"The Heart of Things"

by Larry Morris

Little did I know

the Love

that was waiting for me

as I walked into that room

so many years ago.

Now I see there never was a choice

nor was it an accident

or a random event.

My sad heart so unfulfilled,

all the long years of seeking something beyond…

all the failures of the search

the initial beauty;

flowers that faded before my eyes.

How could I know that You

would be everything for me

inexhaustible completion of my long search. 

My heart still burns with gratitude.

Now I know Love is a place we cannot avoid.

It is as certain as our first breath.

The Pure Land of the Buddha that exists in each of us.

The Kingdom of Heaven.

So Love is a place

and we can’t miss It, can’t earn It, can’t resist It,

It will take hold of us

and there is no escape,

even in death…

so now I wait each moment inside myself

for that Love to find me again.

There is no choice for any of us.

We are in that Love

or we are waiting for It to come again.

Everyone in the universe is destined for this.

Maybe this Love is what the universe is.

Sooner or later all that seek It find It.

Sooner or later all that avoid It are captured by It.

It’s not a matter of intensity or of surrender.

From our first breath to the last

 this Love has been with us

every step of our way.

It is what breathes us, gives us life.

And the next life and the next,

It will find us over and over again,

forever.