The Unified Heart
Through the sacred heart of eternity
life burns with love.
It is there in that endless ocean
where compassion is born
From this piercing empathy
forgiveness flows.
Its deep sapphire current
opens us to a new life of joy.
You can forget your fears in the raw ecstasy
and swim through waves of passion.
They are the source of dreams
and the essence underlying every simple thing.
In this unity of spirit
we must live to love one another
without letting our despair prevail.
Only the light of love can teach us
to overcome brokenness.
Then we can offer life a cup
of nourishing water from the
pure wake of our discovery.
As people drink from our glistening springs
we finally arrive at the shores
of untainted visions.And the dark hollow of shattered hearts
is healed at last.
When our hearts are aimed at eternity and our souls are at one with the soul of nature and the sacred heart of divine being, we are able to offer mercy and compassion to those who cross our path. We come alive and radiate the deep love that penetrates and nurtures the universe and our souls. This is the love that makes forgiveness possible creating fields of empathy between you and your brother or sister. It's depth is endless because it contains everything and gleams through creation connecting and healing life. From this deep well of love you learn to express compassion. It is at the core of eternal bliss that we can fill and carry pitchers of hope and peace into the world.
You do not have to be afraid of opening your heart to swim in these mystical waters. The images that dwell in those deep, sapphire currents are the archetypes of all life, the original imagery of creation. You are the final product of their merging!
The feelings of fear are natural when you face the unknown, when you don't quite know how another will accept you or even if others will love you at all. You can be sure of one thing. Other people carry the same fear of not belonging or being loved and of facing the spiritual dimension with courage. Yet it's that fear that you need to take with you past the guardian at the gate because your conversation with eternity will be enriched.
If we carry our hopelessness and resentments into daily interaction with others we remain hollow and empty. We must explore our darkness within and take it to the Most High. Life is constantly challenging us to forgive one another, to look each other in the eyes and feel that the suffering carried by one is carried by all. For we are a collective race and the weakest link in the chain determines the strength of the chain. Our spiritual traditions call us to love one another because we are all connected in the vibrant, unified field of life.
The darkness that enshrouds our hearts at times may bring us to the brink of despair, but it's going to make us grow. And the darkness my brother or sister directs at me is not from his soul, but from his emptiness and lack of love. Darkness is merely what shows up when love is exiled from the center of being. The soul is fabricated with strands of love and yet twisted and knotted by our experience of failure and our inability to overcome the hurt with the healing power of love which flows naturally from divine love.
In order to attain spiritual victory in our lives we have to learn to love from the core of our hearts, not just the surface. If we hold onto resentments stemming from the tragic events that life often conjures at the core while acting happy on the outside, we cannot look each other in the eyes, the windows of the soul because our grief is too heavy and shameful. The sanctity of manhood emerges when the grief is faced and defeated. Then we open to the full joy of life and embrace each other as beings of love who are able to forgive and be forgiven.
The society that we've created teaches us to compete with one another. This competition can be healthy like iron sharpening iron or it can become distorted. There's a huge difference between a father or a brother or friend who is emitting the light of love as opposed to one who instructs others in the discipline of hatred by their examples. When the barriers are erected around the heart, the ability to nurture is lost. A man who is in touch with the Eternal One is able to teach discipline and nurture offering guidance, wisdom, and compassion. There's nothing worse than a man disciplining young men in the dark art of isolation. That only sets the stage for the flood of loneliness which results in a polluted spring in the heart. This nourishes no one and bubbles with the poison of separation and domination. When men have to control life, and especially the people in their lives, they lose the possibility of delving deeper into the rich waters of compassion, imagination, trust, and mercy.
How does it feel when you are thirsty and someone offers you a drink? How does it feel when you are offered food and your stomach is aching for nourishment? It's the same feeling when the heart feels welcome, invigorated, and loved. In offering another soul a cup of water from the abyss of eternal love within, we soothe the whole of life. We act to teach others through our example. Your brothers and sisters will be inspired to reveal their light to others despite the wounds, and this will create a chain reaction of love that can melt the barriers encasing the hardest of hearts. Nothing can resist this love. It is such a pure, potent force. It holds the planets in orbit around the sun and it encourages all life it meets to grow in the art of love.
It is an art because we must have the vision that comes from immersing ourselves in eternal love and the courage to paint the glorious colors we have found on the canvas of our lives. Then we move the hearts of others who witness the bright dance. Once we have discovered unified being, the holy waters can do nothing but glisten in the wake that we leave behind wherever we walk and with whoever we meet, especially the stranger who thought he was beyond love.
In this ocean of compassion our lives ignite with a new kind of vision. As we discover islands of inspiration and shores that we never dreamed were possible, our eyes glow in the sheer ecstasy of exploration. The imagination awakens to guide the strokes of the paint brush we use to infuse life with our love. And in that artistry we serve life with the deep devotion that comes from humility. Once we have seen how fragile life can be, we are encouraged to help others through our compassion and forgiveness.