Sunday Reflection - The Heart

The heart is often referred to when we talk about our spirit, our soul. It is symbolically considered to be the foundation of our emotions, especially love.

The human heart has four chambers. Deoxygenated blood flows through the heart in one direction, entering through the superior vena cava into the right atrium and is pumped through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle before being pumped out through the pulmonary valve to the pulmonary arteries into the lungs. It returns from the lungs through the pulmonary veins to the left atrium where it is pumped through the mitral valve into the left ventricle before leaving through the aortic valve to the aorta.

 

 

 

So, to my simple mind, tired, depleted blood that needs oxygen comes into the right upper chamber of the heart and from there it is pumped into the lower right chamber. From there our blood is pumped to the lungs where it picks up a new source of oxygen and is pumped back into the left upper chamber. From there it is pumped to the lower left chamber and then out through the main line (aorta) to continue giving life to our bodies.

I know there's a whole lot more to it than that, but that's about as far as my limited understanding will take me.

When Betty and I counsel married couples we often refer to the four parts of the heart, but in a different way.

God designed our hearts so there's a place for him and him alone. The second part of our heart is reserved for our spouse. The third part of our heart is reserved for our children. The fourth part is reserved for everyone else - family, friends and strangers. (Notice there are no parts of our heart that are reserved for work, material things, etc.)

God's part of our heart is where we find life, find our worth. We often try to fill that part of our heart with other things that we believe will give us life, give us worth - work, sex, drugs, money, etc. - but they can't do it. Only God can fill that part of our heart and give us life and worth.

Our spouse's part of our heart is the next most important. Companionship, love (both emotional and physical), support, etc. are meant to come from our spouse. It's important that we don't let children or other family members try to fill that spot.

Our human hearts work best and give us physical life when all four chambers are working properly and in the right order.

That is also true of our spiritual heart. It's important we keep God first, our spouse second, children third and everyone else follows.

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