Editorial February 11, 1991 Issue

Healing the heart

Elaine Natale

"Heartbroken." "Fainthearted." "Heartsick." Common figures of speech that not only describe painful emotions but hint also at physical vulnerabilities. If the world is making us ache, we may understand the depth of the Psalmist's call to God for help: "The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses."

The language may not sound modern, but the human yearning for support sounds very familiar. Yet sometimes people suppose that God, Spirit, is vague and faraway and hasn't a whole lot to do with what we're facing. When we write God off, our view of ourselves tends to become dim and limited. We find we're evaluating ourselves as just so much matter forming a certain physique that isn't what we think it should be. Matter seems to make up everything, claiming our very life is dependent on it in various forms.

This commonly held view may suggest that our support must come through some form of matter like a drug. Or suggest that we're afraid we can't be safe unless we have the physical presence of a person with us. When we forget about God, we wonder if what we need is worn-out or will be taken away or just never was there to begin with.

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Thanks, Miss Woodson