by Joel Levin, Perth, Australia
Image you live in a simple home with a hearth (fireplace) in the middle. The radiance from the fire is enough to heat the whole house. The warmth is not overpowering but complete and present in every room.
One day (for some reason) you crave something different and you open the window. At first the cold air stings, but the longer you stand in front of the window, the more used to this feeling you become. Over time you open another window, and then another, and then another… pretty soon the warmth leaves the house, all except the room with the hearth (nothing can touch this).
You live in this way for such a long time that you forget about the room with the hearth and start looking for other ways to get warm. You buy a jacket, a scarf, thermal clothing, you find someone to ‘snuggle up to at night’, turn to a ‘bracing drink’ to warm you up… it all works to a degree and you get comfortable with the ‘solutions’ you have found, going about your daily life all bundled up, ignoring the fact you are less able to move through all the layers. You do this for so long it feels normal.
At times you feel a remnant warmth from the hearth and it reminds you something’s not right, but you’re not sure what. You read books and go to courses that are dedicated to making life warmer, but you don’t notice that all they’re asking you to do is to put on more clothes. Some get you moving so much that you feel so positively, glowingly hot, you don’t notice they’ve put holes in the walls to balance the uncomfortable heat that’s been created. They all live up to their promise to make you warm… but long-term, they don’t work.
Then one day you meet someone who lives without their jacket, without all the layers… initially you call them crazy… why would you take off something so familiar and warm? Everyone else you see is wearing these thick layers – who would be crazy enough to stand out like that? When you ask him why he does not need a jacket, you write him off, because surely he is saying the same thing you’ve read in every other book.
But you see the way he moves, with no restrictions, no fatigue from carrying the extra layers. He doesn’t want or need a jacket to stay warm. Is life possible without all the layers?
You talk about taking the layers off, but this friend says: “Don’t take off the jacket until you feel you’re ready to. Maybe focus on closing some windows and reducing the amount of cold/damp air you are letting into your house; maybe there’s a room with a hearth.”
There it is… simplicity… the warmth comes from the inside and the cold comes from the outside. But you realise you have spent so long living like this you didn’t even notice the front and back doors have been opened too, and that it was you that put those holes in the walls. It’s simple, but it also feels overwhelming, like you might never ‘get there’.
The friend says, “Don’t try to ‘get there’, don’t rush to be something you are not. Walk to the centre of the house… see the hearth is still alight, remember this place always, come back whenever you need to and allow the warmth that has never left this place to be there”. At first you think it’s a trick: how can the hearth still be alight after all this time? You take a look and it is there – not once, but every time you choose to walk back to it, it’s there.
Now you have a true measure of warmth; not a temporary warmth, but solid warmth from the inside out. With this measure you can start making choices, smarter choices. You close the doors, you close the windows and the warmth starts returning to the rest of the house. It can sting as it thaws the colder parts of the house, but with each new choice you can feel when it’s okay to drop a layer of clothing.
It’s not until the doors and windows are closed that you start to really notice the drafts from the other holes and cracks. It’s not a theory anymore, it’s something you can feel. So you start to work slowly, without shame or blame for having put the holes there in the first place.
Over time, you feel ready to look at other things that leave you cold (what you eat, how you work). Eventually you can remember what it might feel like to move around in the simplest of garments, and what it’ s like to feel the warmth of the hearth in every room…
At times a passer-by stops outside your house and you notice them wondering what it is they are feeling coming from inside your house. They may not understand it straightaway, but maybe one day these passers-by will remember that they too have a house with their own hearth.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Apparently scientist did an experiment with frogs why they would want to do this is beyond me but it seems that they put frogs into boiling water and the frogs jumped straight out. But when the frogs were put into cold water and the scientists slowly heated the water the frogs couldn’t discern the water heating up and they died. I feel this reflects our current society, we have not discerned the way we are living which is so far from our truth we become comfortable with the restrictions that have slowly been placed upon us so that we now think it is normal and may be it won’t be until we are completely cowed that we will wake up to the realization we have been lied to on so many levels and that life is a sham.
And the layers….the layers upon layers… so much to take off, so much to discard, and some layers feel like they are glued on! But the freedom that comes from the discarding is well worth it! And the warmth that naturally emanates from within, is priceless, irreplaceable and nothing less than divine.
Thank you Joel – this is a first time read for me, a true story telling blog, a heartfelt sharing with so much symbolism and learning that it had me in tears. Especially the part where the friend reminds us not to try, as there is no trying that is needed. This is beautiful – thank you!
I agree Henrietta that we are saturated with the idea that we must try so that when someone says actually there is no need to try, all you have to do is just be it completely flummoxes us because we do not know how to be. We have spent life time’s trying to get something, get somewhere it’s always been a competition to succeed.
I receive this so differently every time I read it because I am aware of more with each read. I had an experience with Sacred Movement where I did feel the layers I had taken on literally like clothing, it was quite eye opening to feel the soul so distinctly and the false layers around it.
I love how you write and share important messages Joel, your blogs are always fun and enjoyable to read.
The heat from the many layers doesn’t compare with the hearth. Knowing this helps me return to inside rather than getting a layer when there’s a chill.
This beautiful blog shows us that the warmth and love have always been within and has never left us. All we have to do is accept it and allow the warmth to emanate out and show others how warm we all are inside.
“Going about your daily life all bundled up, ignoring the fact you are less able to move through all the layers. You do this for so long it feels normal” – modern life described so accurately.
Most beautifully described how there is always a way back home.
Why would we not want to live in the natural fire from with-in, that essence that is always ignited and warming our whole being, so close the door where evil dwells or in other-words our controlling-spirit needs to be understood for what and where it leaves openings.
Your blog reminds us of the warmth of our hearts and how the fire is always there even if we can’t feel it anymore and can’t remember the warmth was there in the first place. So much focus is on the outside whereas all the answers are inside.
Normal and natural may coincide or not. Only when they do, and your body is totally at ease, , normal is indeed normal.
It’s a great way to express the difference between what’s normal and what’s natural for us, it is beautifully communicated through the body.
You have nailed it again Joel Levin. I love your writing and playfulness with much wisdom in your expression.
I agree Vicky Joel Levin is a great story teller and we need these stories to remind us where we have lost our way so we can take the steps to realign back to the truth of who we are and where we belong.
Such a good analogy of life and the more we look for the solution to fix the problem of being cold the more lost we become instead of focusing back to the warmth and letting that fill the space.
And admitting we have been lost is the first step to returning home to the warmth of our hearth.
Awesome blog Joel, I thought I have read all your blogs on this website but I must have missed this one, it was recommended to me by a friend. This blog is such a gem, the wisdom, truth and clarity you’ve shared Joel is absolutely brilliant. The simplicity in the way you express is so relatable and a joy to read.
Getting accustomed to something is accepting it, saying yes to it. When this happens, we get a new normal. Our movements are in synch with it. No wonder why we end up detaching first from the heart and forgetting later that it is what is left of home.
Beautiful reminder Joel that no matter what the fire always burns from within, and when we reconnect to the warmth of the fire we realise that it is more loving to stay warm than being out in the cold.
Absolutely Sally, the warmth is always there, ‘Walk to the centre of the house… see the hearth is still alight, remember this place always, come back whenever you need to and allow the warmth that has never left this place to be there”. At first you think it’s a trick: how can the hearth still be alight after all this time? You take a look and it is there – not once, but every time you choose to walk back to it, it’s there.’
A brilliant analogy Joel with the house and leaving the windows and doors wide open to seek outside of the true hearth burning within the centre of the house. Time to lovingly choose to close a few windows and return to the inner hearth again – thank you for the reminder.
A lovely reminder that the warmth is always there, we just have to choose it, ‘There it is… simplicity… the warmth comes from the inside and the cold comes from the outside. But you realise you have spent so long living like this you didn’t even notice the front and back doors have been opened too, and that it was you that put those holes in the walls.’
It’s a great way for me to understand what I left, and how nothing from the outside world replaces the warmth I miss from the internal hearth (our innermost heart). Interesting to read about the layers we take on in an attempt to cope without the hearth, and how it felt to meet someone who lived without those layers “But you see the way he moves, with no restrictions, no fatigue from carrying the extra layers.”
‘You read books and go to courses that are dedicated to making life warmer, but you don’t notice that all they’re asking you to do is to put on more clothes.’ I laughed out loud reading this, it describes how we live so perfectly, we leave the warmth of us and go find ways to live in the cold by covering us up and all along the warmth is there but we need to remember and come back to it. A beautifully told and deeply true story.
Closing the holes and cracks that let the cold in to disrupt our hearth (or fire) within is an ongoing commitment and maintenance program for us all to honour.
In this sharing there is such healing, in its simplicity this article strips bare our desire to continue to “bring things in” trying to warm our hearts. When our hearts are already warm, it is such a paradox that we “pull in”, when in truth it is our birth right to expand out.
When we leave our hearts and look to the outside then we live from our minds which is a trickster because it leads us on a wild Goose chase away from what we know and understand. It’s the oldest trick of the carrot being dangled in front of us and for most of us we fall for it every time. We seem to trust our minds more than our bodies.
We are amazingly adaptable. We are so good at creating comfort out of discomfort, and in that we turn simplicity into complexity.
Awesome Joel thank you. Interesting word hearth. Conveys a lot of ‘warmth’. No doubt this is why we all love to come home to a hearty fire on a cold day and gather around it. It reminds us of a more loving way.
I like that the word ‘hearth’ has ‘heart’ in it.
I just re-read this gem of a parable and shared on Facebook as l feel this is a keeper. It is a parable that keeps on giving.
It’s crazy, we actually move out of the House of God and then create weird and whacky ways to cope with the cold of this separation, all of course temporary “fixes”. As you say, the warmth of who we truly are, and where we are from, is always there.
Very beautiful and profound analogy, reminding us of the ever-present essence of our being. Our Fiery inner-spark is what will forever define who we are, representing the truth of us all, where we are from and our purpose for being here – to live our Fiery way.
I will come back to this blog time and time again to warm my hands at the rekindled fire of the hearth. I love your work Joel.
“Is life possible without all the layers?” When we are in the reflected light of the fire from someone who emanates their inner hearth we can feel we have many layers to let go of and rekindle and feel the warmth of our inner fire.
Great simile for the way we ignore that the answers lay within us and that all solutions and quick fixes, good ideas and apparent breakthroughs just add bulky layers that make our movements cumbersome, laborious and exhausting.
This is the most beautiful blog I have read in a long time. I am so deeply moved by the understanding, compassion, appreciation and love that is being expressed. It’s exquisite and profoundly supportive. Thank you Joel.
Brilliant blog, thank you Joel. Thank you for the reminder: there’s nowhere to get to, nothing to ‘do’, no race.. just a surrender to what is already there, inside of us all – a warmth and love that never leaves us, no matter how many times we’ve walked away from it, tried to crush it or pretended it’s not there.
Great reminder of our everyday lives and how we are the boss of bringing in and reminding ourselves of Our heart, bringing in our warmth – reminding ourselves of that warmth inside us every day.
And so to bring more awareness to our conscious presence moment to feel what effects our choices are making in the world today. And that we have a responsibility to life from that warmth within.
A beautiful analogy Joel, I do love how you always make your blogs fun.
I just so love your friend told you not to rush into taking off the layers of clothes just because he wasn’t wearing any. Fix the holes where the draughts are coming in and stay closer to where the warmth is before taking a jacket off – a common sense, really.
A beautiful story about returning home.
I came across this blog again this morning. Such a simple story with a big message that makes a lot of sense.
Joel I really love reading your articles for the deep wisdom and simplicity you constantly grace us with.
The more I connect and become familiar with the Fire within the more I feel the cold.
Superb, Joel. Such a delightful and light-hearted and warming analogy that ‘Heaven is within’.
The warmth we have within can never be matched by anything outside of us that may be alluring or tantalising. Which is why when we connect to our inner warmth, the need to fill ourselves up with entertainment, the highs of a night out for example, can completely subside. When we tend to our inner hearth, we implicitly call for our outer environment to respond accordingly – we know true nourishment from within, it is now a known from within our bodies, and we begin to set up our outer environment to support this nourishment. It is a delicious way to live and delicious way to be.
A Great analogy reminding us that what we are looking for is within.
Yes this is a beautiful reminder Judith and I will be returning to read this blog again. We can save ourselves so much time, effort and heartache once we realise that what we are looking for is within and has never left us at all.
I find myself always in awe at your ability to write fables with such utter wisdom within that leave you not only pondering over the choices you have made but equally inspiring you to make different ones from here in. Just love your work Joel.
Ditto Samantha. Joel’s work is extraordinarily simple, wise and beautiful. So relatable and deeply healing. Love it.
So True Samantha, Fiery inspiration from head to toe to warm the cockles of our heart.
The simplicity of this parable is gold. I love coming back to it as I love coming back to the warmth of the hearth inside of me, especially when I have been looking for warmth in all the wrong places!
Simply gorgeous, a bedtime fable that leaves you remembering, the innate wisdom, the hearth inside that can forever warm us up as we snuggle up in the arms of our own amazing love.
I am so inspired by this blog and the fact that we can take our jackets off and feel the warmth in that hearth.
I love coming back to this blog; it’s like coming back to the hearth. In the analogy of warmth being inside and cold coming in, I can easily feel that constant movement of energy. I have looked for warmth in lots of places too and I really don’t like being cold. I am often judgemental of how people lead their lives because I can see the search for the warmth in things that won’t deliver that warmth and it shows me that I do the same. it’s uncomfortable to see how we choose to ignore the hearth inside. This blog is full of understanding for humanity; that we are all seeking the warmth that we know so well. we will always go to what’s outside of us to try to match that warmth we know so well, until we come back to the hearth inside.
Such a great analogy.
Beautiful Joel- such a great analogy of the protection we have chosen to live with when we have stepped away from our own love.
Joel I love what you have shared in your beautiful blog as it such a simple explanation what happened to most of us and showed a way to understand how to re-connect to the hearth inside of us. I love it as it made it so palpable – for me it is not a theory anymore.
Thank you for this divine reminder of our ability to close doors and windows. It is such a good analogy that really supports the reader to understand how that way of living comes to be and how we can turn that around again.
Written from your ever fiery hearth Joel… that you remind me of my hearth and that everyone of us has a flame that is forever burning, waiting to be connected to again, patiently and without judgement. What stands out in this for me the most is the key ingredient to close those windows and fill the house with the loving warmth is simplicity, in movement, expression, working, living.
A really great analogy Joel of how we create things in our lives through the choices we make and we don’t need to be ashamed of these- just simply recognise what doesn’t support us and learn to let these patterns or behaviours go so that we can move without the burden of them and be more at ease in ourselves and with others.
It is not easy to see that the chill breezes come through windows we have opened and holes we have made in our own walls. It is awful to wonder where that room is, the one with the hearth, wonder could the fire have gone out? It has been left unattended for so long….but then we find, after very little searching, that it is there, burning as bright as when we turned our backs and stared longingly out of the window. And as we strip away the layers and feel the freedom of our movement, unhampered, it becomes a simple matter to say ‘never again’ to anything untouched and unwarmed by that fiery glow.
There is definitely something bittersweet about the renovation job we are all in the middle of. The effort that goes into repairing our bodies and reconnecting to that hearth, definitely brings home the learning that letting it fall back into disrepair is not a way to live. Why we need to learn that lesson…is another story
So true Rachel, we turn a blind eye to that, which we do not want to see and all-awhile we have been playing with fire.
Joel, thank you for sharing the glow from your inner hearth, your inner-heart. Serge Benyahon lives and breathes the breath that rekindles the fire in all of us.
Such profound simplicity in your story ,Joel, but with a beautiful revelation. Thank you.
‘You read books and go to courses that are dedicated to making life warmer, but you don’t notice that all they’re asking you to do is to put on more clothes.’ Very true Joel, every time I attended a new course or opened a book to feel more comfortable it was just putting a new layer of clothes because I seemed to have lost the warmth inside myself.
l get this with regards to affirmations and motivational words..”all you are doing is reading words on a blackboard and not changing the way you live.” lve wasted so much ink and so many books in the name of changing my life for the better when all that was required was to put the book and the pen down and simply go for a walk in a movement of love and appreciation for me, and continue to do this everyday. Life changing.
Simply stunning analogy Joel.
l love coming back to your hearth to discover my own.
Yes Marika, the answers are within and to think all we have to do is undo what we ourselves have done; that is shut the doors we have opened and fill the holes we have made. This little parable shows us just how do-able this actually is.
This is a real gem Joel! It is a real heart warmer in every way. Reading this brought tears to my eyes. I feel to share this one with the world. Thank you . . . always love your work.
Love this, such a beautiful description of how we chose to live, and to remember that the hearth inside always stayed on, coming in closer is much nicer than having all those layers to stay warm.
Such a beautiful post Joel – I love re-reading your blogs and always get something from them – thankyou.
I love my simple house with a hearth in the middle and the fire will never cease to burn.
There is something re-assuring to know that the size of the house has no bearing on the quality of the fire that burn in the hearth.
l do to and l love to remember this line particularly…”now you have a true measure of warmth; not a temporary warmth, but solid warmth from the inside out.” l feel this everytime l attend a Universal Medicine course or see an Esoteric practitioner. They help to remind me of that exquisite warmth that is always there inside me.
I agree, to feel that warmth from inside is gold and something worth living and giving everything for.
This is a delightful sharing Joel and one that certainly warms my heart, to know that everything we ever want and need is within us always – simple and beautiful.
This makes me cry Joel, so beautiful and so true. I remembered once living in a house with no roof, and I have on padded layers one after another, together with beanie and socks while being inside of the house and a few blankets on top when I go to bed—literally. It is so beautiful to be able to take these layers off and know the warmth is always there within.
Thats what I call taking the metaphor literally. Its amazing the things we get used to.
The hearth is still warm, quite hot actally, after all these years, and its the same in every house, a truly divine friend, the hearth.
It is a truly divine friend…lovely way to describe this felix.
Oh wow Joel I really love your writing style, the analogy here so beautifully expressed. Our hearth continually burns and warms us reminding us of a way home out of the chilly cold.
Wonderful storytelling as usual Joel. As I was reading I was able to take a few moments to appreciate how many doors and windows I had open when I first came to Universal Medicine and how many have since been closed as I realised that I have a beautiful cosy fireplace and hearth right inside of me that is becoming more familiar day by day. Thank you!
Thank you for this gentle yet very poignant, heart felt piece of writing Joel. The message is so clear, so beautiful, so simple. ‘Keeping the home fires burning’ takes on a whole new light.
Joel you write with pure magic. This was such an inspiration to read, and an important reminder of our unfolding, as well the reflection we can have for others in our choices to ‘no longer need the jacket’.
You truly are a poet that touches the hearth deep inside all of us.
This is very beautiful and has such a magic in it that it shines such a clear bright light on something that affects so many people and makes it simple to understand and make sense of.
Beautiful Joel! This is exactly how it happens for us in life, where the warmth we seek is love and the house we live in is the way we choose to live. Who would have ever thought that our way of being can create holes in the walls or allow that warmth inside to be?
A beautiful analogy – so easy to understand – thank you.
Wow. This is really lovely. Reading this makes me very warm inside.
Gorgeous and powerful gem of writing, Joel. I love how you share we can make different choices by closing the doors, windows and holes and connect back to our own essence. And yes, Serge Benhayon absolutely offers a different way of living and never imposes what I have to do.
Thanks Monika, So true that the choice to STOP letting the cold in can be as important if not more important than trying to connect to the fire within.
I agree, Joel, the STOP is needed to realize we are letting the cold in ourselves. Without closing doors and windows the warmth inside can’t heat us up. So the STOP is actually the START.
love it… Start by being honesty about what is not fiery and then what is emerges.
I have just reread this beautiful parable again as I sit feeling the glow of that home with a hearth. Your writing really is poetically beautiful
Feeling the warm hearth that you write about Joel, really feels like we are coming home to ourselves. It is so delicious and calls to be shared.
So incredibly beautiful Joel. This analogy makes it so simple and clear. I love your way with words.
Joel I can’t read enough of your gorgeous analogies! This one really lights up my own inner hearth that I have discovered was always there waiting for me all through my other attempts to get warm.
I love this, it’s a great way to view this process of returning to our own innate connection and expression. Feeling very warmed, thank you.
Beautiful blog Joel and beautifully shared.
This blog should be read to children at bedtime, wrapped in their warm doonas, feeling the warmth of hearth at the centre of their own being. Actually it should be read to “big” children at bedtime too, wrapped in their warm doonas, feeling the hearth that they have perhaps forgotten in all of the searching for something out there to keep them warm.
It is a beautiful process to release the layers, to start to feel the freedom that arises from tapping in to who we truly, unencumbered by all the things we have adopted for a false sense of warmth. And it is an incredible thing to discover that there is a fire inside, to and to know at last it was always there, untended perhaps, but ever undiminished.
I love this image of a child (or adult) wrapped in a doona and sitting with the warmth within and surrounding them.
I love this too a Joel. It feels like true rest in the beauty we are.
the word for me is honouring, the warmth, holding and honouring the beauty you describe.
Yes, holding and honouring.
I agree Rachel, “This blog should be read to children at bedtime” and not only to children but all age groups would benefit reading this fabulous piece of writing. It would make a great illustrated book. A must read as the story is engaging, humorous and so very endearing. Not to mention so TRUE.
Imagining children of all sizes wrapped up warm and snuggly while having this delightful blog read to them, had me smiling inside and out. Oh to have had this read to me when I was very young – how life would have been so very different.
Let us banish the fairytales that ask us to chase glittering crumbs that lead nowhere. Let our bedtime reading nourish us deeply, remind us of the fire within and gently stoke it to encourage the flames.
Joel, I love your amazing story telling abilities. You can make up very simple stories that capture such deep wisdom.
I love your analogy here Joel. Our body, our home, a place with a warm heart always there for us to retun to by letting go of layers of patterns/ideals/behaviours that don’t belong our home. Thanks for reminding of our fireplace within that’s always there for us to tap into & expand to rest of our being. Yes, people can feel that difference, the fire you live with in you & relate cause its familiar to them as its in them too.
Joel, so beautifully you describe evolution. I feel like you’ve ever so gently held my hand and walked beside me through life’s greatest mysteries.
Your friend, Serge Benhayon I presume (!), has shown me too that the feeling I have had all my life was indeed a hearth in my house, and that I could actually shut all the doors and windows and cracks and allow that fire to actually heat the house.
The analogy to fire, warmth and house is so simple, we can all understand it; and it’s that easy.
Oh yes suzanne, the friend was indeed Serge Benhayon, such an inspiration and living in such a way that his hearth will warms generations.
Indeed Joel, Serge Benhayon’s hearth will warm generations to come as will ours once we close the doors and fill the in the holes. The way you have presented this analogy of the esoteric and the fire inside of us all makes this something that is within our reach; just a matter of prioritising these adjustments to our house.
Yes let’s return to the beautiful warmth of the inner heart, live from there and share by reflection to all those that come and bask in our warmth so they too can feel their inner heart.
Beautiful Joel, a lesson in the joy of the re-turn back to oneself to feel the fire within, once again.
Thank you Joel, I just loved your story, it is so beautiful, to know I have a house with a hearth that warms every room.
It can be that simple… we have opened the doors and the windows in our house allowing all the cold drafts in, so we can easily close those windows and doors one room at a time, so that we can adjust in our own time, at our own pace to the increased heat and fire in our house.
We can make it such a complex thing but if we just close one door at a time, fill in a hole as we discover it, slowly and surely the home increases in warmth each time we do so. It doesn’t need to all be done at once, just door by door, hole by hole.
Letting go of the need to rush to close the doors, the windows, and the holes, and the complexity that the momentum of the rush starts to build, instead replacing it with one simple movement at a time, feels so refreshing and so very liberating.
When we go into the rush to get it done, it can be very hard to actually seal the door, window or hole. I find when I do it that way I just get hoodwinked into thinking I have done a “good job” but the feeling of it isn’t that great.
It’s so true jacqmcfadden04, and there is a balance between our own pace being too much of a drive ‘to get there’ and too much of a delay through not prioritising this work.
Know what you mean Joel, I aligned and prioritised this work, feeling the truth of all it delivered and more, thus the reason why sometimes I had a drive ‘to get there’, still have to watch for this sometimes….
I have come back to re-read your blog again and I can feel that the fire in the heart of my house never goes out, it is always there warming and lighting up from the inside out.
Yes Diana, I have also come back to reread Joel’s blog again as it is one of my favourites. It is a great reminder of just how simple life is. We are either living with the layers hindering our movement because our house is all open and drafty, letting in the cold and damp or we are dropping the layers and moving freely for we are closing the doors and windows and rediscovering the warm of our own hearth.
Joel , each time I read your words that you share with us, I am inspired to hold on to them . To have someone so tuned into humanity and the power of the small child within that you can create a vivid story of truth that we will remember and live. Thank you for opening hearts with your interpretation of Serge Benhayon’s teachings and thank you Serge.
Joel this is exquisite, I just melted reading your words and feeling the truth so beautifully crafted within. This is true writing that created such vivid imagery I felt it was me (in fact it was me) you were writing about. This is a true gift for us all, to remember the warmth (heart) we all hold within.
I so agree Jade, this is an exquisite piece of writing and a true gift to us all. I am so surprised that it has so little comments as I feel it is something every single person could relate to.
I love the way you write Joel. You use a beautiful analogy to get this powerful message across. Thank you.
This is an exquisite article Joel, a heavenly bedtime story that reminds us of the warm hearth within us that never dies out.
Beautiful Joel. A reminder every time I read it.
This is beautiful Joel, and represents a great truth. We all have a home with a hearth. I really enjoyed the part about starting to feel the warmth of the hearth in all of the rooms in the house returning, this is beautiful.
Your writing skills are exquisite and heart warming, just beautiful to read.
Thanks Joel, this is powerful and yet so simple, I love it!
This is truly beautiful Joel.
And… I can’t help but be cheeky here 😉 I wonder if the passers-by who may feel the warmth of every room, wonder why we’re running around naked so joyfully in our warm house?
But seriously… As your story has shared from your own heart, I am also truly grateful that I felt the warmth of someone else’s hearth, that is, the openness and grandness of their heart – there for all, namely that of Serge Benhayon. And, that I let myself be so inspired. 🙂
Yes, I’m sure the passers by do think it’s odd…intriguingly odd!
Joy can seem like an ‘odd thing’ indeed, in a world so intent on the continuance of misery, and avoidance of the energetic responsibility that can truly change the course of our lives.
So let it seem ‘odd’… until the day it becomes everyone’s true ‘normal’ 🙂
Now THAT, I look forward to – immensely!
The expression of joy can cause such a reaction in others. And I totally agree -let it seem odd until the day it becomes everyone’s new normal.
You are absolutely on, Nikki. I actually find myself smiling more every day and expressing joy and love with less hindrance than ever before. If there’s reaction (which there is…), then so be it. I won’t curb this natural way for anyone.
Awesome!
Running around naked, I know it gets fiery but wow 🙂
Haha… Perhaps some inspirational imagery for another blog from you Joel… (?) 🙂
Thank you Joel for so beautifully expressing how we can reconnect with our own essence.
A beautiful representation of what Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine are simply about. I really enjoyed reading this again, definitely one for me to come back to.
I also have come back to it time and time again Fiona as I feel that there is so much love in the writing of this very simple parable. Reading it again this morning I felt that this would be great to read to my grandchildren next time they come to stay.
I agree every time I read this blog I feel myself smiling from the inside out. I am sure your grandchildren will love it, just like we do.
Yes I feel the same Kathleen and Annelies, this blog reminds me of this inner place and inspires me to make the choice to connect to it instantly.
Well said Judith, this is the same for me as well. What an inspiration for all who read this. Thank you Joel for this gem.
What a simple and warming blog, with a super powerful message. Thank you Joel!
Wow, Joel. Yet again you have touched my heart with your simple yet powerful analogies. This exposes the whole illusionary world we create for ourselves needlessly, and offers us a simple way to connect back to the most important thing in life, the glow of our inner heart/fire.
Yes I agree Janet this parable by Joel has everything covered. It exposes us without judgment and offers us a way to connect back to the warmth of our hearth, ‘the glow of our inner heart/fire’ in a really loving heart warming way.
A delicious piece of writing – the jackets feel so tiring to carry around, and of course you can’t feel any of the drafts when you are wearing them… but to see people moving about freely, effortlessly, is an inspiration – just like the blog!
Joel, I love the way you draw a picture with your words, it leaves me with an amazing image.
Joel, thank you, what I love most about this is the simplicity and joy with how you talk of how we live and how we can choose to live differently by tending to and feeling that hearth within, and most of all that we do it slowly and surely at our pace. Lovely.
Thank you for your hearth warming story Joel, It has been lovely to read it, on this cold frosty December day.
I agree Elizabeth, this little parable is a real heart warming story that is truly lovely to read.
Lovely analogy Joel of the way we can re-discover our true inner essence and ‘re-close our doors and windows’ by bringing understanding to the reasons we chose to move away from living the fiery truth of who we are.
I love this, it’s a reading gem and it’s so true, so subtle yet so powerful. For anyone wondering what Universal Medicine is about…read this.
Love this Joel, thank you. Made me feel warm just reading it!
What a beautiful hidden gem. What a great way with your words to transcend something people believe is a hard subject to address. Just start by shutting a door.
I love this Joel, very simple and clear to understand – just how an analogy should be.
Joel, I love your unique style, your articles are such a joy to read. Your writing can be read, enjoyed and embraced by all ages, thank you
I remember reading this blog when it was first posted. I didn’t find it again until now, it’s truly gorgeous and warming from inside out. Thank you Joel.
‘There it is… simplicity… the warmth comes from the inside and the cold comes from the outside’ simplicity expressed in all its beauty.
I love it Joel – I first read the blog when it came out and it is a timely reminder reading it again that we all have the Hearth, just do not always choose to feel it and instead focus on the holes and the cold we have allowed in.
I absolutely love this. It is a beautiful reminder of what is always there. Thank you, Joel!
Joel, wow.
I can feel my house with my hearth x
Deeply touching Joel. Your blog made me cry, because I still sometimes forget my heart is there and I miss it. I have enjoyed reading this again and will no doubt come back to it in the future.
Dear Joel, thank you so much, for your tender and loving expression/reflection, it is deeply felt, brought tears to my eyes. A beautiful reminder of the warmth and fire that’s within us all …. feels so gorgeous and yummy.
Love it !
Thank you Joel 🙂
Love this one – put a big smile on my face – really worth reading. 🙂
Hi Joel, Reading this reminded me of a bedtime storey. Thank you.
Yes Abby I felt that too. I really loved it Joel, I felt it was very sweet and profound. It would be a great children’s read too. Thank you.
Joel, I feel my heart smile every time I read this. It really is so lovely. Thankyou for a beautiful gift.
I enjoyed reading. Oooh lovely.
Simply beautiful Joel. Such a joy to read.
Feeling warm and still .
Thank you for sharing!
So cool – in spite of the fiery hearth.
Deeply touching and nourishing, so simple, with not one demand or expectation.
And I agree what an awesome children’s book this would make…
Thank you Joel
A parable for our time Joel. Thank you.
How Beautiful and Cute Joel- …I can imagine this analogy in a story book and you reading it to a group of children. ‘Hearth On’
Oh Joel, this is truly lovely. You have made my heart(h) sing!
Such a joy reading this, I can feel a huge grin on my face and in my heart(h). And Lorraine’s right it would also make an awesome children’s book.
Just Awesome Joel, thank you so much for sharing
I love this Joel thankyou so much . Its simple lovely analogy lets us all feel that gentle inner warmth we all have and that its that warmth that comes from our inside – our inner-heart that we all have and its the cold that we let in from the outside – beautiful .
I love our simple home and it definitely has a heart or two or three even. It is very warm, supportive and very very loving.
Magical story from the heart, thank you Joel. Can you draw too? This would be a lovely children’s book!
Thank you for this hearth warming story Joel, such an enjoyable read and so true…this fire is within us all
You are right Joel – Home is where the heart(h) is.
Thank you Joel, for reminding me to rekindle my fire …..that was so simple and full of beauty and wonder.
Nothing less than AWESOME; Joel, thank you!
Beautiful analogy Joel – it says it all. Great bedtime story
Love the analogy Joel…though you might also have to write a summer version seeing it’s about 30 degrees at the moment here on the Gold Coast.
This is a brilliant analogy, Joel. LOVE it!
The words ‘Keep the home fires burning’ now have a deeper meaning for me.
I am truly warm and at home when I am with my inner hearth/heart.
Here’s to closing the windows, fixing the walls and living life without a jacket. Awesome.
Thanks Joel what a sweet and simply lovely way to express what we all have inside of us.
Oh Joel …. a piece so tender and true that I am reduced to tears …. your expression is nothing short of exquisite. I can’t thank you enough …. this I will read over and over. Thank you
Wow, it’s amazing how simply and clearly you expressed this, I completely understand what you are saying by the way you put this. What a beautyfull expression of love to wake up to this morning…
Thank you Joel
From deep in my heart(h) – thank you
What a simple and beautiful way to describe the true loveliness of who we are.
So lovely Joel – thank you!
Joel
I love how you have shared the way we are with ourselves with a house. Since closing some of own doors and dropping a few layers, my life feels simplier, steady and more loving. So pleased you took the time to share this article.
I agree Sharon, it makes such a difference if we start to work with ourselves, even just starting to close a few windows and holes can make life already so much more simple and enjoyable.
That is so beautiful. Thank you Joel
What a ‘hearth-warming’ analogy – what fun it was to read, thank you
Joel , I love the way you express this …I can feel this
Oh I like this very much Joel…it leaves me feeling so very warmed. What a magnificently warming hearth you have!
How absolutely lovely and nourishing for the soul. Thank you so much Joel.
Joel, This is amazing. I really enjoyed reading this. Thankyou for expressing this in such a unique way.
Beautiful analogy of the esoteric work and the fire inside of us all. What is presented here is the core philosophy of the esoteric that within us we have a warm place to connect to. A warm place called the inner heart that naturally knows how to care for you.
Yes, this core teaching of Universal Medicine is so relevant, that it is all there inside of us as we are already everything we ever need to be.