What do the sun, the earth and our hearts have in common? All three sustain life, all three are on fire and all three are taken for granted. We take for granted that this massive ball of fire we call the sun is going to show up tomorrow and make life possible. The same holds true for this planet we call home. The core of our earth is 2000 degrees hotter than the surface of the sun and without the intense forces at work in that liquid fire deep under our feet the surface of this planet would resemble cold dead Mars. We take this for granted as well and that’s o.k. because there is another fire that should be commanding all of our attention – a spiritual fire, deep in the core our or hearts.
All of us are instinctively aware of the centrality of the heart in our every experience. To the word heart we add descriptive words like hard heart and tender heart; light and heavy hearted; heart felt; heart sick; brave hearted and faint of heart. I could list dozens of examples. These words and our thoughts about them are so common they’ve lost their deeper impact; at least they had for me, until one day I read these simple life changing words, “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:26
Is our heart really the wellspring of who we are? As I thought about it, I realized I had always sub-consciously believed that. As I studied, I was surprised to discover the word “heart” was used almost 1000 times in the Bible alone. We sing songs, write poems and make movies about the heart. All peoples, of every nation, in every age, have spoken of a deep mystery somewhere in the core of our being. It’s what we mean when we say “our heart of hearts”. When someone says, “from the bottom of my heart”, they are speaking of a deeper spiritual whole-heartedness. We use words like shallow and lukewarm to describe half-heartedness. Phrases like heart-strings, my heart’s desire, and the cry of my heart, refer to a deeper, far more passionate reality. They speak of FIRE.
You’ve heard the expression “fire in their eye”. Eyes don’t burn – hearts do. It’s from the fire that a mother stands over her child and dares a dangerous world to take one step closer. It’s from the fire that you and I stand beside her when the world finally overwhelms her. It’s from that same fire that a kid at school stands up, regardless of the cost, and defends someone against cowardly gossip and bullying. Soldiers run through bullets to help a fallen buddy, not because it’s the brave thing to do, but because of honor and love for their brother, and that medal of honor is forged deep in the white hot flame of their hearts. It’s only in that flame that our wounded hearts melt and we forgive; completely; in a deeper, self-sacrificial love.
It’s also from the fire that a three minute song can unexpectedly break through our busyness or moodiness to move us so deeply. It’s only from the fire that we experience the wonder and the awe of stunning sunrises, sunsets, hummingbirds and butterflies. Cinderella stories in March Madness aren’t about basketball skills, they are about heart. The Arts aren’t about performance – they are about fire!
It always amazes me that I can walk into a theatre and watch a short 2 ½ hour movie that moves me so deeply. There in the darkness, I experience a seismic shift that breaks open the upper crust of my hurry, worry or my self-centered, shallow pettiness, to glimpse something burning deeper; so real; so raw and fierce it takes my breath away.
It also saddens me that in a few short hours or days afterwards that crust closes back over; back to the “real” world. But I can’t forget that fire. I refuse to forget, because I know it’s down there, like a constant flame; a beautiful haunting heartache. It’s a fierce whisper calling me to something far more real than this cheap everydayness I so often settle for. That fire is a promise of hope and glory in a world filled with pain, suffering and so much shame, fear and guilt. It’s from those depths I hear the promise that I will discover ever more deeply all that’s worth living and dying for.
My next post will be part 2 of a systematic, deeper exploration of the 4 levels of our heart. I’ve come to believe we don’t know ourselves nearly as well as we think, and deeper, richer wisdom is worth searching and fighting for. It’s a game changer and I’ll spend the rest of my days in a relentless pursuit of that wisdom – whether I live one day or 30 more years. That’s a life well lived
