Heart and Hearth

Heart and Hearth

Have you ever considered what a heart really is? I’m not talking about the vital organ that sits behind your rib cage, pumping blood throughout your body, keeping your vital organs going, and giving you a pulse.

It’s the other kind of heart we all have. Upon even light consideration one can see the parallels to the physical heart. But how would you describe it? The word I came up with was “essence”, because it is also the center of who we are as an individual. In a recent study group other definitions given were “core”, “life source”, “soul man”, and “center.” Even if someone accuses another of not having a heart, that’s not true. What the accuser is really saying is, your heart is hard or uncaring. But it’s still there.

Isn’t this heart just as important as the muscle pumping in your chest right now? What is one without the other? And just as we can feed our bodies to improve the health of the physical heart, we have to feed the unseen to the human eye heart, too.

Now we get to hearth. This is also a tangible place, the brick floor and the foundation of the fireplace. For centuries the hearth and fireplace were essential to the survival of human beings. It provided protection and nourishment, so much so that hearth now infers where ever it is we find our solace and a refreshing.

The hearth is one of those things that feeds who we are; our core, our essence, our hearts. That can be healthy, or not.

What we read is one of those places we go to feed who we are. Have you ever sat by a fireplace with a fire crackling there, a favorite beverage and a book by your side? So relaxing, such peace and tranquility! But then again, it may depend upon the quality of the fire, what you are reading, and what you are drinking. 

It’s a very good idea to tend carefully to heart and hearth.

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