AH!

THE YOUNG GIRL SAT ALONE at a table next to mine in the prison visitation room. Her inmate boyfriend had been notified that he had a visitor. However, it finally became evident that he was not coming out. After several hours of waiting, she sadly walked out.

Later, I found out who had refused to see her. I asked him why and he replied, "Because of what she did, I have fallen out of love with her."

I thought to myself, How could that be? There is no 'out of Love'. It's what we are, deeper and richer than all the spiritual promises and far more ordinary and real. We don't "fall in or out of Love" because we are permanently in the flow of Love itself.

Love is the way we are meant to live; Love is the measure of the meaning of life. Without it life is a bare existence; with it, life comes alive. It's the difference that gives life meaning. When we touch life with love, it grows warm and shines down the corridors of the mind with a light that does not fade but grows brighter and more beautiful with the years.

When Love is present nothing is the same. Even the drab gray walls of this prison begin to glow. It's as if we are transported into a different world - Love's world. Then things are seen through Love's eyes. Then the pain may turn into a poem, and the sorrow may blossom as a ministry.

Love is what shines from our eyes, beats from our heart, speaks with our voice, and meets itself everywhere.

Sooner or later, Love will reclaim us all. But to let that happen now, to die into Love now, before the body dies...

..."Ahhh".

Spiritual Yearnings

THERE IS A UNIVERSAL LONGING to return home. Within us is a secret longing to step out of time, to feel our true place in this dancing world. It's that thing in us that is an inward pull to learn how to touch divinity, touch the supreme reality, and then live in the world based on that being the center. It's where we began and where we return.

In its simplest terms, our spiritual yearnings and practices are about bringing to every circumstance a spirit of love, openness, and freedom. Then our very being transforms the world around us.

As I write this from a prison dormitory and look around, I often see inmates praying, meditating, reading spiritual writings and following the practices of their traditions. Even in those who do not believe in the existence of God, though, the longing deep within will not disappear. Sooner or later we discover that nothing else for which we reach, nothing else which we acquire, can satisfy this deep inner longing.

When we start a spiritual practice, read a spiritual book, or contemplate what it means to live well, we have begun the inevitable process of opening to this truth, the truth of life itself. We learn to be in greater harmony with what is, with a greater inclusiveness of our hearts to all the seasons of life.

In following the yearnings of the spirit, we explore the unknown. First, it's the investigation of the mystery of ourselves, psychological to a point, after which it is spiritual. Then there is an entering into the universal, spiritual to a point, after which it is indefinable.

Our awareness is steadily met by an insistent grace that draws us to the edge and beckons us to surrender safe territory and enter our enormity.

© 2001-08, Tom Brown

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE, why not sample the rest of the great articles, series, columns and monthly featured articles in PLW online magazine? WE NOW OFFER a 1-month, 3-month or 6-month subscription, or, for less than the price of one single cup of coffee per month, you get great metaphysical - spiritual - new thought articles, celestial guidance and news every single month for an ENTIRE YEAR …or even two! The longer you sign up for, the cheaper it gets! Your contribution to PLW assists us in covering the monthly costs of labor, running our website server, routinely upgrading hardware and software, and it also funds our latest project, Children of the New Earth Online Magazine. Click here for more...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charles "Tom" Brown was a successful investor who did very well in real estate, oil, and the stock market. Friends began asking him to invest for them, too. And he did. Things went well, and more people heard about his abilities and wanted to be included in the investment strategies he had devised. All went well until there was a dramatic change in the market. All that went up turned down, and Tom wanted everyone to still have a profit - his big mistake - as he wanted to be well thought of. Tom was accused of defrauding investors. Although it was shown that he had never diverted any money for himself other than a modest commission, through unbelievable mishandling by an incompetent or dishonest attorney, what should have been a one-year sentence became a 17-year sentence. At the time of judgment, Tom was 62 years of age.

The purpose of Tom's blog is not to dwell on the injustice, but rather, to show the incredible unfoldment of consciousness in a man who has taken this sentence and created a workshop of Soul and Spirit out of it. His words are designed to help us see into life and do better with what we've been given. Tom's Beyond the Wall blog is located at www.Beyondthewall.blogs.com.  If you would like to write to Tom, he appreciates correspondence.  He does not have access to a computer but can be reached via Charles "Tom" Brown, # 140237, ASPC - Lewis, Barchey Blue - D2 - E5, P.O.Box 3200, Buckeye, AZ, 85326.