REVOLUTION OF THE HEART

by Frank Sontag

We, as a human species, are at a crossroads ... we are at a time in the development of humanity when socially, culturally, politically, environmentally, economically, and spiritually, we must make some major changes or we will no longer exist on this beautiful place called Earth.

All of us are both cursed and blessed to know that the world, as we know it, is not a bad or evil place as the ignorant masses believe, you know ... we hear it all the time, to attempt to lead a life of peace, love, compassion, respect, kindness, and truth, are all noble gestures, but we are told that's not the real world. We are told that the world is a bad place. We are blessed because we know the world is a reflection of who we think we are as a mass humanity . . . and when enough of us live lives filled with peace, love, compassion, respect, kindness, and truth, then the world would be as 18th century Swedish philosopher Emmanuel Swedenborg called, "Heaven on Earth". When enough of us practice lives of love and nonviolence, then we will see once more the beauty of this world as we once saw through the eyes of innocence. When our hearts were filled with love, I am talking about when, outside of our mother's womb, we took our first breath' of life on our own. A time when we all knew we were God's children.

We have many great challenges to face today, and in the coming days ahead. For some of us, those challenges may involve saving the world in a sense. For most of us, those challenges involve saving our community or our family. But for all of us, those challenges involve saving ourselves. Now what do I mean by saving ourselves?

We are all products of our experiences in life and the environment we are surrounded by. Each and every one of us have experienced great hurt. We all have accumulated deep wounds. And the way to save the world is by confronting and beginning a path of attempting to heal those wounds, otherwise known as saving ourselves. The way to begin that healing process is to learn how to speak the truth. According to author Wayne Muller, "We often use silence, dishonesty, and confusion of language, to keep ourselves hidden and separate from the rest of humanity. We either confuse ourselves so we can no longer hear or feel what is really true, or we can become too frightened to speak what is true for fear of being vulnerable or exposed." Learning to speak the truth with clarity and courage is a part of what I call, saving oneself. Or said another way; the greater degree of hurt we experience, the greater capacity to love. Wayne Muller also writes in his book, "Legacy of the Heart", their inevitably comes a moment in our lives when being swept along is not enough. When our habitual safe and familiar behaviors no longer feed our deep hunger for vitality, creativity, enthusiasm, and growth. When the moment comes we are challenged to empty ourselves of our preconceptions about how our life will be and cultivate a beginners mind, a mind that can see not only the tangled stories of the past and the nameless perils of the future, but can courageously appreciate the unexplored gifts of the present moments."

But how will we wake up? Some of us try to get free by fixing the past, others, by trying to arrange the future, but freedom will never be granted by the past, and liberation in the future will always be elusive. Real freedom comes when we become awake in the present, when we mindfully become alive in this very instant. Right here! Right now! But the downfall is that we try to intellectualize experiences that are beyond comprehension, which in part comes right down to a lack of faith . . . lack of faith that life, as we know it, is beyond understanding, it is truly a mystery. As Fra Giovanni wrote in 1513, "Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging the gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly, or heavy or hard . . . remove the covering and you will find beneath it, a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel's hand that brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me, that angel's hand is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing presence."

Life as we see it is a reflection of our inner world of Spirit. You observe, perceive, and experience life through your own ability to understand yourself and Love is only answer.