The Head and the Heart

If opposites do indeed attract, then God knew what God was doing when God gave us both a head and a heart. Sometimes I think they don’t communicate at all with each other, and when they do they are constantly fighting- the head telling the heart to catch up, walk a little faster, the heart telling the head to slow down a little bit and enjoy the ride. The head often seems to know where the heart should go long before the heart wants to listen. And the heart seems to remind the head that it is more about the journey than the destination. The heart seems to be at times the stubborn child who doesn’t want to leave the playground and the head the frustrated parent that has to drag her out kicking and screaming. The heart reminds us that life is not a life worth living without passion, joy, reckless abandon, abundant laughter. And the head reminds us that there can be beauty in order and sense- that the complexity and depth of science and knowledge can make you stand in awe at God’s presence, even as you stand in awe at God’s presence when you see a sunset, a newborn baby, or realize you have fallen in love. 

The heart urges us to take risks, fall down, get up again, hope against all hope. The head teaches us lessons and helps us to grow and mature and change so that we can be directed to new heart experiences, stop repeating the same mistakes over and over again and make sense out of the jumbled mess of emotions that our heart sometimes leaves us with. The head reminds us that there is healing in allowing yourself to be vulnerable with others- that we are all wounded healers. The heart tells the head it is crazy and that it would rather keep its deep dark secrets to itself, thank you very much. The head reminds us that we have nothing to fear when God calls us beyond ourselves, and all we want to do is run and hide. The heart reminds of what it means to be fragile, human, broken and spent for the sake of loving others. The head reminds us in the depth of our pain and despair that resurrection exists and some things have to die for others to be born. Some things have to be let go of for other things to be grasped onto. The heart reminds us that we are stronger than we ever like to give ourselves credit and the head reminds us that every time our hear breaks, if we allow it, God will help us piece it back together in a way that makes it a little stronger, a little wiser, and a little bit more able to love. 

Life is about the constant struggle between our heads and our hearts. There are the rare moments when they occupy the same sphere and sit quietly together, the heart having finally caught up to the head and the head finally content to just sit and be. And these moments are to be enjoyed because they are rare indeed. The majority of the time we are left to wonder who is going to win on the battlefield of our souls, frustrated at our hearts taking their own sweet time to heal, yet grateful that our heads can (sometimes) shine a light on the path in front of us and guide us in the direction we know we should go. May we continually live life in the balancing act of our heads and our hearts, knowing that this paradox, this tension, this pull, is part of the very image in which we were created....

Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows -- then let your heart say in silence, "God rests in reason."

And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky, -- then let your heart say in awe, "God moves in passion."

And since you are a breath in God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion. 

The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran