iThink...thereFore, iAm

I received feedback on my previous post, and I’ve given some thought to what’s written there, hence this second post.

Now I have nothing against logic. I partly envy those of us who “live by the mind”, as John Eldredge puts it, because they are able to take things lightly and get things done efficiently. I value that because I work in research, in engineering and I know how important it is for things to move quickly. And I appreciate logic, without which I would not be where I am, would not be able to churn out these articles! Now I couldn’t possibly leave you guys without contemplative and entertaining reads could I?

(That was my ego speaking. It’s getting a little huge. Sit, boy!)

But I cannot deny that there is a large portion of me that is what I feel, what I sense. This portion is where I often cannot explain, where sometimes it has a life of it’s own - this portion is SO HUGE that often I think that my logical portion is a subset of it. (See I can still be logical - “subsets”!)

John Eldredge writes in “Waking The Dead, that those who live by the mind find those who live by the heart “unstable and emotional”, and those who live by the heart find those who live by the mind simple “unavailable”. For the record, living by the heart doesn’t mean that you let emotions overrun you - I think it can be overwhelming (and believe me, I know) but we don’t have to let it take absolute control of us.

I think I’m one of a few. A bunch of us can exercise fully both the heart and the mind - our struggle is often the balance between the two. “Your mind tells you that it is 2AM and your daughter is not home because the car is not back in the driveway. Your heart [decides] whether it is a cause for worry.” (John Eldredge)

I should quantify that emotions are not the heart. I agree with Eldredge on that - and also that emotions are merely the voice of the heart. It is an expression, no more. And as it is with all expressions, it can be expressed in a proper manner.

I envy those who can live by the mind. But in a way I feel sorry for them, because there’s much that they’re missing out. There is much sorrow, anguish, sadness, pain in the heart - but there is also much joy, much peace, much love!

Those who live by the mind or the heart, may not understand the other. Those who try to marry the two within themselves may find conflict, struggle, and we may grow mentally old very quickly as I find myself being so.

But the heart is crucial to our life. Without it, we have missed much. It is from the heart where we become great people, and from the heart we hear God. The mind is important, but so is the heart. For some of us the heart is often stronger, overwhelming and uncontrollable. Neither needs to fade for us to truly live.

“Use your mind to learn - then use your heart to live what you have learnt and change the way you live.”