, not for tomorrow.

A 12-Step fellowship, Debtors Anonymous, has a piece of literature – I think of it as a sort of prayer – called the Just for This Day Bookmark. The opening line is: Just for this day, I will be grateful that I have enough food to eat and a place to sleep. If I lack either of these, I will ask for help.”

When I first heard that prayer it made me very angry. What do you mean I have to be grateful that I have enough food to eat and a place to sleep? What a low bar that is. What about my visions, my dreams? Why settle for so little?

But, in reality, big visions and dreams are built on small gratitudes. Relishing my dreams and visions but holding them lightly while trusting in Spirit that all is and will be provided is the practice of a happy life today and possibly the foundation of big things to come.

So today I try to follow the rule of the manna: appreciate and gather all Spirit is providing today. And I will not worry about tomorrow, next week, next month or next year.

God did not promise the Israelites food for the year, only food for the day. That is a good remembrance and formula for living.

The Most Fabulous Moment

Sitting on metal chairs in the church basement a man reported, "A friend of mine encouraged me to say, 'This moment is the most fabulous of my life.' So I did and things, somehow, changed." This caught my attention. It was intriguing. Maybe I could try it. "This moment is the most fabulous of my life," I thought.

Suddenly the spaces between the objects in the room, the places I've been feeling that Spirit hides - or exists - in, were alive. The emptiness pulsed. No longer a dismal, forgotten linoleumed wasteland peopled with souls looking for salvation or redemption or hope or whatever we are looking for; it was now a jumping off point for possibility.

This might be an antidote to the drudgery, angst and fear that my negative thoughts produce. "This moment is the most fabulous of my life."

So I try it. Walking down the street to an appointment, nervous about meeting people I didn't know, about the time, about my bank account, about ... whatever. Discontent personified. Ah, the sentence. Maybe it will work. "This moment is the most fabulous of my life."

But I say it wrong. "This is the most fabulous day of my life," I say. Yuck. That is scary. I don't want the rest of my life to be walking down the too cold street carrying an overstuffed bag that is way too heavy. Wait a minute. That's not it. This is not the most fabulous day of my life. It's only this moment I need to worry about, not this day.

"This moment is the most fabulous of my life." Yes! There it is, Spirit again filling the spaces between the buildings and the cars and the traffic lights and the people. And I'm vibrant joy - which is, really, who I am in the world, though I desert it sometimes.

I try it again. I'm washing dishes, scouring pans, wiping the drainboard, emptying the drain catch, worrying that there are not enough hours in the day, that I should be writing or walking or meditating or making sales calls, filled with self-loathing. Ah, this might be another moment. "This moment is the most fabulous of my life." Suddenly the backyard appears through the kitchen window. It had been there all along, of course, but, hyper-focused on the undone tasks, I didn't see it. Now there it is, and there is Spirit, hovering over the yard, between the trees, between the lilies and weeds!

So I start sharing this with friends. And I'm not happy with their response. They say, "Of course. This moment is the most fabulous because it is the only moment we have." Well, yes. But that thought doesn't fill me with joy. It feels like lack, doesn't honor what went before and what will come after. It feels like deprivation. And it trivializes a rich experience. It destroys the possibility and, well, the fabulousness!

So I'm going to do it, say it, feel it my way. This moment is the most fabulous of my life not because it is the only moment I have. It is the most fabulous just because it's fabulous. And it is fabulous. I don't want to be conscious now that it is all I have, though that thought sometimes gives me comfort and joy. Right now I want to be conscious that this ... moment ... is ... fabulous.

So they can do it their way. And I have no idea what the man who said it first meant, or the man who repeated it. But I know what makes me joyous. For today. It makes me vibrantly happy to think that this moment is the most fabulous of my life because it ... is ... fabulous!