One cool evening in the Autumn of 1999, a person was at prayer in the
silence of their inner room. 1 They had been praying
the prayer commonly known as the "Our Father" in Christian
circles, and were
contemplating the words, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth,
as it is in heaven." And they prayed to know what more they could do to better make things "on
earth, as it is in heaven."
This had been their constant prayer that Fall. Stirring within them
was the knowledge that there was more, much more, they could be doing to
make things on earth a little more "heavenly." A place more filled
with love, compassion and caring.
So as they had been taught to do, they sat in silence, listening for an
answer to their prayer - an answer they knew would come. Having practiced prayer and meditation 2
for many years, they knew to be patient. They knew not
to expect any loud, booming voice from the heavens, held no illusions that
there would be some brilliant flash of light that would show the way for
them. 3
Rather, they knew that an answer would come in that still, small voice
that cannot be heard with any physical ears, but is understood so clearly
by the heart!
The
Answer
On that particular evening, "the answer" arrived in more
dramatic fashion than was usually the case. Sometimes, the
"answer" came in a dream during the night. More often, it
came as a sort of a vague inner feeling, an inner prompting and
discernment that seemed to incline toward one direction more than
another. But this night, the message was exceptionally clear!
Without warning, a
light much brighter and warmer than that of the setting sun suddenly
filled their heart, illuminating it from within! It
was if the setting sun outside the window were somehow inside of them, its
golden rays illuminating every corner and fiber of their being!
It
overwhelmed them with intense feelings of peace, love and joy. And
the source of these feelings came from what could only be described as an
incredible "presence" of some sort. A wonderful, powerful
loving "being," that people throughout the ages have called by
the name of "God."
Being in that presence was like stepping from the night into the day.
It was like waking up from a deep sleep, as if only now, for the
first time, had they ever truly been awake.
It brought sudden clarity of vision and purpose. In that
moment, they somehow "knew" that they would learn to play the
harp, and begin to volunteer with it for patients in hospitals.
In that instant, they knew! They knew that their prayer had
been answered. They knew how they could help
to make things on earth a little more "heavenly," a place more filled
with love, compassion and caring.
In that brief instant, it was as if they
were given a vision of the next several years, and how this answer, if put
into practical action, could come to affect the lives of
others.
Such was the
intense beauty and
power of "seeing" all these things, that tears sprang freely
from their eyes. They were left feeling shaken, humbled and awed at
what they had seen and experienced. For they knew that the music
coming from the strings of the harp would help to bring peace and comfort
to many people, and that the beauty of its melodies would truly help to
make of earth a place more heavenly!
The
Commitment
There is an old proverb told of how the "kingdom of heaven" is
like a large tree known as a "mustard tree." The large mustard
tree grows from a single,
tiny seed. 4
This story is such a story as that - one of seeking,
of receiving an answer, of having faith in that answer, and going out and
applying it. It is a true story of how learning to pray and to
listen can lead to results much greater than the small efforts applied by
a single person - how indeed, small efforts can be multiplied even a
hundred-fold beyond their humble origins! 5
It is a demonstration that it is not the size of the
action which is important, but the doing of that action with our whole
hearts and minds and souls. It shows that when our beings are
centered in the correct light, that what grows from that light will quite
naturally multiply in abundance, of its own accord, in its own time.
And how we need not worry and fuss and fret over the future, but simply
let it unfold in the goodness of time! 6
So after that time of prayer and meditation, they resolved to learn to play the harp.
While not a common instrument to play, neither was it unthinkable.
But several things made such an undertaking extremely unusual. It's
not everyday that a 39 year old person with no musical background undertakes
to learn to play an instrument for the first time - let alone, something
like a harp!
When someone undergoes
a profound inner spiritual experience such as has been told above, it can
be very difficult to explain it to others. There are simply no words
to adequately describe it! The only recourse is to resort to
metaphors and comparisons - it was "like a light," it
"illuminated the heart," it brought about intense and beautiful
feelings of peace and joy. And in a way that even metaphors cannot
explain, the intense feeling of reality that comes with such an experience
makes everything
else seem dim and unclear in comparison. It is like living most of
your life in shadows, and then having the sun break through and show
things with such clarity and detail that it takes your breath away!
None of these things are able to be seen or experienced by someone else -
not the desire to make this world a better place, nor the prayer, not the
answer that followed, nor the commitment that moves such a thing from the
inner world to the outer one. The only thing that CAN be seen,
really, is the result. A year after receiving the answer to their
prayer, they were volunteering for patients at a local rehabilitation
hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska - the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.
(www.madonna.org
) A year after that, Illuminated Hearts was established.
The
Application
So it was that in the fall of 2000 they contacted the Madonna Rehabilitation
Hospital,
and began
to volunteer for patients and their families there - in particular, those
who were close to death. Working with the Spiritual Care department
there, patients would request to the music of the
harp, and they would take it to their rooms, and sitting beside their bed,
play it for them.
As with any activity such as this, there were highs and lows.
Sometimes when playing for someone, it would be hard to tell if they had made
any difference at all, or if the patient's spirits were improved or not. Other times,
when playing, it was
as if there were an overpowering presence there in the room, and they
would feel the most intense feelings of peace, well-being, and love - and
it was obvious that the patient was too!
One night, for instance, they were playing the harp for a woman from Latvia, who was in America with no family
or friends at all to visit her or to be near her as death approached. Yet sitting in
that dimly lit room playing for her, it was if there were unseen
presence there in the room, as if there were angels who
hovered overhead, watchful and loving. They left the hospital that
night with the most incredible and overwhelming feelings of peace and love
- even feeling a little guilty that they should feel so good, while
she lay
alone in her room, close to death! Perhaps it really was angels who
hovered nearby that evening, as they learned the next day that she had
left this world shortly after they had left.
Later, there would be times alone with a patient at the very moment of
their last breath. The breathing of the patient would begin to slow, to be
separated by longer and longer pauses, until almost imperceptibly, surprisingly, it was not there at
all. They played for patients of all shapes and sizes and types - some with
dementia, some on ventilators, some with cancer or other
diseases. One man turned out to be rabbi, who had undergone a
radical surgery to remove his legs. Some patients were well over 100
years old. Some died, others would go on to recover. Many
people, many families passed in and out of the doors of that hospital, to
destinations unknown, and they would never see them again, or know what
became of them. They simply sat and played for whoever came through
the door, and prayed for them..
It was amazing to see how many people seemed to pass very quietly from one world into the
next. It was especially beautiful to be there on those occasions where
family and friends were able to gather around, so that death came not
alone, but surrounded by the hands and faces and voices of those they had
loved all their lives.
But not everyone had an easy time of it. On their first day of
volunteering, it was surprising to find someone in obvious discomfort, who seemed as if they were
fighting against something. They were continually restless, vulgar
and mean-spirited, making obscene gestures
and comments even to their own mother. It surprised them to
find out that they knew this patient! Such was the patient's condition, that
they had
not recognized them at all, until learning of the patient's full name. Years
before, this patient had been one of their first
trainers. Sadly, years of alcoholism had taken its toll, and now they
were slowly dying in a very sad and distressing way. That was one of
the first times they realized that, even if they could not seem to bring any
comfort to the patient, that the music could at least be of help to the family and friends
that came to visit - and many times, that the harp was not the instrument
of that help. Sometimes, it was enough to simply talk, share and
visit.
That was also the first time of being asked to play at the funeral of a
patient - something that would happen many more times in the years to
follow. They also began to volunteer to play for dying patients
under the care of Hospice Care Of Nebraska, (click
here for
links to hospice organizations in Nebraska) and as a consequence began
to play at a number of other facilities around town as well - places such
as Lancaster
Manor, Independence
House, Homestead Healthcare and
Rehabilitation Hospital,
St.
Elizabeth Regional Medical Center,
Gramercy
Hill, The
Waterford At Williamsburg
. This led to more and more people finding out about someone who played the harp, which led to
them playing at more and more
events.
At times, there were more requests than they were able to fulfill! And
as people began expressing an interest in hearing the music of
the harp more often, they decided to record a simple CD of harp music at
home for patients to be able to listen to when they were not available to
play for them - called, "On
Earth, As It Is In Heaven."
They would give this CD away to patients who expressed an interest, and also
began to make it available for sale at various locations around
town. Wanting to keep the same volunteer spirit alive, they decided to
donate any profits from the CD to charity. At first, this was to the "Angel Dog" program at Madonna
Rehabilitation hospital, which is a volunteer program where people
visit patients with their certified therapy dogs.
Since they were now selling CD's, and money began to come in, they realized a
need to organize it in such a way that the most
money possible would go on to be donated to charitable
organizations. That was what led to the decision to create
"Illuminated Hearts" - simply as a way to help organize the efforts. At this point,
they had not done much playing outside of the
patients being visited each week, and at a few funerals.
But it was not long before that too began to change. While they would
be playing for patients at various facilities around town, more and more
people walking past those rooms heard him playing. Soon, they were
receiving requests from nurses and other women at the facilities where they volunteered,
asking if they would be available to play for their weddings! And for
the first time, they began to receive money for playing at weddings, from simple affairs outdoors in parks and back yards, to grand
affairs in large churches.
And as they started playing at more weddings, there were requests for
recordings of wedding music, to help people decide which songs they might
want to hear. So a CD of music was recorded suitable for weddings and
other such occasions, called "Forever,
I Do."
(profits were originally donated to Lincoln's Friendship
Home, serving battered women and
their children).
And in volunteering for the Friendship Home, two further CD's came into
being. In the winter of 2002 / 03 they were volunteering for the
Friendship Home by playing at a local mall, soliciting donations by
playing the harp as people passed by. Some would ask if there were any
recordings of Christmas music available, which led to the recording of two
CD's containing Christmas songs - "Angels
We Have Heard On High"
and "O!
Christmas Tree!"
(profits donated to the Friendship Home).
There is an old proverb told of how the "kingdom of heaven" is
like a large tree known as a "mustard tree." The large mustard
tree grows from a single,
tiny seed. 4
This story is such a story as that - one of seeking,
of receiving an answer, of having faith in that answer, and going out and
applying it. It is a true story of how learning to pray and to
listen can lead to results much greater than the small efforts applied by
a single person - how indeed, small efforts can be multiplied even a
hundred-fold beyond their humble origins! 5
It is a demonstration that it is not the size of the
action which is important, but the doing of that action with our whole
hearts and minds and souls. It shows that when our beings are
centered in the correct light, that what grows from that light will quite
naturally multiply in abundance, of its own accord, in its own time.
And how we need not worry and fuss and fret over the future, but simply
let it unfold in the goodness of time! 6
back
to top
Illuminated
Hearts
Founded
in 2001
to
serve as a non-profit organization
dedicated
toward the practical application and realization of the words:
"On
Earth, As It Is In Heaven"
Footnote
1: "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites;
for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street
corners, in order that they may be honored....when you pray, go into your
inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is
in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. And
when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition....pray then, in
this way: 'Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven...." Christian Scriptures, Book
of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 5-13.
Personal reflections: When we truly desire to open ourselves
to be in the
presence and consciousness of "the kingdom of heaven," it is something not to be undertaken lightly, or
something that should be done to make a show of ourselves to others.
Rather, it is something to be undertaken "in secret' - meaning, it is
an interior process that takes place within ourselves. Are we
seeking after a reward, or to be thought well of by others? Or are
we seeking to be in contact with the highest and most holy presence in the
universe? In seeking for this contact, we are enjoined in the
passage above to go to our "inner room" and "shut the door" - to withdraw our attention from
the outer world of appearances - and to pray "in secret" - in
silence. And once in that inner space of silence, we are not to
repeat empty, meaningless words over and over in our heads - we are
enjoined to
pray "in this way" - meaning, "do it like this."
Which is to say, not to just repeat the exact words, as if they were some
magic formula - but to truly pray "from the heart" in the
"way" described. Even the "Our Father" itself
can become empty and meaningless, if it is prayed over and over as simply
a memorized set of words! "The way" that we are given to
pray is not so much a specific set of words, but rather a specific
attitude - a specific way of "being in the presence of God" - a
"be-attitude," if you will!
When we are enjoined to pray "in this way," notice that this
"way" starts out with the words, "Our Father, who art in
heaven..." The words themselves are pointing to an attitude, a
way of be-ing - a "be-attitude." In this case, we are being
urged to begin our prayers with a very specific "attitude" or
way of "being." We are to begin by being conscious
of "Our Father, who art in heaven." In other words, when
praying "in this way," we are to begin by
being conscious of the loving presence of God ( like being aware of being
in the company of a loving
Father or Mother ), a presence that is "in heaven" - exists in a
state of perfection where no sorrow or illness or disease may
intrude. In our consciousness, we are meant to move from our earthly
home
(this world) into the heavenly home and presence of God. We should
literally be able to feel the difference!
This is a far cry from mumbling a few memorized words, or stumbling about
trying to understand what these words mean to our minds. We are
meant to pray in a certain "way" - not to be confused with
particular words! We are being enjoined here to be conscious of the
presence of God, here and now present with us! "Your kingdom
come" ( a prayer for heaven to come to us in this very moment ), your will be
done ( in and through us in this very moment ) on earth ( in us, in the
physical world) as it is in heaven.
The words of this passage from the Christian Bible encourage us to
"start at the beginning" - that is, to begin by being in the
state of consciousness (heaven) that we want to create in the world (on
earth). When we pray, we begin by lifting ourselves up to that state
of being in which everything already exists in a state of
perfection. Then, we are able to see and hear more
clearly! back
to reading
"Problems
cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created
them...." Albert Einstein
"But
seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall
be added to you." Jesus of Nazareth, Christian scriptures, Book
of Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 33.
Footnote
2: The words "prayer" and "meditation" can
be tricky and confusing to use, owing to the wide variety of pre-conceived
notions that people have about them. Because the words are used to
cover such a wide variety of practices, it seemed necessary for the sake
of clarity to define their use here. Here, the word
"prayer" is used to mean any activity where thought or word is
used to express an inner longing for the greater good in our lives, or in
the lives of others. The word "meditation" refers to the
silent activity of awaiting for a response to our prayers. In simple
conversational terms, prayer would be like "talking" whereas
meditation would be like "listening." back
to reading
Footnote
3: "Then he came there to a cave, and lodged there....and
behold, the Lord was passing by! A great and strong wind was rending
the mountains and breaking the rocks into pieces, but the Lord was not in
the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in
the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was
not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of gentle blowing. And
when Elijah heard the the sound of the gentle blowing, he wrapped his face
in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.
And behold, a voice came to him...." Jewish Scriptures, Book of
1 Kings chapter 19, verses 9-13. back
to reading
Footnote
4: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a
man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds;
but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and
becomes a tree, so the the birds of the air come and nest in its
branches." Jesus of Nazareth, Christian scriptures, Book of
Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 31-32. Similarly, "...truly I
say to you, if you have faith as tiny as a mustard seed, you shall say to
this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing
shall be impossible to you." Jesus of Nazareth, Christian
Scriptures, Book of Matthew, Chapter 17, verse
20. back
to reading
Footnote
5: "As for the seed sown on good ground, this is the one
who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings
forth, some a hundred fold..." Jesus of Nazareth,
Christian scriptures, Book of Matthew, Chapter 13, verse 23. back
to reading
Footnote
6: "... do not be anxious for your life, as to what you
shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor for your body, as to what you
shall put on....But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious
about tomorrow..." Jesus of Nazareth, Christian
scriptures, Book of Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 25-34. back
to reading