I was struck by a sentence that spoke straight to my soul:
       Blood for ink.
               A valentine to God;
                    however you imagine him to be.
                             Truth.

I sat shaking with the power of that statement,
tears leaking from my eyes,
as if an angel,
the muse herself,
or my own soul
      spoke the words straight into my being.

I have always longed to write,
to create,
from the deepest,
most eternal part of my Self,
to move beyond talent and ego
and truly tap the vein that speaks of infinity
with the intimacy of this one,
precious moment.

I ache to fill the longing with belonging,
to extend from my core a line grace to others,
connecting my heart to theirs,
breath to breath,
miracle to miracle,

             God to God.

Yet, I've been plagued with fear.
Self doubt.
For years I wouldn't pick up the pen
or even peck at the keyboard
unless it was business.

I'd wandered so far from home
I couldn't hear my own soul
call me for dinner,
     beckon me to the table
     where I could be nourished.

     And how can you nourish others –
     create from your authentic self –
             when you're starving?

             Empty?

     Malnourished?

Ellen's really got something
when she addresses the urge
to create
by directing us to
"make room for love."

It begins with self love,
with a desire to accept
     and include every bit of you,
     every piece of your life fabric.

     All the darkness,
     all the pain,
     loneliness,
     rejection,
     condemnation,
     shame
             and sadness . . .
                     find them.

             Make room for them at the table
               where they can be nourished,
                             loved.

And those ugly parts?
And those vulnerabilities?
And fears?
They need love too.

Call them in time for supper
and make a space for them
by the hearth.

And those talents and gifts -
those wild abandons,
those surges of genius –
make room for those too.
Let them be loved
     and encouraged.

     Let them take up their space,
             fully.

Rather than hiding them
for fear of rejection
and jealousy,
or demeaning them
with modesty,
     let them shine.

Let them have their due.
Make room for all.
Make room for love.
Include,
     include.

One of my favourite film lines is from Chocolat.
The people of the town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes,
under the rule of an old-order,
dictator-like mayor,
are suffering a colorless life,
segregated
from pleasure
     and freedom.

Individuality is outlawed.
Conformity is praised.  
     Creativity
     and tolerance
             are given up
             in favour of discipline
                     and judgment.

After the mayor suffers a personal
and professional loss of his own
and realizes the pitfalls
of a see-saw life of abstinence
and penitence,
he sits in church on Easter Sunday
reconsidering the dogma
that has defined his life
and the lives of his people.
Where the ego promotes control by fear,
the soul promotes freedom in love.

Where the ego seeks separation,
the soul seeks unity.
4


            You don't have a soul.

                            You
are a Soul.

                                     You
have a body. 5
Amen!
You do not have to be behind bars to be a prisoner.
You can be a prisoner of your own concepts and ideas.
You can be a slave to your own self.
6  

I am willing to surrender
to the awakening of my Soul.
Allowing the Creator's love
to flow through me.
7
________________________________________
Credits:
[1] -A Valentine For The Soul ~Angie (last name unknown)
[2] ~
Ellen Burstyn (autobiography - Lessons in Becoming Myself.)
[3] ~
Unknown
[4] ~Sannyasin
[5] ~Ascribed to C.S. Lewis
[6] ~Maharaji
[7] ~Anon
You can achieve what's in your heart
if you make room there
for the love that is necessary
to write from.

When you feel that love,
you can use your blood for ink
and it will be a
valentine to God.
And it will be truth. 2
________________________________________________
MorningStar Inspirations from

Dawn Cove Abbey
_______________________________
Roadside Assistance For Your Journey Through Life
- Dedicated to helping people return (and maintain) sanity and decency to life -
_______________________________________________________
From the eBook: "One! The Journey hOMe", by Klaas Tuinman MA, © 2007-2017

Questions and comments welcomed.
He listens as a young, boyish priest
addresses the congregation
with simple wisdom:

“I think we can't go around
measuring our goodness
by what we don't do,
     what we deny ourselves,
     what we resist
     and who we exclude.

     I think we've got to measure goodness
     by what we embrace,
             what we create
             and who we include”.

             And this is how I think of us.

     As humans.
Being.

And in our being,
the need to include,
to embrace
and allow is paramount.  

Wholeness is akin
     to
          holiness.

And for that sacred union,
we need all of us.

All the parts of us that have been
segregated,
outlawed,
rejected.

All the parts of us that have been
decimated by judgment,

that have been told they're
too big,
too bright
or too much.

Or not enough.
Not nearly enough.

When we make room
for all aspects of ourselves
to sit and sup at the table of love,
in the center of our heart,
our very lives become
a valentine to God
and a lullaby for humanity.

Whatever we create
from that place of inclusion –
be it a smile or a song,

a film or a neighbourhood carpool –
pulses with a love that breathes life.

The word, “
inspire
literally means

to breathe-in.

And this is the act of inspiring:
to breathe in the love
that fully embraces
the multi-dimensional
magnificence of your being

so that in your exhale,
you pass along permission

for others to breathe in theirs.

Breath to breath.
Miracle to miracle.
God to God.

And this is my prayer:
May we be an inspiration to each other.

And may the ink of my words
flow from the vein of my heart,
a valentine to you.
     To me.
             To Truth.
And to God
(however you imagine him to be).
1

Run your fingers through my soul.
For once,
just once,
       feel exactly what I feel,
       believe what I believe,
       perceive as I perceive,
               look,
               experience,
               examine,
                       and for once;
                               just once,
                                     understand.
3
Soul Valentine