The small organ that contains worlds
The heart itself is only a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and lions; there are poisonous beasts and all the treasures of evil; there are rough and uneven roads, there are precipices. But there, also, are God and the angels; life is there, and the Kingdom; there, too, is light, and there the apostles, and heavenly cities, and treasures of grace. All things lie within that little space. St. Makarios of Egypt (4th century)
The human heart, what an unfathomable mystery. There is the organ that can be diagnosed with electrocardiograms, the heart that can be transplanted from one human to another. But the ‘heart’ that Makarios speaks of is the heart the Bible speaks of – the inner essence of a person, the deepest mystery that makes us human one minute and inhuman the next. And that’s the paradox that Makarios paints in this quote. Everything – good and bad – that we are capable of, and everything that God is able to fill our lives with, is contained in “that little space”. Little if you think of the beating organ that keeps us alive; but infinitely large and deep if you think in spiritual terms rather than anatomical. That small organ contains worlds.
This time of coronavirus pandemic that we are living through is a time of testing for our hearts and a time that reveals where our treasure lies. For, as the Lord Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). I think this crisis, for all the devastation that it is causing throughout our nation and around the world in every nation, is also revealing untapped treasures in the hearts of many.
It is so easy to spend our lives in selfish pursuits and rarely think of others. But the coronavirus has made many people softer, more open-hearted. People are smiling more. There are fewer reasons to rush from one obligation to another. People are showing greater interest and concern for others. People are checking on each other to make sure all is well. I have spoken with some of our parishioners who have small businesses and I can’t tell you how much I feel their pain and fears for the future. More prayers are rising to heaven than perhaps at any other time since the Second World War. We pray for those on the frontlines of this crisis – especially nurses and doctors and everyone keeping our healthcare facilities functioning.
Our hearts have grown larger during this crisis. We find room in our hearts for more people, even people with whom we don’t have contact. And that’s a beautiful thing. Let’s do what we can to help someone whose heart is breaking. Emily Dickinson said it most memorably: “If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.” Let’s every one of us desire to stop one heart from breaking during this pandemic. Let the “treasures of grace” fill our hearts. And only treasures of grace that come from the storehouses of God’s infinite love will smooth over those rough places in our hearts that Makarios speaks of. Let’s be people of heart; a community of heart. May God’s love and grace lift your heart every day.
