Have you ever been at a large gathering where most of the people know one another, but there are a few who are apparent outsiders and are feeling quite awkward? I was at such a gathering this past weekend and I experienced myself watching an outsider, but making no attempt to help that person feel at home. How could I be so cold?
Prompted by our teacher Master Hudoba, I brought the incident into meditation the next day and the answer came, as I witnessed my 2 year old self as she was separated from her 5 year old sister and brought to live with her new family. She was grief-stricken. Never mind the less than ideal family life she started in; it was all she knew. That day she closed her heart to stop the pain.
The trouble is, love cannot be received when the heart is closed; a closed heart leads to a different kind of pain. Life with a closed heart is like a picked flower, cut off from its source of nourishment, which soon withers and dies. From the time we come into this life there are so many painful experiences! Can you remember a time when your heart closed?
So what is the solution? I can start by considering the person in front of me, longing for a warm heart to connect to, so brave, willing to try one more time. What comes to mind are lines from the Prayer of St. Francis:
O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek
To be loved as to love.
How does this work? Well, in order to give love, I must first open my heart and as I open to offer love, love can flow in!
Try it tomorrow; reach out and offer kindness to someone who is suffering then I invite you to share what you experienced.
May the blessings you offer be felt far and wide and may they return to you multiplied manyfold!
Love,
Cynthia
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