For some, it's hard to even know what that means. How do you have a relationship with something you can't see, hear and are not even entirely sure exists? Or how do you have a relationship with a power that has allowed so much pain to enter your life?
To one degree or another, the answer to both of those questions is trust. If you have an inkling there's something greater than you, trust that it exists. And if doubt creeps in, you replace that doubt with trust. You trust until trust comes easy.
The same is true for the other person...the one who has lost a child or is significantly debilitated or, for one reason or another, has lost faith. If you have an inkling there's something greater than you, trust that it exists. Then trust that it is good and has wisdom beyond your own to see a big picture where, for the soul of the deceased, death was necessary. Or for the growth of your own soul, challenge was necessary.
Before you can manage all of that, however, you have to define what the divine is. And if nobody has told you this yet, YOU get to decide what the definition is. That's the beauty of the divine. Like water, it will conform to the container you give it.
So what does it mean to be divine to you? What qualities would the divine have? What form might that divine take? Ask questions of yourself until you have a clear picture. The thing is, you already know or suspect the answer. You just haven't asked the questions yet. Or you've been too strongly influenced by other views of what it is that you no longer trust what your heart and soul tell you it is. So erase all prior notions and consult your inner wisdom. If it turns out being divine means having a long beard and leading with a firm and fearful hand, then that's what it is. If being divine looks like a big orange donut and helps you find a good parking space at the mall, then that's what it is. Really.
My dog Magick jumps up on people and demands a lot of attention. Through my eyes, she's flawless. That's what love does. It allows you to see the other through eyes that no one else may be able to see through. And if "love" for a higher power isn't your gig, the same is true of respect. There are bosses that are just miserable people. But if they're competent and you're stuck with them, seeing them through the eyes of respect makes the relationship more solid.
If you're going to build a relationship with a higher power, love and/or respect are probably key. They are the qualities that bridge the gap between you and the great unknown. And, as in any relationship, they're essential to success. So build a model of the divine you can either love or respect. That will make the relationship easier. ;)
In my opinion*, the goal in all of this is to become not just unconditional in your relationship, knowing that source is always on your side and there's a much bigger plan at play than can be contained in this lifetime. But it's also to find a place where you can see your oneness with source...that every part of your fallible self is made of that energy and blessed by it. Our failings and hurts come from only from our misuse and misunderstanding of the holiness within.
*There are those who don't believe in anything beyond this lifetime and/or who do believe that the higher power is separate from us. And they may also believe that there is only one version of the divine. That's all good, too. It's all good. Thinking that it's not causes so much pain in our world. Most would agree that whatever this higher power is, it would rather we approach each other with love and respect despite our differences.
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