Journal of Sacred Work

Love grows like a flower from within the earth. It does not come from without. Love, like hate, can only work on us from the inside.

   Whether our lives are suffused with bitterness, hate and apathy or flooded with compassion and Love, these things will be revealed in our lives and who we are. Even those who are skillful at hiding their hate will always disclose their true selves through their actions. This is why it is so important that we cultivate Love. The only way to engage meaningful change is to allow Love to grow from within.
   The happy news is that Divine Love is waiting for us. But it will not rise up through force of will. Instead, it seems to flow from the opposite. It is surrender that enables the arrival of Love’s light… 

   I find myself constantly confused by this. In western civilization, men, in particular, are raised to compete and to win. Will power seems essential to success. Accordingly, the idea of surrender has always confused me. To surrender means to give up. And, as my family often emphasized to the point where it became an article of faith, "Chapman’s aren’t quitters."
   It’s taken me decades to understand that surrender to the power of Divine Love is the only good choice we can make and the only chance we have to experience joy. We need to let go rather than grab hold, release and free rather than capture and possess.
   For me, this has required a lifetime of preparation and I still feel like a beginner. Where does the journey to Love start? This answer may fall differently into the hearts of each person.
   Perhaps the journey has already begun. Perhaps, within each of us, the stream of Love is flowing along, fresh as spring. And preparation means that we slip into stillness, breathe, watch and allow our hearts to absorb all the wisdom of our souls. It means that we surrender.

   This is why Maya Angelou’s lines are so important:

   ...love costs all we are or will ever be
   but it is only love which will set us free.

  How do we prepare? Unfold the quilt of your heart onto the meadow of your life and watch as Love begins to appear.

-Erie Chapman