Be Open to Unexpected Gifts from the Divine

Valentine Roses for You 

our daily calendar tells you that everything is scheduled and accounted for—but your calendar cannot predict the unexpected. Even the most mundane days can hold surprises and gifts from the hand of God, if you are receptive to them. If you have eyes to see, you’ll recognize the loving Presence in all that is. Let the Divine romance you, surprise you, spread the treasures of creation before you. Then you will discover that Heaven is not somewhere far away, but here at work in this commonplace moment. Paper Valentines may come on February 14, but the Universe is sending you a living, loving Valentine greeting every day of the year. 

You thought you were only running errands, but you ran into an old friend in line at the bank. It was just another ordinary day until that glorious sunset took your breath away. You ended yesterday in tears, but the sweet gift of sleep offered soothing relief and the next morning came with a clearer perspective The gloom of rain was chased away by sun shining through parted clouds. A smile, a red rose, a helping hand, a kind word, an unexpected encounter—Divine gifts surprise and delight. 

You may have a sweetheart who will bring you hearts and flowers on Valentine’s day. Or you may be single and wishing for a Valentine greeting from a beloved you have not yet met. Whatever your life holds in the way of human romance, enjoy and express the Divine romance of living in such a beautiful and complex universe. Spend time with the Creator of Romance, allowing the loving Presence of God to comfort your soul. Choose to be compassionate and forgiving when you meet difficult people, recognizing that we are all works in process. Make an extra effort to let friends and loved ones that they are special to you. 

Do something creative to satisfy your soul. Buy a bouquet and make a beautiful flower arrangement. Take a walk and bring a notebook with you for sketching or journaling. Write a poem. Build a birdhouse to welcome nesting birds this spring. Take artistic pictures with your digital camera and turn the best photos into homemade Valentine cards for friends and family. Try a new combination of accessories to freshen up a favorite outfit. Blend a perfume with fine essential oils. Make a delicious meal and share it with someone. Create a romantic atmosphere with candles, incense, and favorite music. 

Most of all, cultivate a mindful awareness of the small gifts that life offers. Breathe in deeply, giving thanks for all life brings, good and bad. Breathe out the cares of life and that which no longer serves you. Be open and appreciate whatever comes as Life itself brings you unexpected gifts for Valentine’s Day—and every day of the year. 


• Surprise someone you love with an unexpected gift—flowers, a card, chocolate—something simple to celebrate life together. Express your love of life in tangible ways: holding the door for someone, a smile, an extra large tip for a hard working waitress, a kind word, an anonymous Valentine for some lonely heart longing for a word of love.


The very commonplaces of life are components of its eternal mystery.
Gertrude Atherton

Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first time or the last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.
Betty Smith

If we are rooted in the belief that everything God created is potentially holy, we have the capacity to notice that which is beautiful and holy in everyday life. Everything can be seen as a miracle, part of God’s plan. And when we can truly see this, we nourish our souls.
Rabbi Harold Kushner

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein

Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.
Kahlil Gibran

If your everyday life seems poor, don’t blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.
Rainer Maria Rilke

Spiritual love is a position of standing with one hand extended into the universe and one hand extended into the world, letting ourselves be a conduit for passing energy.
Christina Baldwin

The more we have given to ourselves, the more we have to give to others. When we find that place within ourselves that is giving, we begin to create an outward flow. Giving to others comes not from a sense of sacrifice, or spirituality, but for the pure pleasure of it, because it’s fun. Giving can only come from a full, loving space.
Shakti Gawain

In the faces of men and women I see God,
and in my own face in the glass,
I find letters from God dropt in the street,
and everyone is sign’d by God’s name, 
Walt Whitman

To love another person is to see the face of God.
Victor Hugo

Insomuch as love grows in you so in you beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.
Saint Augustine

If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more strong, more immortal—that is your success.
Henry David Thoreau

Heaven walks among us ordinarily muffled in such triple or tenfold disguises that the wisest are deceived and no one suspects the days to be gods.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Heaven is throughout the whole world. 
Jacob Boehme

Heaven is within, it revolves around us. It is the real state of Being.
Ernest Holmes