When you awaken your heart, you find to your surprise that your heart is empty.If you search for the awakened heart, there is nothing but tenderness.You feel sore and soft, and if you open your eyes to the rest of the world, you feel tremendous sadness.It occurs because your heart is completely open, exposed.It is the pure raw heart that has the power to heal the world.
Advent is a season to ponder "all these things" in our hearts:
Thomas Merton calls us all to contemplation in his book of Contemplative Prayer ...
" ... the most important need in the world today is the inner truth nourished by the Spirit of contemplation -- the praise and love of God, the longing for the coming of Christ, the thirst for the manifestation of God's glory, truth and justice -- the Kingdom of God in the world."