“A sword shall pierce your soul . . .”  Simeon to Mary

“The Way reveals His love by giving hope where this no hope.  The Way reveals Himself, but only in a reign of stillness, when the soul is alone, imprisoned in the heart, seeking Him alone in her pain.”  Christ the Eternal Tao

There are many paths that take one down, way down, the lonely path to humility.  Sometimes people mistake those paths for religious pretense, purposeless ritual, or imagined repentance.  One path that is unrecognized, overlooked and avoided at all costs is through the pain of the heart.

Yesterday was the Feast of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.  In the Christian tradition there is no one who exemplifies humility more than Mary.  You may recall her words in response to the news that she would bear this blessed Child of God, “Lord, let it be done to me according to Thy Word.”  There is immense evidence of humility, and vica-versa, in that response.  But the perfection of Mary’s path to humility came when the prophecy of ancient Simeon was fulfilled.  As she looked upon the broken and bloody body of her Son as His life slowly seeped out of him.  Anyone who has lost a child, regardless of their age or circumstance, knows what it is to feel that piercing pain.  It is unnatural and often-times the parent is left inconsolable.  Through the experience of that death one experiences the seeming pointlessness of living.   One’s heart is not only broken,  but severed and shattered.  The purpose is seemingly non-existent. 

There are many types of heartbreak, you most likely have experienced your own, which is unique to you, but which also puts you in the same place of pain as Mary.  It is precisely then that all of the transitory items to which one had previously clung to suddenly lose their significance.  Nothing, and no thing, matters.  What’s more, it’s not only the previous importance placed on external objects that vanish, but so do the internal attempts to keep up certain appearances in order to impress others or make them think that one is different, better, greater than one actually is.  The enormous amount of energy expended upon trying to be “that person” that everyone thinks you are no longer matters one whit.  It is then, when one is being marinated in the misery of a life that seems to have no meaning, that one begins to live in humility.  The pain of the heart brings one to the place of healing, hope and eventually authentic living. 

That is why we can admire Mary.  Not because she is a sinless model for faith, nor even as a woman to be emulated for her perfection or venerated for her virtue, but rather as a woman to be celebrated for her perseverance through the pain of her heart which led her down the path to humility, the Way of her Son.  It is the path that none of us seek to travel, but if we are fortunate we will each be given that opportunity.

“The pain of the heart, endured in devotion to the Way, is the way to perfection; perfect humility, perfect love.  The soul can never learn the power of the Way while abiding in comfort.  The soul can never value the love of the Way until she is in circumstances which cut off hope.”