Heart Strings...

We make our way to the Church.  The concert is supposed to start at 7, but there is a huge crowd outside.   There is no assigned seating, and I say to myself - I hope we get good seats.  We go inside to obtain our wrist bands, and the lady says to me, there are some seats still availalbe in the balcony.  I rush up, and we find two chairs waiting for me and my husband.  I really won't be able to see the performer, and this time it is okay, because I am there to listen.  To close my eyes and listen.   I have waited for so long to hear him sing. I have him on my pandora collection, but to hear it live is something diffferent and I am excited.   And then it begins.   There is something beautiful about this evening.  We are in a spiritual place - a church, and there is a sign that says, " How Good it is when Brothers and sisters dwell together in harmony." This is a place of peace.  There is happiness, joy in the air. It is a wonderful moment.   Even more special because I am sharing it with my better half. And then it is time.   The opening act begins and have never heard them before but there is something soothing with their voices. And then it hits me, they are singing the Serenity Prayer, the prayer I say to myself many times a day -and have crafted a beautiful melody to it.   The lady next to me looks and me and smiles almost as if we were having the same thoughts.  And then it was time for the main act.  I am thrilled beyond words.   The first because in my natural element - with a similar community that have two loves - the love for the divine through music -and in this instance devotional chanting.   And then he begins:  "My Foolish Heart, Why do you weep? You throw yourself away again, Now you cry yourself to sleep.  My Foolish Heart, When will you learn? You are eyes of the world, and there's nowhere else to turn, Nowhere Else to turn."  I close my eyes and listen, and just like in meditation one is aware of the breathing, this time I begin to become aware of my heart slowly stirring.  It is almost as if my heart is the guitar and the strings are being played and with each string, I begin to feel an energy in me that is opening up. And so there I sat for the next three hours allowing myself to enjoy this total bliss not thinking about anything else but just being there. And that's what devotional music does to me.  It connects me to the Divine in a special way - that perhaps rituals may not, or a book may not, or a sermon may not.  The music speaks to the heart which is love and God is Love, and we are love.

That feeling I had in there was special.  It took me to a higher place, and I am sure at one point in our lives all of us have felt a sense of ecstasy for a fleeting moment, for an hour, for an event, and want to treasure onto that forever.   And that is what life is - we forget who we really are and what our real purpose is until we experience something that reminds us again and again.   

Think of something that captures the essence of Love.  Reflect back on an experience where you felt that joy, that unconditional love, that feeling where your heart was full of love -Close your eyes - and let that experience come back to you.  Imagine what you were wearing, the colors, the sounds, your thoughts - and as it comes back to you, slowly when you are ready begin to open your eyes and Write about that moment in the present.  Write for 10 minutes nonstop. 

Happy Journaling!