when the heart breaks open

There is an old Jewish Hasidic story of a student of the scriptures who asked his Rabbi about something puzzling him. “Rabbi”, he asked, “it says in the Torah that the Word of God is placed on our hearts. Why does it not say the Word of God is placed in our hearts?” The Rabbi responded, “The reason Torah says the Word of God is placed on our hearts rather than in our hearts is because not everyone is ready to receive the Word fully into our hearts. But the Word of God is placed on our hearts so that when our hearts are broken open by the suffering of this mortal life the Word of God will then fall into our hearts and become God’s life for us in our suffering. The Word remains on the surface, dropping into the seam of pain when that seam opens.”

I find it enormously consoling knowing that all things have their own time, and the Word travels with us in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, including the most difficult and heart-breaking. 

So it is that day-by-day we keep the Word of God on our hearts, that when they crack open, that Word will be the bread of heaven for us. 

Steady on. Day by day.

The Cruz de Ferro is the place along the Camino de Santiago that pilgrims place a stone that symbolizes some grief or sorry or sin to be left at the cross, some hope to be dropped in prayer there, so intention for which courage and faith is needed. It’s all there at the foot of the cross where hearts are broken open.