I rely on a personal Divine Beloved who is and has been important in my life. I don’t ask anyone else to experience life or faith in the same way, as I believe that each of us has a unique path. What I write is deeply personal, and not intended to be expected of or even desired for anyone else.

I can’t draw a line where my “highest” self (my Essence) and where Divine Love (God) start and stop. God is both within me but also much larger than me. Yet, the Divine Beloved is intensely personal and can reach me in ways that I do not experience otherwise. When I surrender, I am surrendering not only to God but also to my highest self who comes from, is part of, and returns to Love.

When I surrender to God, I am surrendering to this Divine Essence of which I am a part, and actively choosing to live life in harmony with it, in contrast to the fearful, petty, and negative individual which I am also capable of being, unfortunately. For me, surrendering is loving and feeling loved as I am. Surrendering to the Divine Essence opens me to love, but for me, more than human love as I have experienced it, and allows me to become more than I am capable of being otherwise. And, I believe that Divine Love/God has wisdom, energy, and force that can heal and change events if one opens one’s self to that potential.

It is very difficult to explain a concept of God/Divine Love that I experience. I love my son. Like God is for me, my love for him is invisible and almost limitless; it loves him as he is, even while hoping for who he may become. It is only through my actions and the energey of Love as he experiences them in his life that my love for him is evident; there is no visible evidence that Love exists other than through secondary indirect means. Similarly, I recognize the presence of a personal – but universal – Essence of Love in my life through the impact it has on who I am and who I become, and the events I experience each day. Amazing events occur to bring people or opportunities or messages into my life at times which are critical for me. Sometimes events mean that I may be the giver to someone else. Sometimes, Divine Love is simply being able to have faith in the future and knowing I am loved during those dark nights of the soul – the 3 a.m. awakenings when problems seem overwhelming and I search for peace.

Surrendering has meant understanding that there may be more important purposes or opportunities to love and make a difference than I may see or understand at any point in time. It is in looking at my life in hindsight that these tend to become more evident, and I have learned to trust in the future even when I cannot see it clearly. For me personally, the experience of Divine Love in my life allows me to become what I otherwise cannot seem to, and help others in ways I do not feel I would be capable of otherwise, and to experience peace. The best things in my life have come from surrendering to this Divine Essence and seeking harmony with Divine Love.

My words are far too inadequate to explain something that is so intangible – like Love itself. I only know that seeking the Divine in my life is as essential as eating and breathing, and without it, I lose myself.

I wonder if the core of this concept is non-resistance, which opens one to the energy of love rather than fear. This may not change all the undesireable circumstances ones life, but I can see how it would change the perception of them. Still aren’t our actions and responses our own, regardless of how they are inspired?

I am interested to hear how others find this concept of surrender working in their life, as it seems to bring many a great deal of comfort and peace.