Deep Magic: Memories and Dreams

"Parting is such sweet sorrow." Romeo and Juliet. Lovers, their love condemned by their families., doomed to separation. A union never to be realized.

Most of us know this line, and the sentiment behind behind. Though we part today, we know that we shall be reunited. Tomorrow, Next week. Next year.

But what about those who pass beyond those limits where reunion is a feasible possibility. Military families relocated to distant bases. High school and college graduation drawing pals, teams, and sweet hearts apart. College and careers luring children out of the nest with promises of freedom, flight to worlds unknown, there to build their own nests.

There is a line in an audio presentation of the life of Dietrich Boenhoffer: "It is only space that separates us." Today, space is a fragile barrier. Cell phones. Email. MySpace. These all give us a chance to reconnect with old friends and family, albeit in a distant manner. No touching, holding hands, hugging, going out to eat or to the movies together. No new memories made together, just a sharing of unshared memories made in different places.

Death, however, is a much stronger barrier, one that cannot be crossed by telephones or email. Once separated by death, only by death can we be reunited.

However, they still live in our memories, and we can remember the good times, and the bad times, if we so choose. Sometimes, they invade our dreams, creating impossible situations. A land dead grandparent going to Disney Land with my children. Applauding at my wife's graduation. Sitting and visiting in my home, oohing and aahing over my fishpond.

Distant friends are welcome into my dreams, too. In this way, I am able to make new memories with them. Memories and dreams reunite us, through various types of separation, in a magical way, bridging the gaps created by space, and even death.

Lust and Desire

This is another writing exercise from the book "Writing the Natural Way."

Lust is an absence of knowledge of our desires. What is it I want? I want this bauble. That toy. Another woman. More money. A better job. But there is no fulfillment in attaining these empty goals. They do not meet the basic criteria our hearts truly desire.

We struggle and strive to climb the ladder, to reach the heavens, only to find the clouds we reached are full of empty calories, and do not fill our bellies. We scratch and bite and claw, and slowly bleed to death from self inflicted wounds.

My heart's desire is to be right. T know that what I am attempting, attaining, accomplishing, is the right thing for me to be doing. And when was the last time I felt that way? "Go. Do this. Eat your veggies. Make your bed. Do your homework. Clean your room." In a word, happiness is found in a relationship.

To be happy, I need to make that other person happy. To make them happy, all I have to do is obey. "If it pleases you to please God, then you can do as you please." He is the source of all Life, the substance from which Reality springs, the fount of all Wisdom. If anyone knows his own mind, and what it takes to make himself happy, it is God. He alone, then, is qualified to take me in hand, and guide my life, in such a way, as to bring the desires of our hearts to fruition.