Aligning with Grace

Nearly halfway through this Lenten season, I am reminded that it has been a journey of the heart, every step of the way - a journey of breaking the heart wide open! Every single day, I come across a reading, or  a quote that speaks of the primacy of the heart in all things... ... Psalms that proclaim the cleansing and creation of new hearts, or readings by a desert Christian monk speaking of the necessary circumcision of hearts, or other passages extolling the opening - or healing of hearts, the rending and mending of hearts, and the tilling of the fertile soil within hearts, culminating in the eventual reconciliation of the heart. Just this morning I read this passage: "If you open your heart, love opens your mind." ~ Charles John Quarto If your heart opens - it heals, it transforms and transmutes all things, as difficult as this seemingly unending journey can at times be ... "O that today you would listen to God's voice! Harden not your heart...

Everything can be a blessing, if you have the eyes to see - and the ears to hear... Everything can be a blessing - even life's greatest challenges, come bearing blessings... In meditation, and deepest prayer, I review the many blessings of my week... I begin the week by giving two dear ones, a blessing... That night, I attentively listen to a talk during a retreat, with the theme of blessing... In this talk one priest shares his ministry to a Hispanic community that blesses him every day. He is blessed, to be "blessed" so often! And I remember being blessed by my grandmother and mother on so many occasions... Yes, life - and every experience within it is a blessing. A blessing is hidden everywhere... At this retreat, we bless each other. My favorite priest blesses me in a beautiful way, and then I hold a bowl of water while strangers bless each other - with many of them deciding to impart an extra blessing on me. I, am visibly moved. I began my day by impartin...

"There is no fear in love;  but perfect love casts out fear,  because fear involves punishment,  and the one who fears  is not perfected in love." ~ 1 John 4:18 Perfect love, casts out all fear... If we choose perfect love, then fear cannot reside within us... I recall a dream, I had 25 years ago or more, where medieval monks in hooded robes, danced in a circle, holding hands, chanting over and over again: "Perfect love, casts out all fear!" I woke with a start, somewhat fearful - ironically - not knowing why I had that dream... Perhaps it was meant to unfold with time, and it has... When we have perfect love, we live from the heart. We can choose to live from this place, even when fear stubbornly wants to hold fast onto our souls... Every day, we can choose perfect love over fear. We can choose to see love in everyone we meet, and in every situation that comes our way. Today, and every day - choose love. Choose perfect love...

"Create a clean heart in me, and renew my spirit." ~ Psalm 51 Create a clean heart in me... Sometimes, this means our hearts will be broken open... Sometimes, this means that we must excavate the innermost chambers within and let go of what does not serve... For nearly a year - or more - I have recited this simple verse - and prayed it - almost as a demand - perhaps not truly knowing what it means, or what it implies... If we ask for our hearts to be cleansed, then every bit of us must be cleansed as well: our bodies, our minds, and our very souls. Every part of us must be healed... I begin this Lent, very mindful of where the last one took me, on a most unexpected journey. I begin this Lent by praying with a group of women I have joined every week, for a  good while. Our gatherings punctuate my week and splits it in two... I attend the Ash Wednesday service at this wonderful, and very welcoming Episcopal Church where I go to pray, sitting next to one of th...