Heart’s Temple
by Mark Daniels

Reflection:

There are times in all of our lives when we value something only to find out it provides little of what we truly need.  The only thing that we, as spiritual beings, require is the lesson to know who we are. We often focus on material things that lead to temporary happiness, but then we may find this leaving us ransoming our true happiness. We must learn from within and reflect this life without. We in fact do this all the time. But who does our focus serve? There is a God and He/She does reside within us.

God is that spiritual spark residing within the soul giving it life.  He/She is revealed through the still small voice within us. This God needing nothing will not demand we listen. We will eventually come to understand the truth of this world. As we discover more we come to know its purpose. No longer being lead by earthly passions we will learn to see the truth of what lies within.  As all materialism is finite, following a worldly path eventually leads to the conclusion it must have an end.

Heart’s Temple

The old temple was discovered
From a time of long ago
No one knew the purpose it served
To the neophyte what it did show

Uncovering the chambers of old
Removing stones from where they fell
Finding objects hidden for centuries
And the stories they could tell

Centuries of sand cradled the structure
Who knew the beauty it once possessed
For time had ravaged this temple
And its beauty remained nonetheless

Above the stones lay chars of wood
The result of a terrible fire
No attention was paid the ashes
Nor implications of something so dire

Colored paintings on its faded walls
Told a story in pictures unclear
Of its priest and its purpose
The tenets its religion held dear

But no one knew the language
Nor the meaning in each picture there
Showing little interest in the stories
Now the people just seemed not to care

Looking for treasure of gold
For objects the legends did tell
For the beauty in each temple object
Was in the money as each one would sell

When searching for objects of gold
Within the walls none could be found
No gold within hidden chambers
No coins to be found on the ground

The temple now cleared of possessions
Now no objects to lie on the ground
No longer would neophyte enter
Within no longer a sound
But the pictures still told a story
The reason the building stood there
In a time long removed from our own
When once the people did care

In a time long ago of the heart
Symbols would tell the whole story
The people would live with their God
Their spirit reflected His glory

The focus of intentions were different
From the time in which we now live
In ancient times so long ago
Love’s intention is what they would give

The temple once stood on a hill
They could see its bright marble of white
A fire was placed on the alter
So its glory would shine in the night

In procession the people would dance
To the foot of the temple on hill
Giving offerings of love to their God
For with love they tempered their Will

No one cared for the value of gold
Their spirit had risen much higher
The value of life to these ancients
Was to their God to aspire

But their children no longer danced
No more procession to the foot of the hill
Their focus had turned from their God
Love no longer tempered their Will

So their God from this temple departed
Leaving His children there to learn
Their focus must be love’s intention
Then to them their God would return

But their God loving his children
Could not leave them alone to learn
So He placed a temple within them
A place in their heart they could turn

They no longer looked to their God
They worshipped what they could possess
Forgetting the glory of their fathers
By their Will they accepted much less

So the children built a new temple
Placing it above the old temple stones
A temple to commerce and trade
To worship the gold on its own

This temple now built of wood
Their focus now to worship the gold
With greed the temple soon fell
 All was forgotten of the temple of old

Their creed was to worship their gold
They preached to the lands of the earth
The glory of trade and of commerce
To them a religion of worth

The people with each waking moment
Worshipped their god made of gold
They no longer used love’s intention
So the life within all soon grew cold

They turned to their god made of gold
Seeking warmth they need to live
Their god made of greed and of lust
No warm to them would he give

This god stood at his temple
Selling the fire within the walls
The people following their creed
Bought the fire whenever he’d call

No love now warmed the land
Each season the cold seemed to grow
All forgotten of the God in their hearts
Of His temple their fathers did know

Their god now following his greed
Asked sacrifices for the fire he sold
The sacrifice demanded of them
The love their souls would not to hold

The fire in the temple of commerce
Burnt hot in the day and the night
The people would worship this god
As long as the fire burnt bright

This god in the greed for his gold
Kept the fire burning of wood
Where forests once lived in the land
Scenes of desolation now stood

The people seeing the destruction
Would run to the temple to hide
Their god stood in the doorway
And entry to all he denied

So the people stormed the temple
Set fire to the temple of wood
Consumed by this burning ambition
The temple no longer stood

With fear the people would run
As the fire burnt out of hand
Their exodus continued for days
Until they had reached a new land

With each generation now passing
Their children forgot their father’s story
The temple of gold now in ashes
What has happened to the temple of glory?

Uncovering the temple of old
Will the pictures now tell lessons clear?
Will our hearts understand their meaning?
To cherish the love once held dear

Or will it once more be a foundation
For lessons not learned in the past
To worship once more the material
Of a religion that never can last

Both temples are no longer needed
Both replaced by the one of your heart
If you truly look for your God
This is the place where you start

You will worship the god you see there
The one you have placed on his throne
If it is not the God of love
It’s a god you’ve made on your own

Learn from the lessons once taught
Learn to love with all of one’s heart
Then your world will once more be a heaven
In your heart is where it will start

The temple now placed within you
Love’s fire must be seen from afar
For your God is always there seated
His temple is the person you are

So remember the lesson here taught
The lesson of need and of fear
Your god you always will worship
By what in your heart you hold dear

The fire within may consume you
Or it may shine as a beacon to all
With your heart focused on love
Your temple never will fall

The people you meet will see
By what you do and the love you give
Your true God is seated in His temple
Shown to all in the life you now live