Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

A pure heart is generous. There is generation when the heart is radiant, receiving the constant flow of love and pouring love into every circumstance. This happens easily in an atmosphere of gratitude. We have been given so much by life and by the people in our lives. There is so much to be grateful for.

We can express our appreciation in a universal way, and we can also specifically thank those who have offered us love and direction, and who consequently assist us to be where we are presently in our lives. I am here because of a long line of support and inspiration. I acknowledge my gratitude here and wish to be specific with those who are still with me to let them know. And for those who are not here now, I allow the legacy of their support to pour into my world, knowing I am who I am partly because of them.

How do I pass on what I received from them? I see things differently because of the gifts they gave me. I allow the spirit they brought to be expanded into the world and to increase the possibility for others to have greater sight.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. This is an experience of seeing God in other people, but also of seeing as God, seeing things from my own wholeness, and my purity of heart… from the heart of God. With a pure heart I understand more fully my connection and participation in Creation. Here are a few phrases that came to me that represent this change of perspective:

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see opportunity.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see the blessings.

Blessed are the pure in heart: because they shall see the design that’s emerging.

I found an interesting definition for design this week, which was different than any I’ve heard before. Design is the revelation of the variety of vibrational patterns interacting together. It is a multidimensional affair. As human beings we are part of an emerging awareness of those vibrations. That awareness increases with a pure heart as we see God revealed through the living design all around us. As a person who is incredibly literal and loves things in form, I often think of design as a blueprint. But if you think of it as an active, generative, creative thing, it is apparent it is an ever-changing, emerging reality that is increasingly seen with a pure heart.

What does it take to have a pure heart? Generosity and gratitude. That involves letting go of the story that can filter my vision and block the flow of radiant love into and through my heart.

Personal stories can create a filter that affects everything. Every life experience has to go through that filter to enter the awareness of a person, so life is altered by whatever that filter is—orange, yellow, or green. Or anger, disappointment, and frustration. If we allow it to, it filters everything that we are seeing. And it filters everything we are remembering, creating a revisionist history. What actually happened becomes a distorted memory.

I invite you to an exercise this coming week: Give up the story, whatever it is. The factors that you remember in that story are very selective and personal anyway. They are slanted if you were not pure of heart at the time of the events in the story.

Here is a tale that might be familiar. I invite you reflect on events in your own life as you read it.

One day in late summer, an old farmer was working in his field with his old sick horse. The farmer felt compassion for the horse and desired to lift its burden. So he left his horse loose to go to the mountains and live out the rest of its life.

Soon after, neighbors from the nearby village visited, offering their condolences and said, “What a shame. Now your only horse is gone. How unfortunate you are! You must be very sad. How will you live, work the land, and prosper?” The farmer replied: “Who knows? We shall see.”

Two days later the old horse came back, now rejuvenated after meandering in the mountainsides while eating the wild grasses. He came back with twelve new younger and healthy horses which followed the old horse into the corral.

Word got out in the village of the old farmer’s good fortune and it wasn’t long before people stopped by to congratulate the farmer on his good luck. “How fortunate you are!” they exclaimed. You must be very happy!” Again, the farmer softly said, “Who knows? We shall see.”

At daybreak on the next morning, the farmer’s only son set off to attempt to train the new wild horses, but the farmer’s son was thrown to the ground and broke his leg. One by one, villagers arrived during the day to bemoan the farmer’s latest misfortune. “Oh, what a tragedy! Your son won’t be able to help you farm with a broken leg. You’ll have to do all the work yourself. How will you survive? You must be very sad,” they said. Calmly going about his usual business the farmer answered, “Who knows? We shall see.”

Several days later a war broke out. The Emperor’s men arrived in the village demanding that young men come with them to be conscripted into the Emperor’s army. As it happened, the farmer’s son was deemed unfit because of his broken leg. “What very good fortune you have!!” the villagers exclaimed as their own young sons were marched away. “You must be very happy.” “Who knows? We shall see!” replied the old farmer as he headed off to work his field alone.

As time went on the broken leg healed but the son was left with a slight limp. Again the neighbors came to pay their condolences. “Oh what bad luck. Too bad for you!” But the old farmer simply replied, “Who knows? We shall see.”

As it turned out the other young village boys had died in the war and the old farmer and his son were the only able-bodied men capable of working the village lands. The old farmer became wealthy and was very generous to the villagers. They said: “Oh how fortunate we are, you must be very happy,” to which the old farmer replied, “Who knows? We shall see!”

So often, what is in front of us looks a certain way. And… We shall see. When you take time to be generous of heart, to look at the possibilities that are there, who knows? Let’s see.

One of the most wonderful things I see is I’m still alive. I woke up this morning! Let’s see what this day will bring. There are times where one isn’t certain that they will survive a circumstance, whether it’s physical, emotional, mental, cultural, or social. It can seem dire. With a pure heart we begin to have a different vision. We can see more of the design and trust the vibrational factors that are at work. We can trust ourselves to see God.

Dr. Pinkola Estés spoke to our community here at Sunrise Ranch a few years ago. She spoke of the fact that all of us who are still here on earth are the descendants of survivors. We are here because they survived and gave us the opportunity to live today. We can now choose what we will do with this day and where we will direct our attention.

I just had surgery on my hip. While I rested and recovered, I listened to the impeachment hearings and heard the words of people of integrity, strength and service. I’ve been moved by the spirit of someone saying, I love this country, I care about the people I serve, and I have been doing this for thirty years with the best of my intentions in service.

As I’ve been watching the hearings, I’ve also been seeing people saying the same phrases over and over again. They not only don’t make sense, they are intended to obscure the truth, and promote a story that is ultimately death oriented. I believe that people are starving for a different experience. But we keep missing the opportunity if we say the same falsehoods over and over again and hold on to a filter of belief that is killing us.

In the hearings, they have a story. They repeat the phrase, “It’s all a hoax,” when the facts are showing otherwise. So if you think it is a hoax, is there any space in consciousness for fact and reality to penetrate? When the heart is not pure, you do not see God. You see your story.

Phil Richardson sent me this quote by Hippocrates this morning:

Before you heal someone, ask him if he’s willing to give up the things that made him sick.

Hippocrates is known for his admonition to physicians to do no harm. His admonition is relevant for anyone. Allow your pure, generative heart to be present so that you don’t live in a toxic reality that’s killing you. Let go of your story.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

To know your own heart in a pure state, you have to give up the stories that are making you see through a filter that is tainting the experience of opportunity, generosity and the wonder of Creation. You have to transform the “I should haves” and “I could haves” to “I am,” “I will,” and “I create.” It comes down to this: Are you more interested in the story that is stopping you from having a pure heart, or are you more interested in the solution? Do you want to see something new? Or, are you more invested in being right, believing that what you’re seeing is the only real thing?

We see God with a radiant pure heart. And then we know ourselves as part of what God is. We see ourselves differently. We see more of life’s design—the multiple levels of vibration of the creative process. We become empowered as a creator.

There’s a lot of power in letting go of our old story. It is a filtered memory at best. This takes the humility to let go of your limited beliefs about what life has in store for you. Let them go and feel the powerful urge within you to be generous; to see opportunities before you and live them; to move past any misery you might have been unconsciously making for yourself. Embrace what life is giving to you. It could be a day, a thousand days, or years and years. But it is now. And whatever it is, let it be about something amazing.

Here is what is true for me. I don’t want to just be a survivor. I want to be victorious. I would like my living and my loving to matter. Someone said to me this morning, “What will it take for you to actually believe you’re having an impact?” I know I have an impact when I see God all around me. Then I create as part of that reality.

This isn’t a supernatural encounter with a Being somewhere else. When Jesus spoke about seeing God, he wasn’t speaking about an experience to be had after human death. He invited people to live in the here and now. As he said, the possibility of this experience is at hand. It is within you.

Let the old story pass away so that you might have the experience of your own radiant love, changing your sight. Your response to love allows you to be more radiant in your love, and then you see. You stop seeing life through your filters.

Let love guide the way in which you see yourself and the people in the circumstance so that the emerging vibrational pattern is not only brought by you, you are enjoying it and creating with it.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.