Opening by Closing

"The mind has a thousand eyes; the heart, but one." - poet Bouillon

Here's the heart of the issue:

There are some vital questions missing from the health assessments of our hearts.

It's not just about what the stethoscope is registering.

It's a bit beyond mere blood-flow or the rhythm irregularities discovered by an EKG.

Someone needs to ask us about the heart...

is it closed or open?

Are we curious about opening our hearts, and if so, how open-hearted we are?

How open-hearted we are becoming?

Because if true health is about what heals us and makes us whole, someone needs to inquire.

And if true health allows us to be wholly/holy ourselves in our created being, someone needs to ask:

How often do you close off the noise of the world and retreat in silence?

How often do you close to the noise of the mind and open the heart?

How often do you engage in meditation and silent prayer?

Or...do you?

Benignus O'Rourke explains: "In silent prayer, the eyes of the mind are closed to allow the eye of the heart to open. To see only with the eyes of the mind is to be misled by our prejudices, our fears, our anxieties. To see with the eye of the heart is to see clearly."

Without closing to the constant input around us, we are perpetuating heart dis-ease.

"For once the eye of the heart is opened, then we see God. And beauty. And the wonder of the world. But first of all, we begin to see our true selves." -O'Rourke

Without first closing, we promote a blindness;

we predict a deficiency, a disability: the eye of the heart cannot open.

It seems that young children are the best at living heart-wide-open:

we can't help but smile when we see them examining a dandelion with wonder, or waving enthusiastically to passers-by, or unapologetically strutting in a favorite costume (or in their own skin). They seem so full of potential and promise; they seem so content to "march to the beat of their own drums."

But it's hard to hear one's own internal heart and God-given rhythm when other noises compete.

Or overpower.

Or negate.

Or mock.

Or disrupt.

How can we (as these very children) remember who we are?

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8

How can we remember Whose we are?

I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24:7

How do we re-story the unhelpful words or stories we've been told?

"Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 1:3

Ultimately...how do we re-make ourselves into the creation that God intends, i.e. that "Christ will make His home in our hearts as we trust in Him?" Ephesians 3:17

For this is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

Quietness is key.

Rest is required.

Trusting and tuning-in, the attunement to God within us, opens the heart.

And prayer? Prepare to be amazed:

"Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God's infinite grace and power. All that God is, and all that God has, is at the disposal of prayer. Prayer can do anything that God can do, and God can do anything."

- R.A. Torrey.

Quiet prayer might be structured, perhaps through the acronyms of "P.R.A.Y." - Praise, Repent, Ask & Yield.

Or it may involve "A.C.T.S." - Adore, Confess, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

Silent prayer might be simply listening.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was once asked: "When you pray, what do you say to God?"

She said, "I don't say anything. I listen."

Then she was asked, "All right; what does God say to you?"

She said: "God doesn't say anything. God listens."

Quiet prayer might be waiting in silence.

And silent prayer might be getting creative about finding ways to wait in the quiet:

Sitting in a quiet closet?

Contemplating in a parked car?

Rising earlier than the noise of the neighborhood to observe nature?

If it isn't yet a part of our health and our healing,

will we offer a few minutes of silent prayer each morning?

If it's not yet a method of reconnecting to the rhythm of the heart of the Creator,

will we commit to a routine of simply being silent in the presence of Love?

We can trust that any and all of our small gestures to know and love the Giver

delight God to no end...

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

How beautiful that our Lord is waiting on us...

waiting for a quiet moment,

waiting for us to silence our distractions,

waiting for our attention...

to simply give us the gift of Himself.