I think a true heart of love never stops beating because it was designed to live forever.A true heart of love is the reason we can forgive people who hurt us, betray us or disappoint us.  A true heart of love is also the reason we survive the losses of those who leave us through death, divorce, disease or disturbance.

I have lived through many losses, death being the most painful. Its acceptance has never been easy for me but from my youth the good God has asked this of me so who am I to say, ‘not Your will but mine’.  I don’t think that way even when soul searching fear tortures my mind or my arms ache with longing.

Our life’s tribulations, expectations and losses are managed less painfully with a strong spiritual belief system in place.  Even Carl Jung, the great Swiss psychiatrist who treated thousands of people over his lifetime, believed those who held a strong spiritual belief system did indeed manage their lives better.
 
So as we prepare for our holiday gatherings let us remember that the Heart of Hearts invites each of us to open our thoughts wide to the true beauty of who we were born to be.  If we breathe deeply and whisper quietly ‘a true heart of love never stops beating’ we will experience not only our own breath and depth but the angel within us will soar and trumpet loudly the peace and joy of all the years because the light remembers not only who we were before we came here but who we will be when we return.

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”

What does this word mean to you? I have come to realize that the longer I live the tighter I pull the cloak of faith around me; the closer the feelings of my faith comfort me. For me faith and fear seem opposite terms and where I realize it is written in the Bible that perfect love cast out all fear, I think an abiding faith manages our fear. How so? Well, if we have the faith to know that we are not in charge, we are liberated from feeling the responsibility of making everything turn out perfectly for we have faith’s sister “trust” to take our hand and remind us that something is going on way bigger than our finite mind could ever imagine.