By the River Piedra....

...I Sat Down and Wept

This is the title of a book I purchased in San Jose the other day by Paulo Coelho. He also wrote The Alchemist, which I had heard of but not really heard about until I got to Costa Rica. Anyway, I found this book in the English section on Saturday and I was intrigued by the synopsis on the back, in addition to the fact that it appeared to be an easy read since it is pretty small. I read the author's note while I was in the store, hoping to get a feel for his style and what the book would be about, and decided to get it after reading this:

Rarely do we realize that we are in the midst of the extraordinary. Miracles occur all around us, signs from God show us the way, angels plead to be heard, but we pay little attention to them because we have been taught that we must follow certain formulas and rules if we want to find God. We do not recognize that God is wherever we allow Him to enter.

Traditional religious practices are important: they allow us to share with others the communal experience of adoration and prayer. But we must never forget that spiritual experience is above all a practical experience of love. And with love, there are no rules. Some may try to control their emotions and develop strategies for their behavior; others may turn to reading books of advice from "experts" on relationships - but this is all folly. The heart decides, and what it decides is all that really matters.

All of us have had this experience. At some point, we have each said through our tears, "I'm suffering for a love that's not worth it." We suffer because we feel we are giving more than we receive. We suffer because our love is going unrecognized. We suffer because we are unable to impose our own rules.

But ultimately there is no good reason for our suffering, for in every love lies the seed of our growth. The more we love, the closer we come to spiritual experience. Those who are truly enlightened, those whose souls are illuminated by love, have been able to overcome all of the inhibitions and preconceptions of their era. They have been able to sing, to laugh, and to pray out loud; they have danced and shared what Saint Paul called, "the madness of saintliness." They have been joyful - because those who love conquer the world and have no fear of loss. True love is an act of total surrender.

Thomas Merton once said that the spiritual life is essentially to love. One doesn't know love in order to do what is good or to help or to protect someone. If we act that way, we are perceiving the other as a simple object, and we are seeing ourselves as wise and generous persons. This hos nothing to do with love. To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.


Post to be continued....