Living from the Heart
"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.:
Proverbs 4:23
Primitive people attributed great significance to the heart, so much so that many ancient tribes ate the hearts of animals they killed. By doing so, they believed they would accrue the courage, strength and bravery of their prey.
To the ancient Hebrews, the heart was where wisdom resided, understanding. The heart included the emotional life as well as being central to the physical life. And when the Hebrew scriptures reference the heart, it could be speaking of an individual’s heart or the collective mind-set of the Hebrew people. The Lord told Samuel, when he sent him to anoint a new king to replace Saul, that God “looks on the heart” of each person (1 Samuel 16:7b). Earlier in our faith narrative, Moses charged the people to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) Later, knowing their inability to allow the law to transform their hearts and lives, Moses urged them, “Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer.” (Deuteronomy 10:16) The heart was more than a mere organ of the body for them. It was how they could enter into relationship with God’s very self.
It is from this context that Jesus taught the crowd in Mark 7:21 that it is the human heart that separates us from God: “It is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come…” Jesus was less worried by what pious acts people may perform. He wanted them to circumcise their hearts and draw near to God.
I don’t know about you, but try as I might, I have been unable to perform a self-heart circumcision, but I recently came across advice from 17th century English priest and poet, George Herbert, which might help. Herbert suggests we “dip and season all our words and sentences in our hearts before they come into our mouths, truly affecting and cordially expressing all that we say; so that [listeners] may plainly perceive that every word is heart-deep.”[1]
Maybe we should try dipping and seasoning our words in the love of God within our hearts before we ever say anything…
[1] George Herbert, The Country Parson, as quoted with minor revisions in Gail Godwin, Heart: A Natural History of the Heart-Filled Life (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001), 241.
