Open to the Spirit
Today’s word: “Heart”
1) I have always found it fascinating how we connect certain emotions to the organs in our body. We can feel a strong emotion, a feeling of knowing something is right or wrong, in our guts (or as we say in Yiddish, in our kishkes). You can say that someone is “finding their feet” when they are getting used to a new situation, or that something is “all in the head,” when a situation may be a bit unreal. And of course, we can say a frustrating person is a pain in the, well you can fill that one in.
But the heart! The heart seems to be a universal place of holding emotions and love. Beyond the bright red images we use for Valentine’s Day, we somehow see this organ as the place where some of the deepest feelings we can encounter exist. When we say the “heart” of something, this means the core or center. When we say that someone “has heart,” we mean that they are real, true and caring. And of course, when we want to express in the clearest way possible that someone is lacking in the basic core values of empathy and compassion, we can say they don’t have a heart at all.
But I have seen pictures of these actual beating hearts, and they are not something I would want to put in any valentine. More than anything, they are simply a slimy red blob of flesh, and organ that is unbelievably important to our bodies and to life, but that hides in our chests, silently doing the work of pumping life giving blood throughout our bodies. It does its work whether we want it to or not, and unless we are struck by an illness or other medical issue, this powerful organ keeps going non-stop for our entire lives.
In Judaism, we have a term, Lev Tov, a good heart. Someone who has this quality is easy going and kind. They always do their best to help others, but also enjoy seeing others succeed and be happy. One text says that a good heart “includes a soft nature and the ability to act joyfully for the benefit of others.” This quality is not as easy to pin down as others like humility or strength, since it is a way of being that encompasses so many other qualities within it. Someone with a good heart simply wakes up and lives their life with ease, glowing with compassion and hope in all that they do.
It is kind of like the heart itself. This powerful organ silently pumps blood, humbly giving us life while never feeling the need to ever be seen. The best kind of kindness is also strong and quiet, and both need to be part of us to help us stay strong in our journey of life
2) Sometimes when I begin writing a word for our column I look for quotes or common expressions that include it. Here are some quotes for today’s word: : “the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart” “there is nothing more pure and beautiful than a person who always speaks truthfully with a childlike heart”. Here are some common expressions that use the word: have a heart to heart talk, at the heart of the matter, with all your heart, speak from the heart, a change of heart. As you can see, “heart” is a very well used word. And we have even talked about anatomy classes.
The best source for me is often, however, a Bible quote. The one that spoke to me most comes from the book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Scriptures. This is a promise from God, “I will put a new spirit within you. I will take out you heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” I think that is what Jesus did in so many Bible stories. People like Nicodemus, the priest who only came to see Jesus at night for fear of being seen, became the one who donated a grave site to the disciples after the crucifixion. Mary Magdalene opened her heart to Jesus’ teachings and became a great witness to his love for the world. Zaccheus was a tax collector for the Romans who donated so much money to help people after a dinner conversation with Jesus. Saul persecuted the early Christians with vengeance until he had a change of heart and devoted the rest of his life to living the way Jesus taught, after changing his name to Paul.
In my life I have many stories of people I know who went from apathy to empathy, and began caring for people in need, and not just themselves. There are people who donate to helpful causes volunteer their time in the service of others. I would like to think that I sometimes helped in this process. Many have had hearts of stone changed to hearts that care for others.
Our current world needs this process so much. There is so much hate, which leads to racism and war. There are wealthy people who do almost anything to avoid paying taxes to help the poor. Some will love their neighbour, as long as the neighbour shares their identity and ideas.
Let’s help God fulfill his promise. “I will put a new spirit within you. I will take out your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
3) So much has been written about the mind/heart connection, or the disconnect we may experience between what we perceive to be these two functions of human being. The poet says: “It is only with the heart that one sees rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” ~ Antoine de Saint-exupery.
Yet we live within a culture shaped largely by the Enlightenment philosopher: “I think, therefore I am.” ~ Rene Descartes. The author of the Little Prince washighlighting a cultural imbalance. If we seem to be more head than heart oriented in ourculture, it has a lot to do with how we’re trained from little on.
The debate between mind and heart seems to me a false dichotomy. Aren’t we both? And isn’t our separation of the two a mental construct that has shaped our entire educational system, from preschool to the post-doctoral level?
Back in the 1980’s my teacher training was dominated by the right brain/left brain debate about lesson planning. This was a huge concern in classrooms, school board meetings, informing funding structures and political policy decisions. On the conservative side, some held that education’s primary goal was to dispense knowledge. The practical goal was to impart enough useful information to develop responsible citizens and ensure future success in the job market. Which was challenging at the least because the market kept changing. Back in the day, I sat in on a few school board meetings representing the need for preserving the humanities in curriculum planning, because they were always the first to be cut when funds were short.
In such settings I usually made the passionate plea that we must be teaching the whole person, integrating mind and heart, teaching character development, creativity and wisdom to help shape the future leaders of our world. I’ll never forget when one day I’d finished my heartfelt (yes!) plea, when one adamant member summarily dismissed my presentation with the dictum: “First we need to plant and water the tree; only then can we begin adding the fancy ornaments.” We were speaking of slashing arts and music as electives, already served as leftovers only if a student had room for extras in their studies.
Fortunate for me, after some teaching in the public system, I took a job directing a writing program in the schools for a local community arts agency. A niche in the job market for which, by the way, my arts and writing courses had indeed prepared me! Doing some volunteer work in the churches, I eventually sequed into a career as a certified religious educator. Able to design curricula and oversee programs whose goal was to teach the heart.
And I’d add, integrate body, mind, heart and spirit ~ and whatever else makes up a total human being.
Alas, we’re still stuck in the Enlightenment groove of having set up the heart and mind as oppositional choices. Yet never more had it been clearer that we need both heart and mind. Let’s add in spirit and everything in between to survive and become more wholly compassionately human. These days I watch from the sidelines, hoping for the day when, in our socalled advanced technological age, we catch up and remember to see the world more rightly through the eyes of the heart. Friends, let’s be of good heart and do what we can to help make that day come.
One word ‘heart” and three voices.
Enjoy
Rev. Mead Baldwin pastors the Waterville and North Hatley Pastoral Charge; Rabbi Boris Dolin leads the Congregation Dorshei Emet in Montreal; Rev. Carole Martignacco, Unitarian Universalist is retired from ministry with Uuestrie and now resides in St-andrew’s-by-the-sea , but keeps one foot in the Townships by contributing to this column.