By Rev. Glenn Neil Stocking
Spring in hurricane country is the time to buy a little extra in preparation for the storm everyone hopes does not appear. Prudent shoppers pick up an extra can of beans, bag of rice or bottled water every time they shop to squirrel away in the pantry or a corner of the garage. These non-perishable extras are accumulated bit by bit into and through the season so that they do not have to be purchased during a panic rush ahead of an eminent storm bearing down.
Our bodies do something similar with the food we eat. Anything not needed for immediate energy is stored as fat for later consumption. And like our imprudent shopper who waits for the storm before stocking up, our bodies also have a panic mode. Our bodies sense when they are not getting enough good nutrients and begin diverting available stocks to storage and shutting down non-essential functions to conserve fuel.
A result of our body’s survival mechanism is a lack of energy and enthusiasm for the things that make living fun, productive and generally worthwhile. We also experience a buildup of fat because our body-mind consortium is convinced there is a scarcity of nutrients even when there is sufficient supply relative to our reduced rate of consumption.
Is it possible that our hearts follow the same survival practices? Do our hearts begin hoarding love when they sense an insufficient supply of renewing love? Does our heart turn inward withholding its stock of love out of fear there may not be enough? Does it harden itself developing an insulating layer that actually suppresses our ability to receive additional consignments of love?
Answering yes to any of the questions above allows an insight into the behavior of the hurtful people in our lives. We are not designed to live without love, it is crucial to our existence. Love is the natural state of the Universe, the prime directive, the Word of God. Our every belief is made true by the love of a Universe that can only say yes to our stated desires. Sensing little or no source of love, our hearts redirect their love impulses toward providing for themselves at the cost of free circulation and eventual self consumption.
The inward focused heart loses its ability to recognize love directed toward it. It becomes self concerned, self-fixated and numb to any attempts to approach it. It becomes hard in its attempt to retain its self-perceived threatened supply. It consumes itself growing more dry and brittle as its stores evaporate.
The ironic paradox is that our fearful heart has its belief fulfilled by a loving Universe that continues to provide in accordance with our beliefs. The 1964 movie “Fate is the Hunter” centered around an airplane that crashed because a cascade of design faults indicated to the pilot that his one good engine was on fire causing him to shut it down and force an unnecessary emergency landing. Our fearful hearts likewise trigger a cascade of reasonable responses to increasingly inaccurate information driving us into undesirable results.
When the inevitable storm hits and the electricity goes off, we quickly eat our perishable foods first saving the dry and canned goods for the extended recovery period. Eventually conditions improve and a new normal emerges. If starving our bodies consume the food in our digestive systems before eventually tapping their fat reserves. Ideally starvation is avoided and our metabolisms stabilize. Our hearts act only on what they know, and continue consuming themselves.
If there is no storm, we use up our stores in the following months clearing our pantries to be refreshed the next year. If we are not faced with starvation our metabolisms adjust and our energy levels return to normal. Proper diet and exercise eventually reduce stored up fats and the resulting new eating habits help us maintain healthy bodies. Our hearts respond to our beliefs, new beliefs open new possibilities.
When we accept the possibility that our beliefs are erroneous, that our instruments are giving us false readings and what we are doing cannot continue we become open to new solutions. If we allow some small part of our self-directed love to be shared with others in some way, we open our pantry and provide an avenue for circulation to resume. Love wants to circulate, its natural state is to be in motion. A tiny crack in our armor erodes into a torrent of love pouring out and rejuvenating our heart with its flow. In response the Universe pours more love in and the cycle accelerates and expands into the limits of our belief.
Unrestricted by our interference love is self-perpetuating and infinitely expansive. Our hearts soften and expand their capacity to absorb becoming a conduit drawing love in as quickly as it can pump love out. When the next storm hits, our pantry will be overflowing, our bodies will be lean and our experience energized and fulfilling as we lead, respond and identify with the power of love.
Explore more about the power of love and our natural state at a Center for Spiritual Living in your community or on line starting at CSL.org and CSLFTL.org.