Create in me a clean heart, O God. Psalm 51:10
Not surprisingly, I have sustaining interest in heart health. Healthy eating, lifestyle changes, and medications have become a lasting part of my daily routine. As we turn our 2014 calendar to the month of February, there is always a resumption of cultural interest involving hearts.
Marcus Borg, in his book The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering A Life of Faith, explores the many metaphors associated with the heart, especially “closed” versus “open” in the Bible. The
Bible also describes the heart as “fat,” “proud,” and “made of stone.” Each metaphor seems to describe a condition, or a way of being that you may have noticed in yourself or in others.
When our hearts are closed, other senses suffer, like sight and hearing. Self-centered hearts neither see nor hear very well.
Closed hearts also can affect the mind. We tend to believe our own deceptions. This is always easier
to recognize in others than in ourselves. But our lack of understanding and a darkened mind result
quickly from a closed heart.
Remember the story of the Exodus? What did God do to Pharaoh’s heart? It was hardened and
Pharaoh refused to set the Hebrews free. Many times Pharaoh can live very well within us, enslaving us to seek only the desires of our own hearts.
Closed hearts lack gratitude. When blessed by success, closed heart persons often feel self-made and entitled; when life seems to be tragic, feelings of bitterness and “being cheated” reign.
Wonder and awe seems to disappear from the world when our hearts are closed.
Closed hearts forget God easily. We lose connection with the source of life and being.
A closed heart almost always seeks exile. Already self-preoccupied and turned inward, it
disconnects from a larger reality.
Closed hearts lack compassion. Often in the Bible, compassion is seen as the ability to feel the
feelings of another at a level lower than one’s head. It is a gut reaction to act in empathy and
respond. A closed heart can be charitable, but it does not feel the suffering of others.
Without compassion, the closed heart is insensitive to injustice.
There is not just one measure of hardness in a heart. Much like the examination of arteries for
blockages, there can be a spectrum of hardness. Severely hard hearts are likely to associated with
violence, brutality, arrogance, and a rapacious, world-devouring greed. The milder forms of these
conditions are judgmentalism, insensitivity, self-centeredness, and even ordinary (and seemingly benign) self-interest.
Throughout a given day, I know I have experienced both open and closed and in between
conditions of the heart. Life can throw so many curve balls and unexpected grief or joy in just a
single afternoon on a random Tuesday.
Perhaps some time of self-examination is needed to evaluate the condition of your spiritual
heart. It may not be as advanced as modern medical cardiology, but in this month of hearts,
maybe a review would help diagnose a spiritual illness from a closed heart condition.
Review your senses. Are you truly seeing and hearing? Do you take the self-talk of yourself at
face value, like an endless feedback loop?
Do you lack gratitude, but excel in entitlement?
Is life just ordinary, with no wonder or awe?
Do you remember God daily?
Have you withdrawn from much of your life?
Do you have trouble seeing the suffering of others around you?
It will take more than Aspirin, beta-blockers, or statins to cure a closed spiritual heart. Some may find relief and treatment in a community of faith like a church, synagogue, or other religious affiliation. Others may find it a study or accountability group.
