the gate of heaven is everywhere

The gate of heaven is everywhere...
 including at the heart of our being

At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us… It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely…I have no program for this seeing.  It is only given.  But the gate of heaven is everywhere.   
                                                            Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

 

Abbot Lot came to Abbot Joseph and said: 'Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, and my little fast, my prayer, meditation and contemplative silence; and according as I am able I strive to cleanse my heart of thoughts: now what more should I do?' The elder rose up in reply and stretched out his hands to heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. He said: 'Why not be totally changed into fire?'

                                                             From the Sayings of the Desert Mothers and Fathers

A friend once questioned a reference I made to "the heart of being," and my description of it as that place where God dwells in each person. She asked, "Where do you think that place is within us? Can you point to or imagine an actual physical location?" It was an interesting question and I realized that when I have spoken of this "heart of Being" I typically point to the left-center of the chest, that place where the human heart muscle beats away and pumps life-giving blood. 

The human heart has long been a symbol for the indwelling presence of God. The metaphor speaks on many levels of vitality, love, the flow of life within our flesh, and the flow of life-energy joining all beings. In the Hebrew scriptures there are many references to the heart. One of my favorites comes from the prophet Ezekiel who uses what seems to have been a common Hebrew notion of hearts growing "hardened," calloused by pride, self-seeking, and fear. Ezekiel speaks of the power of God to not only soften hardened hearts but, when needed, to grant us a new heart:

I will sprinkle clean water upon you, 

and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, 

and from your idols I will cleanse you. 

A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; 

and I will remove from your body the heart of stone 

and give you a heart of flesh. 

I will put my spirit within you...          Ezekiel 36 25-26

A spiritual "heart transplant," I suppose one could say. And who hasn't felt a need for that from time to time? I especially notice here that what is given is a "heart of flesh."  It speaks of a heart that feels, a heart that loves, a heart that expresses mercy and compassion, a heart that is vulnerable and open to love in this life and in this world. A heart that is willing to hurt and ache with love.

Another level on which the metaphor of the heart speaks is the fact that our heart beats without our own conscious effort. It simply happens, without our direction, unless otherwise impacted by injury or illness. It is a meaningful analogy for the movement of God's own Spirit at the center of our lives, flowing and bestowing gifts without our own conscious awareness, and well beyond our efforts to control it.

For our part, to practice bringing our awareness to God's presence at the heart of our being can profoundly transform the way in which we live our daily lives. To practice attentiveness to  that "point of nothingness" at the center of our being can deepen our capacity to live from this center, and to live from this heart of love. It is what can tip the scales of our lives toward compassion, wisdom, generosity and mercy. It is what I imagine Abba Lot means in the story above when he asks: "Why not be totally changed to fire?"

The ancient Gnostic worldview held that this inner spark or light of God demands release from the fallen, sinful, fleshy realities that come from being human. They taught that  this indwelling presence of the Spirit at the heart of our being is held captive by our physical being, and believed that there was special spiritual knowledge and practice that would bring about its rescue and release.

Jesus revealed a Way that was entirely different. He did not teach a separation between the spirit and flesh, or between the divine and the human. He taught and embodied the union of these realities. 

Jesus did not disparage embodiment. Instead, he showed what it looks like to live each moment from the heart of the God-presence within us, uniting our divine and human natures. He showed through his own acts of self-offering love what it means to see this same heart in others as we live. He excluded no one from this vision and understanding; he taught that such a life is possible for all. He proclaimed a "kindom" of God already present within us and among us, and the will of God "done on earth as it is in heaven."

Jesus made abundantly clear that it is possible for each person to live from this place, to live with such great love, just as he did. This is not something we have to achieve, or earn, or some secret knowledge we must learn. It is a gift already given. Our capacity for such fullness of life is already promised. We must simply be attentive and open enough to receive it and allow it to pass through us.

As Christians, we can and should go so far as to say that when we speak of "Christ" we speak not only of one historical moment and person--the full union of divine and human realities in the person of Jesus of Nazareth--but we speak of all those lives and historical moments through which this union is revealed. When we come to deeper awareness of what lies at the heart of our being--our "original blessing"--and receive the gifts God has already given us, we become one with Christ. Put even more directly, we become Christ present here and now. We may also then come to see, as Merton describes so beautifully above, that "the gate of Heaven is everywhere," including deep at the center of our lives.