Prayer to Open the Heart

Thanksgiving Morning

Dear Ones,

 

This is dedicated to anyone who, on this day,  feels lost or lonely and has no one to have Thanksgiving coffee and pumpkin pie with. Dedicated to those whose hearts have been battered around until it hurts to breath. Dedicated to anyone who, last year was with someone they loved and this year,  find their table missing their presence. I called it a prayer to open the heart, but I don’t know if that is what it is or not…but it is the conversation of my own heart today, it is more of a rant to open the heart and in truth, I have to go mash potatoes so don’t have time to edit it as well as it should be.

I wish, you, whoever you are reading this, could come and have coffee with me. I wish we could talk about the good times, and count our blessings. I wish I could hold your warm hand and remind you that all things pass. I would look into your eyes and tell you, that though it may not all turn out all right, or as we thought, we have to keep loving anyway. When you ask me how to do that… I will tell you, to write. To move your body. To grieve when you need to. To make offerings at the roots of trees. To paint. To keep a journal. To drink tea with God. To have a kitten or a dog. I will tell you to open the heart you have ty try and try. I will ask you to call on God even if you don’t know what name to use. I will tell you, if your heart has become hard because you are attached to being right, to get on your knees before your beloveds and ask for forgiveness. I will tell you, the heart has nothing to do with ego in reality. I will tell you that God made the heart for breaking and loving, that is how it is designed. Not to stay in one piece, but somehow, to break and heal.  The Blessed Mother with a shining needle and a glistening red thread and time will put the pieces back in place and mend the tears from the inside.

Shiloh Sophia

Prayer to Open the Heart

After the heart has been closed and opened one hundred times,

we think each opening will be easier. But it isn’t.

Time sometimes makes our heart harder, and the hinges

on the swinging doors are in need of the oil of healing.

Time sometimes makes our hearts softer, our memories

more gentle and our bitterness dissolves like hot honey.

But what about when it doesn’t? And our tongue tastes like ashes?

The heart, a soul organ of light, spontaneous in nature, and

as unpredictable as any force in the universe.

Volcanoes, tornadoes and floods come second when it comes

to the unpredictability of the heart.

So what is there to do, when the heart so bruised and battered and

she or he wishes there was a 911 line just for the hurting hearts?

“Hello this is the heart, and I am in danger of loving, less,

and I am scared and I don’t know who to call…”

and the voice on the other side, thankfully, is God.

“Dear Heart, you are my dwelling place. I love you.

Lean into the edges. Press on the bruises.

Notice the torn place with wonder.

Do not turn away from your pain, turn towards it.

When you turn towards it and allow yourself to FEEL it,

then I will be able to re-light that flame atop your heart…

in time. But if you turn away from it, and get distracted

from feeling. The light will go out and to get it lit again

I sometimes have to sing you the most terrible blues.

Come back daily. Moment by moment, turn towards

the heart, towards me, towards loving. Don’t let it go

dormant, don’t allow mediocrity, don’t let the days

go by without telling those you love, how much you love them.

And those who hurt you, dear heart, feel the ache of that,

and in time I will soften it. I can use this to open you.

I will bring healing. I promise.

If there was no risk – then what?

These matters of the heart require your full

participation. I cannot do it without you. The mending

of the tattered heart, is mixture of human-stuff and God-stuff

and plenty of shimmering star-stuff thrown in for good measure.

Pay attention. The heart is not some place to treat casually.

Give your heart language. Poetry is the language of the heart

and without words as little offerings upon the altar of love,

sometimes the heart goes to sleep. We all need to nap,

oh! but not too long, Dear Heart. Not too long.

Keep the flame bright!

Wake up Dear Heart! Wake Up! Come to the fireside

of the sacred heart, you are not alone in your pain or in

your ecstasy. You will find me there, if you turn toward me.

In your soul, imagine entering the deep dark rich abundant

space of your very own heart, and meditate on the beauty

there. Suffering too. Humanity too. But more than any of those

things, grace. Grace rules the heart and is not governed by logic.

You cannot think your way into healing. You can feel your way there…

and in time…you will call you heart the home of love again.

Call on me, anytime. I love you,

Dearest Heart.”

And so…

Right this moment, yes this one you are in right now.

Have you turned from the opening of the heart?

Can you turn back? Go back in. Imagine facing

the valley of self between where you are and the

location of the heart in your body spirit and go there

now, without delay! This is a call to open the heart – a

call to bring life back into the closed place and feel the fire of love.

This is a call to open the doors on the heart’s great

cathedral and let the doves out and the song

back in. This is a call from me to you. This is

a call from Spirit to all of us. What do we have,

if not a heart open to loving and being broken

open and healed and opened again?

The heart is the home of

transformation – the place where the past

is burnt up and the future is opened wide.

Love, oh LOVE, like your life depends on it!

And if you fall…and if you break…there is

healing after the valley of tears.

It will take some time, but you will feel it –

but watch daily at the gates for those

red threads flashing in the dark morning.

Watch daily in vigilant care to notice

the changes. If you are withholding love,

stop now. Open. It will hurt and be scary

but do it anyway.

And please, please, tell

those you love them, just how much. Often.

Tell them what flowers they remind

you of, and how they smell like the sea,

tell them how different life is with them

in it. Tell them, you are sorry. Tell them

how lovable they are to you. Even if they

don’t always feel like that – don’t let

the totality of the relationship stop you

from telling them, today:

You. Are. Glorious.

The heart heals through loving.

This is dedicated to you — and it is written because it is what I myself needed to hear. You were my inspiration – but it was my heart that needed the instant messaging. Thank you, dear ones of the cosmos out there – for being such a gorgeous muse for my heart. I love you.

From my heart to yours this Thanksgiving Day,

Love,

“Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing”

Psalms

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