by John Eldridge
The mind takes in and processes information. But it remains, for the most part, indifferent. It is your mind that tells you it is now 2:00 A.M. and your daughter has not returned, for the car is not in the driveway. Your heart wrestles with whether or not this is cause for worry. The heart lives in the far more bloody and magnificent realities of living and dying and loving and hating. That’s why those who live from their minds are detached from life. Things don’t seem to touch them very much; they puzzle at the way others are so affected by life, and they conclude others are emotional and unstable. Meanwhile, those who live from the heart find those who live from the mind . . . unavailable. Yes, they are physically present. So is your computer. This is the sorrow of many marriages, and the number one disappointment of children who feel entirely missed or misunderstood by their parents.
Yes, the heart is the source of our emotions. But we have equated the heart with,/i> emotion, and put it away for a messy and even dangerous guide. No doubt, many people have made a wreck of their lives by following an emotion without stopping to consider whether it was a good idea to do so. Neither adultery nor murder is a rational act. But equating the heart with emotion is the same nonsense as saying that love is a feeling. Surely, we know that love is more than feeling loving; for if Christ had followed his emotions, he would not have gone to the cross for us. Like any man would have been, he was afraid; in fact, he knew that the sins of the world would be laid upon him, and so he had even greater cause for hesitation (Mark 14:32–35). But in the hour of his greatest trial, his love overcame his fear of what loving would cost him.
Emotions are the voice of the heart, to borrow Chip Dodd’s phrase. Not the heart, but its voice.
(Waking the Dead , 41-42)
Monday, July 2, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
I had a hard time following the point of this blog. What I am understanding is that the heart is a mussel that pumps the life blood through the body and should not be confused with emotions.
This is a hard one as it was stated we often use the terms “from the heart” and emotions interchangeably. But is this true? If I am understanding correctly, from the heart is something that you have a passion about. It is something that may evoke an emotion but most certainly will evoke an action. Your first action should be prayer. You should pray about it and listen for Gods response. Next you should have a plan of action. Take the time to think about how God is leading and how you are going to act on your passion. And then engage your passion with the positive prayer and plan of action.
Wow! Makes you think! Christ Jesus prayed about his passion (us) before he showed his love (action) for us and let himself be pinned to a cross for our sins.
Rob
Post a Comment