Welcome to A Dose of God,
A short-form,
Self-reflective podcast series based on the book,
A Good Dose of God,
Everybody's Best Friend.
The purpose of this series is two-fold.
First,
To enhance and sustain my own resonance with the eternal divine presence in my life.
And second,
To demonstrate how the book's poem,
The ABCs of A Dose of God,
May serve as a framework for others to regularly identify,
Connect with,
And express gratitude for what's good among common occurrences in their lives.
This episode is informed by the verse of the poem representing the letter Y,
A Dose of God is Here for You,
Right Now and Will Forever Be.
It includes a brief description of the verse,
A personal reflection demonstrating how the verse has facilitated my own resonance with doses of God in my life,
A statement of gratitude,
And a few guiding questions that may be considered for your own reflection.
Here is a description of the verse,
A Dose of God is Here for You,
Right Now and Will Forever Be.
God is offering you a dose of his grace at this very moment.
He is here for you right now.
His presence is infinite.
His time is endless.
Be still.
Be present.
Be aware.
Erase your mind of regrets,
Worries,
Anticipations,
And other incessant thoughts.
His bright light shines eternally,
But meaningless thoughts can cloud your awareness of his glory.
Your best interest is in God's will.
Accept the dose as he gives it to you.
It is designed specifically for you,
Specifically for your soul.
Each dose will guide you down the path that is meant for you.
You will know in your heart that you are living your best life.
God offers you doses from an infinite supply of medicine that will optimize the prosperity designed for your life.
If you do not know with all your heart that a dose of God is eternally here for you,
Have faith and you will soon know.
Let the clouds disappear and his light will shine.
Here is my personal reflection on the verse.
To me this verse is about being aware,
Accepting,
And appreciative of the blessings that have been bestowed to me.
It is about being an active recipient of the gifts that I have been given by acknowledging them,
Caring for them,
And using them for worthy purposes.
The essence of my currently perceived understanding of this verse seems to be somewhat discernible in the following vignette,
Which begins with a description of a dream that a colleague had about me and continues with my interpretation of lessons that I gleaned through my reflection on her dream.
This morning a colleague entered my office,
Surrounded by an aura of mild excitement and confusion.
She informed me that I played a character in her dream last night.
In the dream I married someone and was given a brand new red luxury sedan,
Whom I wed and the provider of the gift were unknown.
Intradicting an expected response to such an extravagant gift,
I became upset with the gift as I realized that it was glamorized with several amenities and options.
I deemed the options unnecessary and wasteful,
And therefore did not appreciate them.
I believed that simpler,
Less luxurious options would suffice for my purposes,
And that I would appreciate them much more.
I rejected the glamorous amenities by immediately returning the car to the dealership and making demands for the options to be removed.
I did not need them.
The dealership employees were perplexed by my demeanor and lack of appreciation,
Baffled that I wouldn't accept the original design of the vehicle.
Through their perception I was insane.
Although they were unable to conceive any sort of rational explanation for my behavior,
The employees adhered to my request,
Changing the electric locks and windows to manual locks and windows,
Removing the remote starter,
And modifying anything else that they possibly could to minimize the vehicle's lavish attributes.
The outcome of these modifications was disastrous.
Many problems resulted from these changes,
And the car no longer functioned the way it was intended to function.
Here ends the dream.
After she explained her dream to me,
My colleague again expressed bewilderment about its occurrence.
I was also plagued with confusion as I had been married for eight years.
I didn't have a red car,
And my colleague and I had not previously discussed the topics that surfaced in her dream.
However,
As I pondered the details of her dream for a few moments and began to expand my awareness of its potential significance,
I started resonating with its potential meaning at a deeper level and expressed something like the following impromptu reflection to her as we briefly discussed her dream.
I consider myself to be a rather simple person and tend to believe this world is congested with an abundance of material amenities that are not necessary for our well-being.
You sharing your dream with me might be a message to me that I must accept what is and not allow myself to be discouraged by what I consider as unnecessary material luxuries that surround our lives every day.
If luxuries are given to me,
It is important for me to accept them and use them for their intended purposes.
Although I have not been interpreting them as necessary,
If I reject the material amenities that have been given to me,
I may cause more harm than good.
I believe this to be a valuable lesson in the acceptance of what is,
Even if I think what is is more than what I want.
Following my initial interpretation of my colleague's dream that I spontaneously conveyed to her during our brief discussion,
My awareness of its significance deepened further.
I began to see additional meaning in the message,
Which extended far beyond the scope of tangible amenities.
Although my first interpretation,
Which was crafted through a material lens,
Seemed to yield a somewhat useful explanation,
My second interpretation,
Which happened after my colleague left my office,
Was constructed through more of an intangible lens and seems to embody an even broader meaning.
Here is my second interpretation.
Initially,
I was unable to resonate with the marriage component of my colleague's dream when I attempted to decipher it through a material lens.
But now I see the marriage as a symbol of a strengthened relationship between God and me.
I feel closer to God than I have in the past.
As a consequence of this enhanced relationship,
I have become more aware of the gifts that God has given to me as intangible amenities.
For example,
My resonance with personal talents,
As well as possible purposes for them,
Has been improving.
Although I believe that I am more aware of my gifts,
My colleague's dream might have been a message to me through her that I am rejecting my gifts by not striving to optimize and use them for their intended purpose.
I have discovered some of my newfound talents,
And just as with the elaborate array of options in the red luxury sedan,
I know that many more exist.
However,
I may be expressing a lack of appreciation for my talents by not fully accepting them and using them for worthy purposes.
I see not using them as being comparable to demanding that the auto dealership strip the amenities from the car so it can return to a perceived simpler condition.
By not using the gifts that God has given to me,
I am in a way demanding that he change me into a different,
Lesser being.
Just as with the car example,
Detrimental results are likely to be imposed upon my being as other attributes of my holistic well-being are at greater risk for being compromised.
The addition of more amenities increases my scope of responsibilities,
Such as requiring me to gain more knowledge of how the amenities function,
As well as more accountability for their preservation.
With material things,
I may determine that I don't want an abundance of amenities because I don't want the responsibilities that accompany them.
Similar rationale may be applied to my intangible amenities.
By becoming aware of my gifts or my talents and strengths,
I am assigned increased levels of responsibility for acquiring and applying knowledge of how to use them,
As well as an accountability to myself and God for their cultivation and preservation.
The thought of increasing my scope of responsibility has caused discomfort in me at times,
As I yearn for a simple lifestyle and have been inclined to think that adding responsibilities to my life will instead cause undesirable increases in complexity.
I believe that my desire for simplicity has prompted me to reject some of the intangible gifts that have been given to me because I think that my life will somehow be easier if I ignore their existence.
This approach,
However,
Is not likely to yield the type of simplicity that I desire.
Instead,
It would be more suitable for me to accept the gifts that I have been given and to use them for their intended purposes,
As simplicity and contentment are more likely to be realized through acceptance,
Appreciation,
And utilization of my intangible amenities than through an attempt to reduce their presence in my life by rejecting their existence.
If I use and maintain them,
They can actually draw me closer to the simple contentment that I desire,
As I will be allowing myself to settle into the seamless flow of life that I am meant to live.
Alternatively,
If I pretend that my gifts and talents do not have a meaningful place in my life or I otherwise reject their existence,
They are at greater risk for breaking down.
This rejection-oriented approach to resisting my talents may generate harmful friction in my life and consequently increase my risk for falling out of its natural flow,
Causing detrimental effects to other attributes of my holistic being that I do acknowledge and use.
I believe it is possible to realize the simple contentment that I desire by accepting,
Appreciating,
And using all of the amenities in the metaphoric red luxury sedan that has been given to me as each amenity has a purpose.
In short,
I am beginning to see that a simple life can be had,
Even if I have it all.
This concludes my second interpretation of my colleague's dream.
Periodically pondering these constructed meanings from time to time has prompted me to remember and appreciate the countless blessings that are constantly being bestowed to me.
I am immeasurably grateful for the vast array of tangible and intangible gifts that are continuously given to me and will attempt to remain attentive to opportunities to acknowledge them,
Care for them,
And use them in appropriate ways.
Here are a few guiding questions to consider that might facilitate your own personal reflection upon the verse,
A dose of God is here for you right now and will forever be.
Take a moment to reflect on times when you have been aware of the blessings or gifts that have gracefully been given to you.
For example,
What are examples of gifts or blessings that have been or are currently being given to you?
How do you feel when you realize that they have been given to you?
Do you have a tendency to accept or reject their existence?
In what ways do you express gratitude for the blessings and gifts that you have been given?
What strategies could you implement to maintain awareness of opportunities to readily accept the gifts and blessings that are continuously being given to you?
In closing,
When you realize that God is eternally here for you through accessible blessings that are always among your presence,
You receive a dose of God.
The next episode in this series will focus on the verse representing the letter Z.
The available dose cannot be zero.
Just look around and you will see.
Thank you so much for listening.
May you consistently position yourself to accept and resonate with the doses of God that are ever presently here for you.
The reflections in this series represent my interpretations of the time they were transcribed and may have been different if they were written at other points in the past or future.
Each episode is intended to be unique,
However multiple iterations of common themes and examples are likely to surface throughout the series.
