heart

 

heart

The inmost center of one’s mind or oneself. It does not, in the Course’s usage, have connotations of feeling as opposed to thinking. In the Course, “heart” and “mind” are always paralleled and never contrasted (e.g., “[L]ove cannot be far behind a grateful heart and thankful mind”— CE M-23.4:6).

  1. Most references refer to the innermost center of one’s separated mind, the place that contains our most central thoughts and feelings. It contains what we really think, feel, desire, and value, as opposed to what we like to believe or say we do; these self-deceptions do not enter into our heart. Thus, the “prayer of the heart” asks for what we really want (even if what we want is things of the world), as opposed to what we claim we want. (“What do you ask for in your heart? Forget the words you use”—CE W-185.8:2-3.) The heart is also where we carry the real experiential effects of believing in the ego. As a result, our heart tends to be tired, heavy, hard, and uncertain. Our heart holds hatred within it, feels terror striking at it, and feels the mark of death upon it. Yet the goal is for it to be transformed. We need to lay different thoughts on our heart, hold different goals to it. We need to become pure in heart, kind in heart. We need to open our heart to God and let Him come rushing in. Then, our heart can be renewed. It can be glad, thankful, at peace. Peace can shine out from it and onto others. It can be stirred, can sing, and be lifted up, and will finally leap into Heaven.
  2. Underneath this changeable heart is what you might call our true heart, which has never changed since God created us. And so the peace of God still abides in this heart. The Word of God is written on this heart. And God Himself dwells within it.
  3. Finally, the Heart of God is the inmost center of God. This is what we will enter into and disappear in when we awake. This is where we truly are now. This implies that, rather than being peripheral to God, we are at His very Center, in His very Heart.