For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it:
thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psalm 51:16 & 17 The Authorized King James Version
For thus saith the high and lofty One
that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy;
I dwell in the high and holy place,
with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Isaiah 57:15 The Authorized King James VersionTHE HEART
The heart is the seat of our being. This is a biological fact and spiritual truth. Without the heart our biological life ends. Without the heart our spiritual life has no meaning. The heart is the locus of our deepest emotional or spiritual feelings. As such, the heart is more than a metaphor as it has both a physical and spiritual function. The Bible understands both the difference and the connection between the heat and the mind. They are often mentioned together as heart and mind.
The heart is mentioned 884 times in Authorized King James Version of the Bible. The Psalms mention it 130 times followed by Proverbs 82 times, Jeremiah 57 times and Deuteronomy 45 times. In the New Testament, the Synoptic Gospels talk about the heart 53 times and Paul's Epistle to the Romans and his first and second Epistle to the Corinthians mentions it 30 times.
Why does this matter?
Perhaps it doesn't, but I think it interesting that in the Book of Leviticus, for example, the heart is mentioned only 4 times and the Gospel of John only mentions it 6 times. I find it interesting that books of the Bible that don't mention the heart tend to be more legalistic or rigid and ... well ...heartless. It's something to ponder.
The Bible differentiates between the heart and the mind, but usually if the mind is being mentioned, it is done in connection with the heart. Again, there is also a scientific connection between the two as we know that our thoughts and emotions have a direct effect on the heart.
THE BROKEN SPIRIT AND THE CONTRITE HEART
In both Hebrew and Latin the word translated as contrite means to crush or pulverize into powder.
As such, contrition is understood to mean a deep remorse for one's sins, and there are many examples of this meaning in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. I would like to offer another perspective on contrition and it's connection to the heart.
The heart is the body's most active muscle. It's a powerhouse of filling up and squeezing out both physically and spiritually. Metaphorically, the heart can be a hoarder, a place where we store our emotional garbage, never letting go of the things that bother us or attract us in some way for fear that letting go is synonymous with giving in.
A contrite heart is a healthy heart, a heart that is rhythmic, a heart that flows. It's like a wine press that, on an emotional or spiritual level, takes a lot of things in but presses them, sorts them out, and produces a sweet flow that improves with age. This is the kenotic experience, this taking in and emptying out.
The contemplative mind is close to the contrite heart, as the contemplative mind allows for the flow of thoughts without getting stuck on any particular thought. It is similar to the humble spirit that Isaiah mentions. The humble spirit, the deflated the spirit, and the contrite heart, the squeezed out heart, are an open spirit and an open heart.
The humble (deflated) spirit and the contrite (empty) heart are entities that don't hold onto the smallness of selfishness in the form of insisting one is right or justified when one clearly isn't. These open entities are receptive to the love and light of God, as opposed to a conflated, self righteous spirit and a rock solid, concretized heart.
A WAY OF LIVING
When one considers the heart and mind in the light of worship, one begins to realize that worship is being talked about as a way of life or a byproduct of life. The Psalms and the prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, brought this to the forefront of our awareness. Nothing is more vital to and intimate in our lives than our hearts and minds. True worship begins and is accomplished there.
The two active attributes of God - love and light - are connected to the heart and mind. The heart is the seat of love and the mind the receptacle of light. Sacrifice in the sense used by the psalmists and prophets is about opening the heart and the mind to receive the love and light of God - to make way in the desert of our lives a highway for God.
The influx of God's light and love produces a natural outpouring of gratitude and thanksgiving. Kenosis allows us a clear vision that life is an intimate gift of God. It permits one to feel and experience the influx of God's presence which results in an outpouring of one's love in gratitude as a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
The giftedness of life is easily buried by the things of one's life; therefore, the kenotic experience exposes us to our being the unique image of God that each person is.
There is a reason why the prophets and Jesus hold the poor, the sick, the needy, and small children before us. Those that have little and are dependent are also more likely to feel the influx of God's love and light with gratitude than those of us who have much.
When love can only be understood and expressed as a thing - a tangible gift rather than a heartfelt feeling, it is hard to live a life of gratitude and thanksgiving without a daily infusion of things. When things are not given or offered, disappointment and frustration take the place of gratitude and the mind can become filled with the darkness of doubt or the paranoia of certitude, making the heart a repository of anger and fear.
In Christianity, the person of Jesus is presented as the prime example of the kenotic way of life. The kenotic state of Jesus is generally described Christologically, as Christ's divestiture of divine power to become one of us in the person of Jesus. There is another way of looking at Jesus, as the raising of Christ as opposed to the descending of Christ from heaven to Earth.
In my next post, I will take a look at Jesus and kenosis.
Until next time, stay faithful.
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