The Heart

Why am I sad about leaving Winnipeg, my home for the past 16 years? Many reasons, and most of them are some very dear friends.

One reason that is not about friends is actually about geography. Winnipeg, if you look on the map, is almost like the heart of Canada, and that means a lot to me.

You see, to me, the heart is very important. It is mentioned over and over again in the Writings, from the sanctifying of our heart that we must do in order to "attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding", to the fact that His "first counsel" is all about the heart. As it is spoken of so often in the Writings, I, too, have written a lot about it.

One thing that is often overlooked is that it is what must be lifted up in order for the whole body to be raised.

For example, get a towel and place it either on the table next to you, or on the ground, or on a bed or some other flat surface where you can spread it out. I'll wait. I'm not going anywhere.

Got it? Good. (Nice colour) Now spread it out. What happens when you lift a corner? The corner raises up. Nifty, but not surprising.

Now what happens when you raise the centre, the heart, the same amount? Everything gathers around it and is raise up, too. There, dear Reader, is a metaphor worth noting. (I know, I know, I just noted it here.)

Raise a corner, and you raise the edge. Raise the heart, and you raise the body.

Have you ever noticed that the Mother Temple of the West is in the heart of the continent? Right there in the middle, on a hill overlooking the water? I do not believe this to be a coincidence.

I think, for it to have the full spiritual impact that it does, it needed to be right there. At the heart of things.

And that is what Winnipeg is, to me. It is in the heart of the country. A bit south, to be sure, but there in the middle.

When writing about the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the Temple, 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "It forgeth bonds of unity from heart to heart; it is a collective center for men's souls." Once again, it is about the heart and the centre.

For almost my entire life, whether growingup in Chicago, or living here in Winnipeg, I have always lived near the heart of my country. Now I get to move out to the fringes. I wonder what lessons I'll learn out there?