by Julie Redstone
Within each individual heart as it looks out at the world beyond itself and at the world within itself, one will often find reasons for sorrow as well as joy, for hope as well as pessimism. These polarities are part of common human experience, amplified today by the presence of greater light and greater darkness upon the earth. Which one becomes a point of awareness depends very much upon what is perceived as the deeper truth and the more important truth.
Within the world today, for example, we find an unfolding drama of tragedy and loss taking place, and at the same time the birth of the new. This is taking place not only in a spiritual sense, but also in a very physical sense. The fall-out from the recent disaster that overturned the lives of tens of thousands in Bangladesh still continues, with many homeless, many having lost friends and loved ones, many struggling to survive. The heart that embraces the world as part of itself feels with those who have lost so much. It feels a part of itself weeping and wanting to comfort.
The same heart, however, can rejoice today, at the newly revealed scientific findings which appear to have discovered a way to replace the controversial use of embryonic stem cells – considered vital by many to the cure of a multitude of diseases - with a new use of skin cells that allows the latter to function in much the same way as the original stem cells, but without the moral issues involved. This scientific finding, if proven reliable in its application, will be a great triumph for medical research and will become a source of hope to many who have waited long for such a breakthrough.
In simple terms, then, and leaving aside other situations and places that might be included in this comparison, we have before us the world as it is – the tragedy of lost life, lost hopes, and lost livelihoods on the one hand, and on the other, the beginning of a new chapter in medical research which may provide answers to those who have waited long for a way to heal the conditions that they or someone they love are afflicted with.
The point of balance can be found by feeling it all, by embracing it all, and by holding it all in God's love. It is this love that assures the heart that no matter what is going on in the world, there is a Divine purpose which holds it in love that will bring out of every disaster, a forward movement of progress and hope, both for individuals and for mankind. The point of balance creates an ability to hold this conviction in the presence of pain and suffering, even while feeling the heart's deepest compassion.
The same is true of the point of balance as it relates to one's own inner life. To be open to both the promise of the future and the pain of the present - to the limitations and losses brought about by conditions over which one had no control, while at the same time believing in the goodness of life and of love, this is the place upon which God's love stands and can be found.
For the heart of God suffers with all who suffer; it mourns with all who mourn. It does not stand apart from any who go without, since there is not one who is not part of God's heart. At the same time, this divine Heart understands the inner necessity of certain kinds of experience, and so views all in terms of overcoming past limitations and departures from truth, while creating new possibilities for the future.
Such a perspective is especially important today as we view things in terms of individual and global purification. There are inner and outer events which are now occurring that are part of the release of long-held energies that must be released in order that the light can expand upon the earth. The suffering resulting from the purification process is not intentional, but is a by-product of having to endure what has always been a hidden feature of human consciousness, now coming into awareness so that it can be let go of.
To live at this time with a heart that is open to all and that embraces all is a great victory for the power of the spirit. It allows one to simultaneously feel sorrow for those who have become victims of natural disaster, and for oneself, for the inner pains and sorrows one has had to endure - while at the same time holding hope for the future. Such a victory of spirit is possible in the presence of God's love, for it infuses the heart and holds all within itself, making a greater openness to life possible.
May the world come to know itself as greatly blessed by divine Love, and may the suffering of the present give way to the hope and joy of a new world, one that exists in freedom and in light.
Within each individual heart as it looks out at the world beyond itself and at the world within itself, one will often find reasons for sorrow as well as joy, for hope as well as pessimism. These polarities are part of common human experience, amplified today by the presence of greater light and greater darkness upon the earth. Which one becomes a point of awareness depends very much upon what is perceived as the deeper truth and the more important truth.
Within the world today, for example, we find an unfolding drama of tragedy and loss taking place, and at the same time the birth of the new. This is taking place not only in a spiritual sense, but also in a very physical sense. The fall-out from the recent disaster that overturned the lives of tens of thousands in Bangladesh still continues, with many homeless, many having lost friends and loved ones, many struggling to survive. The heart that embraces the world as part of itself feels with those who have lost so much. It feels a part of itself weeping and wanting to comfort.
The same heart, however, can rejoice today, at the newly revealed scientific findings which appear to have discovered a way to replace the controversial use of embryonic stem cells – considered vital by many to the cure of a multitude of diseases - with a new use of skin cells that allows the latter to function in much the same way as the original stem cells, but without the moral issues involved. This scientific finding, if proven reliable in its application, will be a great triumph for medical research and will become a source of hope to many who have waited long for such a breakthrough.
In simple terms, then, and leaving aside other situations and places that might be included in this comparison, we have before us the world as it is – the tragedy of lost life, lost hopes, and lost livelihoods on the one hand, and on the other, the beginning of a new chapter in medical research which may provide answers to those who have waited long for a way to heal the conditions that they or someone they love are afflicted with.
The point of balance can be found by feeling it all, by embracing it all, and by holding it all in God's love. It is this love that assures the heart that no matter what is going on in the world, there is a Divine purpose which holds it in love that will bring out of every disaster, a forward movement of progress and hope, both for individuals and for mankind. The point of balance creates an ability to hold this conviction in the presence of pain and suffering, even while feeling the heart's deepest compassion.
The same is true of the point of balance as it relates to one's own inner life. To be open to both the promise of the future and the pain of the present - to the limitations and losses brought about by conditions over which one had no control, while at the same time believing in the goodness of life and of love, this is the place upon which God's love stands and can be found.
For the heart of God suffers with all who suffer; it mourns with all who mourn. It does not stand apart from any who go without, since there is not one who is not part of God's heart. At the same time, this divine Heart understands the inner necessity of certain kinds of experience, and so views all in terms of overcoming past limitations and departures from truth, while creating new possibilities for the future.
Such a perspective is especially important today as we view things in terms of individual and global purification. There are inner and outer events which are now occurring that are part of the release of long-held energies that must be released in order that the light can expand upon the earth. The suffering resulting from the purification process is not intentional, but is a by-product of having to endure what has always been a hidden feature of human consciousness, now coming into awareness so that it can be let go of.
To live at this time with a heart that is open to all and that embraces all is a great victory for the power of the spirit. It allows one to simultaneously feel sorrow for those who have become victims of natural disaster, and for oneself, for the inner pains and sorrows one has had to endure - while at the same time holding hope for the future. Such a victory of spirit is possible in the presence of God's love, for it infuses the heart and holds all within itself, making a greater openness to life possible.
May the world come to know itself as greatly blessed by divine Love, and may the suffering of the present give way to the hope and joy of a new world, one that exists in freedom and in light.
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