Heart of Hearts

Heart of Hearts

I’ve heard the phrase used, and used it myself: heart of hearts. I supposed it meant, deep down. This is what I seriously think, or deeply love, in my heart of hearts. 

The phrase (or something quite similar) seems to have been first used by Shakespeare in Hamlet, a book, and an author I never read. We had no serious literature in my high school (which is a poor excuse), and though I read a lot of history in college, not a lot of literature. I’ve been drawn to a few significant authors since, but never Shakespeare. I think maybe I should read Hamlet.

I don’t really know the story, and I’m not sure it matters. When I think of “heart of hearts,” I tend to think a little more theologically rather than in terms of literature. Now to be sure, two people can think about something theologically and come up with very different views. But hear me out.

I am thinking about Mary, who would be the mother of Jesus, and the strange appearance of the angel who informed her of what would soon happen. She would conceive a child by way of the operation of the Holy Spirit. This was not a suggestion. It seems not to have been an invitation or a proposal. It was a statement: this is what will be.

And yet, as we read the text in Luke, Mary says the following at the end of the conversation with the angel: “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). She consents to what God has ordained. And so now I ask a sticky question: did she operate according to her free will?

This is where my own definition (not Shakespeare’s) to the phrase “heart of hearts” comes in. Mary willingly assented to the plan of God that would seriously upend her life because her heart was in His hand. God had taken Mary’s heart in hand and had prepared her for a very special life of service, unbeknownst to her ahead of time, and when your heart is in God’s hand, you can’t say no. Yet she herself assented personally and freely, though she could do no other. 

Oh, I believe that there are many cases where people in fact have said “no” to God. I have to admit that I have done so myself, though I would prefer to speak of Biblical examples, like Jonah. Perhaps most of life is filled with these examples of being able to take a right turn or a left, to follow God’s will or, our own. But then there are these critical moments, in our own lives, or in Mary’s, or perhaps also Moses’ experience.

As Moses stood at the burning bush and was commissioned to represent the people of Israel before Pharaoh, the supreme leader of Egypt, and perhaps the most powerful man in the world at the time, he was dead to rights. Oh, he tried to says “No,” more than once; in fact, many times. But God would not have it. You will lead my people. Moses embraced the calling. It seems he could do no other. His life was in the hand of God, and the heart of God had mastered his own heart, even though Moses’ heart desperately sought to avoid what he knew would be a very difficult, seemingly impossible situation.

I have more thoughts about this, but the perfect picture is that of Jesus, whose heart was in the heart of the Father, and at each step, He fully agreed and fully consented to do the will of the Father, even at great cost to Himself. Jesus could have done no other. And if that is true of Jesus, why would that not be true of you?

Big Brains and Bad Hearts

Big Brains and Bad Hearts

Big brains and good hearts: they do not necessarily go together.

I’m thinking here about the human brain, that neurological organ that is studied and continues to amaze. What are the limits of the human brain? And the heart? I am not thinking of the heart studied in cardiology. I am thinking rather of the Biblical heart, from which flow the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

By “big brain,” I mean smart people. They are people who use their brains to remember and to synthesize and to figure things out. They have a hunger to learn, and they want to know how things work. They want to be able to do what others do, whether to learn the art of juggling, or to design tall buildings. We know that the brain can develop strengths in many different directions, and that it can be a powerful tool. Oh, and it was created by God in man and woman, and it has served them well, though not as well as we would have liked.

A “good heart” is a bit of a puzzle. This is the heart that the surgeons cannot find when they open your chest. It is the center of your being, and is immaterial. Your heart is the real “you.” It shapes how you think and how you act and react. Your spiritual heart causes you to see yourself in a certain way, and to see the world in a certain way. Your most noble thoughts and actions arise from your heart. So do those thoughts and attitudes and words and actions over which you are most ashamed (or, should be)

Would it make sense that those with the biggest brains would also have the best hearts? It is a pleasant fantasy, and yet it is not necessarily so. There are brilliant people who have very dark hearts. There are very simple people who seem to have hearts that are unusually sincere and pure. Neither does it work in reverse. A person with a good heart does not immediately become “brainy.”

In redemption, that plan of God to bring about the recovery of this fallen world, and humans in particular, – where does God begin? Does He begin with the brain, or the heart? You may know the answer, and yes, it is the heart. In theology, it is called regeneration,and Jeremiah and Ezekiel describe this “heart change” in metaphorical terms (since, after all, we are speaking of things spiritual, not physical). Jesus describes it as being born from above, or being born again. But it doesn’t start with the brain. It starts with God’s attention to our heart.

So once the heart is cured, why does it not spread to the brain? Oh, it will, in measure, over time, if one follows the Word and the Spirit. But these brains of ours are going to be distorted to one degree or another until the renewal of all things, when Jesus comes again. In fact, the more we depend on our brains without coming to terms with their deficiencies, the more likely we will be given over to pride and a kind of certitude that refuses to admit that one is wrong.

Well, at least we have whole hearts, right? No, even there we find that our hearts are “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” Our hearts are gradually being discipled even as we remain anchored to Jesus, seeking to learn from Him, in dependence upon the Word and the Spirit. Welcome to life in a fallen world. Big Brains. Bad Hearts. And a few who are on the road to restoration.