A major theme of A Course of Love is wholeheartedness- the state wherein the heart and mind are unified.  This concept is returned to many times, but like any word, it is just a symbol on a sheet of paper until it somehow becomes our lived reality.  (That somehow would be a miracle…)  Jesus speaks about this movement to wholeheartedness as being the first and principal unification that is required, within ourselves, in order to make union with all of Creation an actual tangible experience.

So, what is it like to be wholehearted?

(Uh…  It’s worth a shot, anyway…)

I have come to think of my “mind” as an atmosphere of thoughts in which I dwell.  I don’t have to consciously think about the fact that I am aging for instance, for it to be taking place.  That may not seem like a thought, but I’m suggesting that it is.  If someone ran up to me today and said let’s go do somersaults up and down the back yard for five minutes, my reaction today is not the same as it would have been twenty years ago.  Something within me has a concept, e.g. a thought, about who and what I am.  I am suggesting that these “unthought thoughts” form the atmosphere in which my mind dwells.  This atmosphere impacts my sense of what is possible, and stores the working model of who I am.  This mind I am familiar with is atmospheric in the sense that it is pervasive, the very context and tenor of my awareness.

Now, my heart on the other hand, doesn’t suffer concepts.  Nobody’s does.  Our heart is like instant voltage.  The presence of Love.  The feeling of all Possibility.  I don’t need a paragraph to describe this.  We’ve all experienced it.  The sacred, holy, quiet, life at the center of our being that is our magnet for the truth, the seat of our desire, and the innermost presence within us.

I think not being in a wholehearted state looks like this…  (Keep reading).  The heart says, nothing is beyond healing.  Nothing is beyond Love’s grasp.  Anything- any set of circumstances or conditions- can be turned around.  But the atmosphere of our mind is in conflict.  We don’t know what strategy to take.  There are so many factors beyond our control.  We can’t be certain of the outcome.  We’re not qualified for the type of job that would produce that type of income.  There are certain steps that have to be followed to reach any goal.  We don’t know the right people.  We don’t understand the process that will be required.  We’re not even sure of the underlying cause of disease.  How can a thing be cured that isn’t understood?  Or maybe it’s understood, and the only things known are percentages.

This is conflict.  Our heart is suggesting realities that our mind simply isn’t capable of freely entertaining.  This gives rise to doubt.  Problem solving.  Strategizing.  Hedging.  Analyzing.  Working with the mind we have, we try and cajole a way through…  We try to convince ourselves of things we’re not sure we’re qualified to believe yet…

I’m pretty sure, however, that Jesus didn’t go into a back room and bust out the positive self-talk scrolls before healing was extended through him to another.  I’m pretty confident he didn’t have to psyche himself up to give a public talk on Love, or eat certain foods to feel good about himself, or go running through the hills of Judea three times a week because he felt it was critical to the long-term viability of his vascular system.  I’m 99.9% sure he didn’t fret about where to hang the flyers for this talk on Love, or how to increase attendance, or whether or not to turn down advertisers whose products were not in alignment with his message.

I don’t know…  I just think, when we return to wholeheartedness, and we’re no longer on the outside looking in, no longer convinced about factors beyond our control, a helluva’ lot of things are going to clean up quite nicely.  That’s what I honestly think…

I forgot to explain what wholeheartedness is, though, didn’t I…

Well… it wouldn’t help.  This is a breach what merits a good old-fashioned leaping.  And you don’t need me to tell you, anyway.  Hopefully, by now, if you’ve read this far, we’ve both been reminded for at least a wink just how deeply we already know what we know…  And the thing is, Jesus is in the field of our mind right now…  People are gathering…  There is a beautiful atmosphere surrounding us in this place…