Bittersweet: A Refuge in Troubled Times (Mary Angelon Young)

The reality of impermanence and the inevitable experience of loss is enough in life to give us a wound. On the path of transformation, we need a broken heart that only God—which can be referred to in many ways such as the Divine or the Absolute—can heal. Heartbreak is extreme in the times we are living in. Bittersweet has an in-between quality where we experience different deep feelings at the same time. Caring is needed to work with bittersweetness in an alchemical way. Grief is a spiritual enzyme. A broken heart encompasses the suffering of the world; it can be inspirational and turn us to want to relieve the suffering of others. A broken heart can teach us how to pray and have humility in the face of the awe, wonder, and mystery of creation. We can’t understand the Divine, but we can cultivate trust which may start with recognizing that we don’t. It’s important to stay present to anger and outrage until we get underneath to the sadness that is there, which can allow the transcendent to come into play and for a hallelujah to arise. It’s easy to bypass our personal wounds. We may see parts of us as enemies, but we only change by loving all of ourselves, which is not about indulgence. Personal wounds are a way into the objective wound of a broken heart. The Sage is established in universal love and loves us as we are. When we have a clear moment, we can re-affirm our intention to the Universe. When we feel lost, we can do the next right thing. Freely offering gratuitous goodness is a gesture of love. The point of living may be to experience both the human and the transcendent. Mary Angelon Young is a workshop leader with a background in Jungian psychology, an editor, and author of As It Is, Under the Punnai Tree, The Baul Tradition, Caught in the Beloved’s Petticoats, Enlightened Duality (with Lee Lozowick), The Art of Contemplation, and other books.