I’m including a couple of shots from Miracle Hill out at Draper Lake, just for fun.
One of my readers told me a relative got a heart transplant. How does that affect my teaching about the heart-led way, and about the heart as a sensory organ? My answers aren’t authoritative, but they are mine.
It was two questions, and rightly so. Scripture uses the heart as a metaphor for the will, the sense of conviction and commitment. Your spiritual “heart” does not have a physical locus, just as your conscious “mind” isn’t restricted to your brain. If your flesh dies, those things continue on in a non-flesh presence somewhere else.
The heart as a sensory organ is based on having an organ that works. As long as your body doesn’t reject the heart, it should work the same as before. That includes the sensory functions, and the means to process the sensory input. It’s all inherent in God’s design.
By the same token, there is a high probability that the recipient of a replacement heart will pick up on some elements of the donor’s experiences. Some of the donor’s bonds of commitment may live on in a recipient who is sensitive to such things. Some elements of how we experience commitment do reside the neurons, somewhat as a beaten path. This whole thing has fuzzy edges, so don’t be surprised when people who receive heart transplants have a change in their outlook on life.
Interesting that last remark of yours. I never really about that but to me, it makes perfect sense.
Yeah, that sort of thing could be hard to quantify, even for the recipient themselves. After a heart transplant, your life would change anyways. Who knows how many multiple causes of that there could be?