Making room for the Divine

                                    

                                     I know that for the right practice of it, the heart must be 

                                     empty of all other things; because God will possess the 

                                     heart alone;  and as He cannot possess it alone, without 

                                     emptying it of all besides, so neither can He act there, 

                                     and do in it what He pleases, unless it be left vacant to Him.

Brother Lawrence, 

The Practice of the Presence of God

The Divine pours itself into our heart, breathing into us a profound joy and eternal aliveness. It is the center of our being and conduit through which the Divine connects with us, empowering, embracing and loving us. It is also where we connect with each other and gives us our meaning, joy, and identity.

Divine love contains all that we need and all that we long for. If only we could feel and experience it! The single most inhibiting obstacle to that inflow of Divine power, love, wisdom, consciousness is judgment's cruel blockage. Judgment is an insidious force that guards and blocks the heart like a watchdog. It builds walls, creates a million distractions and false liaisons, all blindly recruited by its terrorizing instruction to avert our consciousness from the vulnerability and sensitivity of the heart, which the ego perceives as weak. It keeps us feeling separate from others through induced guilt or a sense of unworthiness.

Since Divine consciousness is perfect love, it is without judgment, without prejudice, condemnation, and criticism. Obviously, it is not like our government rulers or oppressors who are driven by control, stemming from a selfish lack of love.

Love is freeing, going where it wills, honoring and uplifting, surrendering, rejoicing in simply being and allowing self and others to also just be and to move along their own life paths. That honoring means love is without judgment and is unconditional. Anything conditional, is, quite simply, not love.

To empty the heart of judgment - especially self-judgment which is comprised of a million scattered thoughts, each with a criticism - is the first step to an authentic encounter with divine reality, the only reality.

Honestly, it is that simple.

We've been taught to love others and deny ourselves. But, that wisdom has been so sadly misinterpreted. That which we call our "self," has been our ego, that which actually blocks our intuitive, life-giving, divine heart.

When the pain of living disconnected from the heart mounts to an unbearable level, finally we will notice that without its sweet wisdom and connection with the divine, we will die. Then, and only then, can a change occur and not one moment sooner.

Then, we decide to stop fighting and accept the pain of the expiring ego and invite God in, surrender and wait for the Divine. We also will realize that to choose to love ourselves and remain mindful of whatever it is that is condemning us will open the door to the heart. The first step is mindfully hearing what the ego - the inner critic - is saying and then choosing not to listen to it. In that first step is the beginning of our salvation from the tyranny of the ego or the inner critic, or all those controlling ideas that sweep through our minds.

If we listen carefully, we will hear the ego reminding us of all our mistakes and errors, which slowly erodes our sense of value and creative power. It makes us feel unworthy. It calls us sinners. It tells us we are without value. That is the victim's way, not the way to God. We can loosen its grip through a loving petition to God to forgive us until we feel emptied of its nagging criticism. Things that will fill our hearts are art, music, nature, walking until we are silent inside, gratitude to God for the sheer honor and joy to be alive in this moment.

Loving ourselves purely, praying for the in-pouring of God's love is the next step. And, if we become aware mindfully of the inner chatter that condemns and criticizes us, we can choose to chase those thoughts out of our minds. Under the tutelage of the inner critic we have been led to forfeit, abandon, forsake, even betray own heart and our own authentic self. It is that abandonment that causes us to feel alone.

It is not another person who will fill the inner need of the heart. It is the heart itself that needs to feel honored and welcomed and listened to by a conscious intention to love it. When it feels loved, it will sing to us. It will leap and dance and delight in its recognition and joyful reunion with us. It may even allow our real self, buried under years of judgment and condemnation, to step forward.

Finally, with awareness, we realize the divine chased away our ego - usually causing us enormous pain in the process. It doesn't go without giving a strong fight. But, after the fire fight with the stubborn, persistent, terrorizing ego, there is finally peace - a profound, deep, pervading, rich, velvet, radiant PEACE.

To love ourselves until we are healed and enriched with the divine presence, and then to love others with that same love, is truly the way to authentic and abundant life. First we have to believe that despite anything - anything - we must love ourselves. It is the first step to removing the ego and allowing space for an authentic divine encounter, which pours into our sacred chalice, the light, power and ineffable love which are the life force itself. It all can begin with a simple breath of intention to love oneself, first, and then another reciprocally.

My prayer for all of us, as we go into this new year, is to know the power and love of the Divine, and allow the Divine to fill our hearts with each beat and breath of authentic being.