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On our best days, we like to think of the heart as the repository for our love and affection. It connects us to others, and as it deepens in quality, it builds relationships. Our heart swells when we fall in love, and that love fills our souls. The more we love in healthy connections, the happier we are and the more we have to offer to the people around us.
Unfortunately, the heart can also be a haven for darkness and evil. Instead of nurturing love, there are those who feed hatred and violence. Their souls are filled with resentment and the need to punish those whom they feel have deprived them of meaningful lives. And often a purposeful life is only acquired through the destruction of those they hate. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says:
The greatest weapon of mass destruction is the human heart.
As we follow the war between the Israelis and Hamas, it is difficult for many of us to imagine hating so deeply that human life is regarded as worthless; that killing babies will contribute to a person’s path to heaven; that beating and shooting others who do not practice their faith will please their G-d. And yet they seem to thrive on meeting their goals and cannot be deterred until they reach them.
Still, I personally choose to foster love to those around me.
May my heart be a haven for good, not evil.
Discussion (19)
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So true.
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So glad to know that another of us feels the same way.
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Susan, just from your writing, your heart clearly seems like a haven for good, not evil.
In these times, for our hearts to remain a haven for good we must be determined to fight a war to victory over the forces of evil. Our love demands that those who are consumed by a hate that motivates unspeakable acts must be destroyed. Love does not ask someone to live next to genocidal maniacs.
Weak men have certainly made hard times. I'm praying for the victory of strong men so good times may return. To get there, however, we will have to go through some dark days and that's when keeping our hearts a haven for love will be a challenge. Clinging to God is our only hope to prevail.
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One of the great recurring themes of the account of king David is the condition of the heart. One can read through the books of 1 & 2 Samuel and find references to the heart all through them. David is described as the man after, or according to, God's heart. When evil is done, some are advised (wrongly in most cases) to not take it to heart. Absalom, it is said, stole the hearts of the men of Israel in his insurrection against his father, king David.
There are many more references to the heart in Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Deuteronomy. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 4:23:
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
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What a beautiful comment, St. C. And you bring tears to my eyes with your opening kind words. We also must support each other when the evil forces threaten us, when we feel discouraged, and that's one reason I'm on Rico. Thanks so much.
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