Exercising the Heart

Perhaps it’s not so hard for you, but some of us will need some extra time and effort regaining our connection to the sensory heart. It may also be a matter of learning to engage your heart in areas of life you hadn’t previously tried. I conducted a simple exercise; the consequences for failure of any kind would have been insignificant.

I enjoy tramping in the woods a great deal. Once section of wooded acreage near me was closed off a few years ago by armed hunters taking offense at my presence. It was a legal hunting lease. But there was another section just as easy to reach and I knew for certain there would be no legal hunting there. About the only thing I encounter there is the deer chased out of the hunting lease; deer aren’t that stupid. It’s the undeveloped portion of a very large housing development tract. After a decade they’ve used less than 20% of the property. The rest is not pure wilderness, but a regrowth from previous agricultural use. (Keep in mind that Central Oklahoma is experiencing an explosive growth of tree coverage in just the past few decades; this used to be mostly open grasslands.) You still find evidence of human habitation, but it’s decades old, such as crumbling concrete chunks poking out of the soil around the roots of trees. I’ve spoken to the owners and they really don’t care as long as I don’t disturb the homeowners or mess up their development plans. They’ll pretend not to know so they can avoid any kind of liability for me.

This is the right time of the year, since the predators and insects are quiescent. All I have to worry about is the chaotic growth of underbrush. The essential goal was wandering through this mess and surveying the terrain in an area where I really can’t get lost, though I could get disoriented to some degree because of the heavy cloud cover and canopy effect of the trees. Along the way, I’d like to prevent getting too scratched up by the likes of the numerous thorny vines and blackberry bushes, or otherwise injured. This is my Father’s world and He speaks in and through His creation. These aren’t like the trees in my yard that have actually adopted me, but still creatures of my Father’s hand. They don’t know me and aren’t likely to communicate much, if all, but my heart would still know something about this world on the level of cosmic moral balance. So while the woodlands might not help me, they also won’t hinder me or harm me. The Curse has been ameliorated in my life, and nature recognizes that.

No, I didn’t end up where I wanted. The woods won’t direct me in that manner, in part because there was no imperative from my Father to do so. I was wandering. I could have had GPS if it was absolutely necessary, but that wasn’t the objective. The whole point was exercising my mind’s subjection to my heart. Thus, whichever direction I wanted to go, my heart would help me find a route that was least difficult. I took the time to wait for my eyes to see a route. My heart knew what was morally necessary and offered nothing more. The rest was up to my mind. Just learning that kind of balance is a major personal victory. Our minds can dream up all sorts of things we really must have to satisfy logic and lust, but the heart independently decides what really matters before God.

So I did notice a lot of beauty and rejoiced in the worship offered by the land itself. The marks of human occupation were not an intrusion, but nature had simply adapted and continued doing what it always did. Different types of reshaping in the land resulted in varying opportunities for regrowth of this or that foliage. By letting my heart lead, my conscious mind was quite entertained by what I saw. At some point, it was time to come out of the woods, regardless which direction. I ended up near a clearing along the fence. With a bit of patience, I recognized a place where the structure of the fence could bear my weight and I could climb over without damage or risk to myself. Trudging home along the road, I realized this was the first time I had plowed through so much foliage with no injuries or torn clothing. Not so much as a thorn scratch on my hide.

My heart rejoiced and my mind sang along. This sort of thing is highly addictive once you try it. Not the tramping through the woods; I’ve always done that and would naturally continue so long as my limbs and awareness could work together and make it happen. But putting the heart in charge of the things it knew best made it a worship experience.