The Secret Set within Our Hearts

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger for them. (George Eliot)

And I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. (U2)

There is a secret set within each of our hearts. It often goes unnoticed, we rarely can put words to it, and yet it guides us throughout the days of our lives. This secret remains hidden for the most part in our deepest selves. It is simply the desire for life as it was meant to be.
Isn’t there a life you have been searching for all your days? You may not always be aware of your search, and there are times when you seem to have abandoned looking altogether.
But again and again it returns to us, this yearning that cries out for the life we prize. It is elusive, to be sure. It seems to come and go at will. Seasons may pass until it surfaces again. And though it seems to taunt us, and may at times cause us great pain, we know when it returns that it is priceless. For if we could recover this desire, unearth it from beneath all other distractions, and embrace it as our deepest treasure, we would discover the secret of our existence.

(The Journey of Desire, 1–2)

A love affair of the heart...

For above all else, the Christian life is a love affair of the heart. It cannot be lived primarily as a set of principles or ethics. It cannot be managed with steps and programs. It cannot be lived exclusively as a moral code leading to righteousness. In response to a religious expert who asked him what he must do to obtain real life, Jesus asked a question in return:
“What is written in the Law? . . . How do you read it?” He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:26–28, emphasis added)
The truth of the gospel is intended to free us to love God and others with our whole heart. When we ignore this heart aspect of our faith and try to live out our religion solely as correct doctrine or ethics, our passion is crippled, or perverted, and the divorce of our soul from the heart purposes of God toward us is deepened.
(The Sacred Romance, 8)

Days like today...

It is days like today that make me feel like being a nurse is the greatest ever... I am currently on my morning break and feeling quite joyous that my day is going so smoothly thus far! I have started 2 new IV's, finished all my morning meds, morning assessments, some charting even and have gotten all my IV meds mixed for the rest of the day! Yes ladies and gentlemen I am on the ball today!!
There is something to be said for starting your day right... I have come to notice that the days that I make the time to get up and get myself ready - spirit, soul and body - those days are always the most productive... funny how that is... maybe there really is some truth in the whole "those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength" or "the joy of the Lord is your strength"... hmmm do we really believe that what we believe is real?? I have come to realize that believe it or not... smiles... it is the truth - and the truth supercedes the illusion that the world offers...
All that to say - its a great day to be alive - I have great patients today... well mostly, smiles... I love it when you get a room full of good ones...

A woman's journey...

Then the time came when the risk it took

To remain tight in a bud was more painful

Than the risk it took to blossom.

- Anais Nin