Matters of the Heart (Including Marriage)
From best-selling Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus (also considered to be “one of the worst songs of all time”) to Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On which was number one in the world in1998, the word heart has found its way into hundreds of song titles. Total Eclipse of the Heart is a 1983 hit that peaked again not long ago when the Sun used the Moon to paint a dark swath across mid-America during it’s total eclipse. (As I write, it’s that event’s 4th anniversary here — to the hour.) One of my favorites with which you’re no doubt not familiar — an oldie — is from the musical Moulin Rouge: Where Is Your Heart saw its first daylight in the 50s. Have you ever tried to define heart as it’s used is in these titles and the likes?
The Dictionaries?
The dictionary says it’s the center of a person’s thoughts and emotions; the center of love, compassion, or loyalty; the seat of emotions, synonymous with affection. The Bible uses this word heart over 1,000 times. In the biblical usage heart denotes: The seat of physical, moral, and spiritual life; the hidden springs of the personal life; the center of our inner person; true character; the hidden person, soul, and personality; seat of desire and will; the most important place in the human system. Because of this central “important place” some translations use the word bowels instead of the word heart in some passages.
Par for the Course
Personally, I don’t think any one word in the paragraph above defines heart for me. Oddly, bowels (yuck) may come the closest. That’s because when my heart is really in something I don’t feel it in my chest; I feel it in my gut. What about you? Would you define it as a feeling? I do, but I think it’s far more than that. This whole vague business is par for the course. What do I mean? Well, some time back I asked several personal trainers what they meant by core strength. My mind still glazes over when I try to remember what they told me. And take electricity. We know where it comes from and its properties. We can produce it, tame it, and use it. But many scientists admit we still can’t define it. And astrophysicists have said for a long time now that we know what gravity does but we still don’t know what gravity is. And light? We’re not sure what it is. Is it particles or waves? Not only are we not certain but this phenomenon gave rise to what’s known in physics as the Uncertainty Principle. And here’s a biggie: The most influential force in the universe has a name but we don’t have a clue as to what it is. The stars and planets and other observables comprise only 5% of the Cosmos. The remaining 95% is a force that, among other things, keeps galaxies from flying apart. This unseen, unexplained, entity is known as dark mass/energy. My point? The most significant things in our lives can also be the least definable. The heart is right up there with the rest. But whatever it is, guard it!
Guard Your Heart…
… with all vigilance above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. Guard your heart — everything you do comes from it. No matter what the translation, Proverbs 4:23 says it clearly. I remember the story of a young woman with whom I was acquainted who learned the hard way to guard her heart. She carelessly gave it away and when she finally got it back it was crushed and broken. So, after hearing a sermon on this verse and wanting to be constantly reminded not to ever let her guard down again, she had the seven digits, Prov. 4:23, tattooed on one of her extremities. I’m not a tattoo fan, but two tattoos are okay with me. They are Prov. 4:23 and a calendar date a friend of mine utilized once — the date he gave his heart to God.
Speaking of God
Even though God made our hearts and he alone is greater than our hearts, he gives us complete autonomy. We are free to do whatever with our hearts. But like a wise road manager he gives warnings and “pointers” for our journey. For instance, if you want to locate your heart, God says it’s located at what you treasure — cherish, hold dear, greatly value — most (Matt.6:21). And if you have a hard heart, he’ll give you a new softer one — if you give him the old one (Ezek.36:26). Oh, and marriage; if one asks God to be the custodian of one’s heart until Mr/Ms right comes along, he’s good at it. Speaking of God and marriage, one time I mixed the two in a sermon. I can’t believe I did it but I started my sermon by singing solo, and I can’t sing. (As you can imagine I had the congregation’s immediate attention!) It was a line from Moulin Rouge: Whenever we kiss I worry and wonder; Your lips may be near but where is your heart? It was a sermon about us “Christians” and perhaps our greatest individual problem — i.e. we can give God lip service, but have we given him our heart. Back to marriage. Sometimes when I see a couple with their telltale rings they’ve given each other, I wonder hopefully, “Has he also given her his heart and she given him hers?”