what if you knew that there was place you could go where all human problems disappeared and you were filled with most exquisite feeling of love and connection possible? would you want to go there? i do. it exists in each of us and its called “the sacred heart.”
for years i would throw up in my mouth a little bit when my ministerial colleagues talked about “dropping into our heart space.” many of them do it (even my favorites). i was studying science of mind not science of heart and the suggestion sounded even more woo woo than the rest of our woo woo stuff.
as a would be math major turned lawyer/lobbyist turned minister, my mental/verbal/left brain/yang/masculine energies have long dominated. part of the initial attraction of science of mind url, the teaching behind the denomination i belong to called centers for spiritual living url, was the “mind” part. i wanted to get control of my life by gaining control of my mind. and to a certain extent that works. our founder ernest holmes url said “change your thinking, change your life” (check). we are a “new thought” movement. we see thoughts as seeds planted in the soil of consciousness. when we have an experience we don’t like, we know that experience grew from the thought we planted in consciousness. we plant a new thought to get a new experience.
for years i have known that i am critical of myself. i have constantly looked for where i fell short, berated myself mentally while simultaneously striving to constantly attract other people’s validation or approbation of me as a way to counteract the strain of that self abuse.
over time i cultivated an awareness of my extreme self judgment and, when i noticed it, changed the channel, focusing mainly on the next indicated action i could take in the world. this was an improvement for sure but still mostly a mental action oriented exercise rather than one based in self love.
at some point i discovered the book madly in love with me by christine arlyo. (note to author: that deserves its own post) self love quizzes in the book helped solve a long-standing riddle of my personality: for years friends and lovers expressed bafflement over the idea that i did not love myself. i seemed so confident, so powerful, so self-assured. if i didn’t love myself, who did? was it all fake, all a façade? what the hell was going on? arylos created the eight branches of self love. turns out that while i was strong on self esteem, self confidence, self trust i was weak on self forgiveness and self compassion, self acceptance and self honor. (You need to buy to book to take the whole 8 branch test and see all the suggestions but she’s got a lot of free tools on her website including a shorter version of a similar test https://pathofselflove.org/assessments/self-love-quiz/) anyway, the point is, I began to zero in on which part of self love was escaping me but not so much what to do about it or why it was important.
enter love without end: jesus speaks. in it, as i have mentioned in previous posts, thoughts on the president’s unconscious legacy and how could god’s voice be still and small?, artist and author glenda green records her conversations with jesus who sat for a portrait of himself with her over the course of months. she quotes the master teacher extensively on the subject of a “sacred heart” within each of us. he points us to a literal place within each of us that we can and should enter daily. in that place, we are united with love. in that unity, all things are possible.
the master teacher says that the mind must always be a servant to the heart, not the other way around. he observes that the mental parameters in which humans operate are fine as long as they serve love but the minute they start feeling fixed or permanent, they are operating as polarities that keep humanity stuck.
he says that love is infinite and all powerful; it destroys all polarities. i’m paraphrasing but he continues that our only important choice as spiritual beings having a human experience is whether or not to be love. once we make a choice to be love, all human problems disappear.
as i read about the sacred heart i became aware that i had allowed my internal judge to crowd out the area of my heart with her large courtroom. i realized that even though i had failed to appear in court as frequently as i once had, by keeping my focus on my mind instead of my heart i was failing to use the infinite power of love in my life.
i began to use the specific method laid out in love without end to enter my sacred heart and it works for me. i love the feeling i have in there. it is amazing, sweet, delightful and powerful. i take off all polarities such as right and wrong, good and bad and lay them at the door to this heart. in the process my harsh inner judge has retired from active duty and is starting a second career as a functional helpful inner critic, one who is called upon only when necessary.
here are two meditations you can use:
the first is a short preparation
the second is a 20 minute meditation
i still have a residual twinge at the term “heart space.” i assume that will eventually melt before the power of love.
