Surrendering to the Desires of the Heart
Total Surrender
Desire, like a wild, ragging river, can carry you away to a place where you can become completely and utterly submersed. Thoughts can become obsessive tormenting swells that carry the emotions along for a wild ride through rocks and rapids of want. Total Surrender is the only choice the Soul can make.
David and Bathsheba, Cleopatra and Mark Antony, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn are all famous love affairs that have left us emotionally invested, and hopelessly in love with that kind of love.
My personal favorite famous love story is that of June Carter and Johnny Cash. Even though neither of them were "free" to fall in love with one another, it happened, it happened hard, and there wasn't one single thing either of them could do about it. Maybe it wasn't right that they fell in love, but their hearts could not be controlled.
Desire is a Burning Thing
June Carter illustrated her burning desire to be with the love of her life, Johnny Cash, with her declaration of desire titled "Ring of Fire." She penned her eloquent admission while consumed with a love she wasn't free to act on, but instead, found a temporary outlet for her raw emotions through musical expression. Her desire and love for Johnny Cash led her through a dark place for a time, but in the end, their love for each other persevered.
"Desire" by: Pamela Mae Oliver
Oh what a wonderful, horrible life;
Everything that is wrong feels gloriously right.
Our dreams sustain through lonely nights,
What can’t be seen in God’s garish light.
The pages turn and our lives unfold,
With black ink words in books of gold.
Down a righteous path we drag our feet,
Given only bitter pills to eat.
With duty’s spade we dig our graves,
Then cry in the depths of the hole we made.
Oh what a wonderful, horrible life;
Everything that is wrong feels gloriously right.
Fresh from our deaths we hear love’s voice call,
But the breath we seek is just over Hell’s wall.
We peer up at Heaven with its martyr’s gate,
But our soul’s only desire is the price asked to pay.
Our souls make the choice; our wits play no part.
Fools believe they control the desires of the heart.
With swords drawn high, we plunge deep and hard,
And life deals to its players the guilty card.
Oh what a wonderful, horrible life;
Everything that is wrong feels gloriously right.
Love Hurts
Right or Wrong
Does a person have a moral responsibility to honor their commitments and control their actions? Of course!
Does it matter whether of not a person is "Free" to fall in love with another? YES, of course it matters. It matters to all those connected. It matters most to the lover or spouse left behind, to the children who have to adjust to what can be a devastating event in their lives. It matters to the families and friends who have to consider the possibility of losing someone they care about from their lives. Of course it's a hard situation to be associated with, but sometimes it can't be avoided.
The heart wants what the heart wants! Regardless of our commitments, regardless of anything the rest of the world thinks, says, or demonstrates to the contrary, the heart wants what the heart wants and there is not one single thing that you can do about it. I'm not addressing a fleeting attraction here, which is often the result of either a physical attraction, or a vulnerable moment when things at home aren't just right. I am talking about the "KNOWING" that occurs between two souls that have been lost to each other, and finally, against all odds, find their way to connect again.
You can deny your heart and honor your commitments, but your heart will still feel what it feels. What you actually DO, however, is a choice.
Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood played the part of two such souls in the movie "Bridges of Madison County." In the story, Meryl's character made the choice to honor her commitments, and stay with her husband and children regardless of the sacrifice of her own heart. The story shows the impact on her grown children after finding her journals and letters about the love she sacrificed for them after she had died. Her children deeply regretted that their mother had missed her opportunity for love and happiness.
So, while submitting to the wanting of your heart and soul may not be socially acceptable, or acceptable to the wants and needs of the others who are connected, nothing changes what the heart and soul knows is right for the heart and soul. So really, what is wrong or right?
