Parties of the Heart

Parties of the Heart...from Radical Grace, Fthr. Richard Rohr

"Somewhere each day we have to fall in love, with someone, something, some moment, event, phrase, word, or sight...Somehow each day we must allow the softening of the heart. Otherwise our hearts will move inevitably toward hardness. We will slowly become cynical without even knowing it.... So create and discover the "parties" of the heart, the places where we can enjoy and taste the moment-the places where we can give of ourselves freely to what is right in front of us.  If you're not involved in giving your thoughts, your emotions to others, for-giving reality, as it were, taking will usually take over. One style or another eventually predominates in almost every life. Ask God to give you the grace to fall in love with something every day. Then you'll see rightly, because only when we are in love do we understand.  Because only when we've given ourselves to reality can we in fact receive reality...."

And here are my own words:

I am in a party of rest. From this moment until I return from my cruise, may my heart and soul just rest:  from the heartbreak of summer, from the craziness of dating sites and first and last dates, from the worries of my children and my parents, from the rushing around and celebration of the holidays, from the becoming 50 and growing older, and from the anxiety of what has been and what will be. God, just let me rest from all of this for just a while. And may I fall in love with myself, my world, my life……. as it is.

Amen.