Arranged Marriage?

"Jesus lives in your heart."  I was taught this from childhood. "Abide in me as I abide in you".  I've always wondered how this worked.

This morning while working at practicing mindfulness - wait, I do have to comment on this.  Spiritual disciplines are most often work, I think.  They do not come naturally; at least not when a new practice is being learned.  I find for myself there are so many spiritual practices I should or would like to be part of my life that I tend to jump from one to another not really becoming an expert or even comfortable with any one of them.

So back to this morning.  I was contemplating the idea of awareness.  What would that look like today, just today, if I practiced it all through my goings?  I know I have been thinking a lot about how my quest for The Mystery has changed.  Rather than always looking outward to experience the holy I have discovered that I find the Presence deep within myself.  I'm not sure how to explain this.  Thankfully there are many, many others who have eloquently written about this very subject so I don't feel the need to define it other than to say I am finding reality in it.

Unexpectedly I began to wonder if knowing God isn't very much like an arranged marriage.  God has put his/herself within each of us.  When we become aware of this we begin our journey of knowing the unknowable.  It seems that many arranged marriages work, last even today with our aversion to being controlled and told what to do.  Why is this?  Perhaps as the couple rests in the reality of their circumstance they discover the value that each holds for the other.  I wonder if it takes more effort to make an arranged marriage work?  I don't think this would be a bad thing...to work harder at the relationship.  Perhaps it is just being aware of the presence of this other and allowing them to be in your life.  Can I compare this to knowing God? 

It is about awareness.  We can live our whole lives never noticing or acknowledging the presence of Emanuel all around us and within us.

So I move forward through my day trying, practicing, hoping for awareness.  What were you aware of today?  Did being aware change the way you lived today?  Did it change your relationship with the people you came across?