Ruth Hanna's HEART LESSONS FOR THE JOURNEY HOME: Essays to Comfort, Encourage, and Inspire, is now available. The book contains 60 columns which Ruth has written for Spirit Seeker Magazine over the past eight years. (Ordering information is at the bottom of the page.)

Author Alan Cohen has said of this book: "Ruth Hanna's voice rings clear and strong for self-knowledge, awakening, and healing. Her lovely lessons touch the heart and speak of deep and mature wisdom. Ruth is honest about her own process and gentle about applying big life lessons to everyday activities. You will meet yourself in these essays and find inspiration to master your own journey with style and grace." Alan is the author of I Had It All the Time, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and other titles.

Below are the first two entries in Ruth's book. For additional excerpts see essays.
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Preface

Since 1998 I have written a column entitled "Heart Lessons" for Spirit Seeker Magazine, a holistic publication distributed in St. Louis and other cities in the Midwest. It has been a privilege and pleasure to create the essays which appear under that title. I am happy they are now being reborn in this volume.

The topics I write about are sometimes prompted by ordinary events and experiences from my life – like the song of a bird in my yard or pulling up old carpeting to reveal oak floors in our home. At other times I discuss more critical matters, such as having my purse was stolen, or walking down the road called cancer.

I write also of experiences that occur for all of us – handling change and transition, managing time more wisely, stepping back from self-judgment, or including quiet times of rest in our lives. Anything at all is suitable material for discovering heart lessons. These essays cover quite a range of territory.

Some themes repeat themselves in this volume. We cannot be reminded too often to slow down our fast-paced lives, to offer kindness to ourselves and others, to turn within and remember the innocence of our essential nature. And, of course, to keep on the lookout for heart lessons at every turn.

This is not a book of instruction, though. There are few if any rules given or steps to follow. Instead, I suggest that openness to life and to the heart lessons it presents is far more important.

You will find as you read these essays that they often have a metaphysical and transpersonal orientation. Yet they are always here and now. Heart lessons are found within the circumstances of daily life, even while they point toward what is greater. In this book, I offer you my own version of how the learning of the heart comes to me, and why I believe it is wise to heed its counsel.

Some of what you read here will find a parallel in your own circumstances and beliefs; other portions will not. I know this to be true, however: Although differing perspectives and interpretations may at times occur among us, in the heart we are the same. I believe that heart lessons, at their core, transcend any belief system or philosophical position.

Perhaps my choice of the name "Heart Lessons" for the Spirit Seeker column grew naturally out of an endeavor called One Heart, a resource center for personal growth and spiritual awakening that was my life work for more than two decades. Under its auspices I sponsored events, presented classes, produced newsletters, and provided resources for anyone who sensed that life was for healing, learning, and ever greater awareness.

One of the purposes of One Heart was to promote the spiritual material called A Course in Miracles. At my invitation many Course teachers and musicians visited St. Louis to bless us with their understanding and creativity. I also taught continuing education classes on the Course at Maryville University in St. Louis from 1983 through 2000.

Readers of this volume will see material from the Course quoted on occasion. Those acquainted with the Focusing process, a method for facilitating self-awareness and emotional healing, will find it referenced as well. Yet another approach which I call on is Compassionate Self-Care, from the work of the late Stephen Schwartz, author of The Compassionate Presence and Doors to Peace.

I am glad for the depth of wisdom and healing potential which these materials have provided to me personally and for my work with counseling clients. They are the strong foundation upon which the idea of heart lessons rests.

The essays in this book appear here much as they were originally written, though for this edition I have made minor changes. As I revisited all my Spirit Seeker columns while preparing this book for publication, I was reminded again of how valuable the heart lessons of my life have been for me. My hope is that in reading this book, you will find comfort, encouragement, and inspiration to look for heart lessons of your life too as you journey Home.

Ruth Hanna
December 2005

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Heart Lessons: Whatever Are They?

Heart lessons, like much of the inner life, are both deeply personal and yet universal as well. The essence and experience of a heart lesson, however, isn't easily captured in words.

Perhaps to define the term is less important than to suggest what heart lessons do. For me, they always point toward Home, not a specific locale but a recognition that love and innocence and a gentle touch is the truth of life. We are meant to give love and receive it too. We are meant to realize that all is well. That is the essence of Home. And all of us want to go Home.

As we walk the journey of life here in this world, however, with its sometimes sunny and often shadowed days, we may forget we carry this place of Home inside. The distresses of life hide it from our awareness. The complexity of life leads us elsewhere. Even the pleasure and joy of life can distract us from its presence.

Nevertheless, at any point and in any experience we may have, it is possible to find Home once again. We reach it through the heart, that portal where the mundane meets the mystery of life. Through lessons of the heart, we are encouraged and reassured, and the road is less challenging. Heart lessons bring healing and harmony, two signposts that remind us Home is always near.

I believe that each of us carries a soul assignment, one we have designed ourselves. Our journey here occurs in an excellent classroom. To stay open and receptive to what our souls are prompting us to recognize, we need to pay attention. Though we may like certain experiences and question others, each situation is an ideal opportunity to learn. And as the postage stamp of 25 years ago said, "Learning never ends."

Life wants to flow forward. Love wants to flow forward. God always flows forward. We often try to stop this forward movement, placing our small and limited interpretations on something that is immeasurable. Though our rational minds want to contain and confine this life experience, our hearts know that curiosity and trust are much more valuable qualities.

As we travel along the road of life, we may ask ourselves questions like these: "What heart lesson does this experience hold for me? What can I learn here that will help me remember what is true and real? How might I see myself and others with eyes of kindness?" Heart lessons – found right in the middle of everyday occurrences and events – help keep us on track, reminding us that in this journey, everything has purpose and significance.

Often, heart lessons are not obvious at first glance. When the way is uncertain and the signposts unclear, we can pause, look a little deeper, and discover what may have been hidden by our confusion. Then details fade a little and what is more important takes on sharper focus. As we refrain from letting the "facts" of the matter fool us into forgetting, we notice a whisper of truth in our heart which says, "Your journey is good and worthy. You yourself are a blessing." Hearing these words, we are once again Home.

What is important to know is that although the form of a heart lesson may differ depending on the person, the content of all heart lessons is the same for everyone. They help us learn of willingness, going within, shifting perceptions, self-respect, the need for compassion, and many another necessary thing. Man or woman, young or older, whatever or race or creed, all of us go Home when we let the heart teach us how.

Any experience we may have – and perhaps especially the most ordinary and everyday kind – is suitable material for discovering heart lessons. Life will continue to present them to us, and Home will continue to beckon us. May every heart lesson we encounter help deepen our sensitivity and awareness, and bring us a bounty of wonder and peace.

First published in Spirit Seeker, February 2005
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Ruth's book is currently out of print. We hope to release a new version in 2009. There are a number of chapters available on this website under Essays.