Ten Thousand Hands

In August, MARK NEPO will be speaking and teaching at the Chautauqua Conference in Buffalo, NY, at Mercy by the Sea in CT, and offering a three-session webinar. See www.MarkNepo.com and www.live.marknepo.com for details.

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THE HEART HAS TEN THOUSAND HANDS that want to lift and hold everything, to leave no dream untried. But the life that carries the heart has only two hands. And so, intoxicated with life, we reach for more than we can carry, and meaning well, we promise more than we can ever hope to care for. In this way, we try to live as many lives as possible rather than inhabit the one life we are given.

This is a common, inner tension. For as human beings, our being is infinite and unlimited, but our humanness is very finite and limited. Feeling this innate cross-purpose, we are seduced by the want to do everything and to go everywhere-though we can't. It was when forced to lie still after a spinal tap during my cancer journey that I discovered that everything and everywhere is holy. It was humbling to realize that I can find God anywhere, if I dare to stop running and be completely where I am.

Romantically and erotically, we are often seduced by the prospect of so many people to experience and fall in love with. But being human, we can't promise ourselves in all directions and still be completely where we are. We can only honor one love at a time. When devoted to this deep truism, the mystery of everything reveals itself through the complete love of one thing.