Editorial: Heart of Devotion

Guest Editorial

by Milena Albert, FOI member

Heart of Devotion

How many of us truly understand the meaning of devotion?

Is it about praying? Is it about worshipping? Is it about memorizing and performing rituals and ceremonies? Is it about reading or writing devotional poetry? Or is it about living your life dedicated to the very essence of the Great Goddess – your fellow human beings, your planet and all that coexists on it. While all of the above have been traditionally viewed as acts of devotion, which of these acts should come first?

My first true moment of devotion happened when I was about 15 years old. I remember sitting by myself and thinking about some personal teenage issues. I think it had to do something with a boy I was dating at that time. I remember feeling sad when suddenly a mental image appeared in front of me. I saw an open Space full of stars and our planet covered with an infinite number of lights. It looked so beautiful and peaceful that I thought to myself, if asked I would give my life for all the living beings on it. Then I felt as if this thought was wrapping around my heart and spreading warmth throughout my body. This was the first time I realized how insignificant my personal concerns were and that my life existed for something much greater then myself.

If we want to experience the Great Goddess we need to develop a heartfelt understanding we are here to serve all that is part of Her. Once we do, then we will see that the only way to express our true devotion to her is by being conscious of that purpose and act on it with every opportunity. Of course not everyone can be Mother Theresa and not everyone can be Mahatma Gandhi, yet everyone can perform daily little miracles that can greatly impact and even alter someone's life. Let me illustrate it with an example.

For instance, picture yourself in a grocery store. You are paying for your purchases and the last item you place on the counter is a package with three chapsticks. As you get your money out, you hear a store clerk thinking out loud that she should remember to buy some chapstick for herself. You look at her and see that her lips are dry and chapped. You also realize that it will be a while before she can leave her busy cash register. That's when you open your three-pack and give one chapstick to her. The result? You unexpected gesture produced a glowing smile. I can bet you that this small act of compassion will multiply as this store-clerk, inspired by your action, will do something similar for someone else, and so on. In just a few seconds you created an infinite number of possible acts of kindness.

In my years of walking spiritual terrains I have seen many seekers jumping into rituals as if these were the answer to their search. They would spend hours chanting, praying, meditating, drumming and reading anything they could get their hands on about the topic of their newly found passion. While, at the same time, they would continue to mistreat their loved ones, focus on accumulation of material goods for the sake of accumulation and complain about scarcities in their lives.

What they were failing to realize is that all that time and all the energies they would put into these activities will not change anything and will not provide them with answers until they are consciously willing to change their internal world first. Until they realize that you can not truly worship the Great Goddess, or any other deity for that matter, without accepting wholeheartedly that we are surrounded by the very Essence of the Great Goddess. With this realization comes the daily practice of watching every thought and making sure that actions are taken in accordance with the Highest Universal Principals of Compassion. Only then will the heart begin to sing the song of the Divine Love and become the Heart of Devotion.

About the Author: Milena Albert is a devotee of the Goddess Isis and a member of the Fellowship of Isis. Milena heads a rapidly growing group that currently consists of forty-two members called "The Pasadena Great Goddess Circle" with an informational page on Meetup. This is a circle that meets twice monthly, on the new moon and on the full moon. You can view her group page here: http://goddess.meetup.com/309/ Milena is a gifted writer and poet, one of her beautiful poems is featured on the Poet's Corner page of this issue.