Only with the Heart

Some of you may have heard that the heart is a more powerful organ than previously thought. In recent years, scientific research has been conducted to illustrate this point. Here is an excerpt from a scientific paper from the Royal Society of Psychologists in the UK. Full paper here.

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The brain in the heart:

After extensive research, Armour (1994) introduced the concept of functional ‘heart brain’. His work revealed that the heart has a complex intrinsic nervous system that is sufficiently sophisticated to qualify as a ‘little brain’ in its own right. The heart’s brain is an intricate network of several types of neurons, neurotransmitters, proteins and support cells similar to those found in the brain proper. Its elaborate circuitry enables it to act independently of the cranial brain – to learn, remember, and even feel and sense. The heart’s nervous system contains around 40,000 neurons, called sensory neurites (Armour, 1991). Information from the heart – including feeling sensations – is sent to the brain through several afferents. These afferent nerve pathways enter the brain at the area of the medulla, and cascade up into the higher centres of the brain, where they may influence perception, decision making and other cognitive processes (Armour, 2004). Thus, it was revealed that the heart has its own intrinsic nervous system that operates and processes information independently of the brain or nervous system. This is what allows a heart transplant to work. Normally, the heart communicates with the brain via nerve fibres running through the vagus nerve and the spinal column. In a heart transplant, these nerve connections do not reconnect for an extended period of time; in the meantime, the transplanted heart is able to function in its new host only through the capacity of its intact, intrinsic nervous system (Murphy, et al, 2000)

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Now that you are up to speed from a scientific perspective, we have intuitively known this for centuries. We often describe a person by what is in their heart, even when it seems that they are not behaving in a way that illustrates their good intention.

In the end, you can only judge a person by their heart. Not their clothes, how they walk, the inflection of their speech, the color of their skin, their age, size or other physical characteristics. And yet, it is sometimes not easy to jump to conclusions more rapidly than we would like.

As a Franciscan, I always wear my Tau Cross when I am at the San Damiano Retreat, and by doing so, I create a form of identity that may cause inquiry from others. Are you a priest? Or a brother? Such inquiries usually lead to an explanation of what a secular Franciscan member is, and that closes out the issue. At a simpler level you might see supporters of a soccer or baseball team with their favorite team’s apparel or as recently, Taylor Swift fans gathering for a concert in Zurich, Switzerland.

Each of these provides clues to our identity, or who we identify with, helping others see a little of who we are in some way.

However, all too often, we jump to conclusions about a whole series of other things when we see or hear another person talk. There is often a requirement to do some serious listening and “investigation” to get to know that person well enough to see beyond the visual or other clues that may be causing us to jump to conclusions.

Sometimes these responses are reptilian in nature, where we immediately decide that this is a person we want to deal with, are worried about being with, invoking an attitude of response to them before we have really gotten to know them.

Several years ago, I wrote myself a poem “Add Ten Seconds” to remind myself that encourage this listening process, to find out more about the person before jumping to those all too easy, and often wrong conclusions.

While on vacation in Switzerland recently, my daughter and her daughters were on their way back to their hotel for the evening in Zurich. Passing by a local hotel, it was noted that Taylor Swift was staying there, and a large crowd had already gathered in hope of getting a glimpse of her as she passed from her car to the hotel entrance. What followed was a four-and-a-half-hour vigil by her father waiting for Ms. Swift to return. She did not, so was probably already in the hotel before people started to gather. However, during this time we spoke to many fans, known as Swifties, who were in town for the concert being held the following day.

One of those fans had a VIP pass, and a Taylor Swift CD sleeve, hoping for an autograph. He has been there for many hours before we gathered. This man, probably in his mid-thirties, was hoping to have Taylor provide him with a close-up selfie photograph which he had seen Ms. Swift do on other occasions. It seemed a very unlikely event as the pose he wanted was to have her standing behind him with her arms around him and her hands in the shape of a heart. Given the security surrounding her, I could not imagine such a thing occurring. As it turned out, he had to leave to catch his last train home at around 9:00pm but vowed to return to the hotel entrance again by 6:30am the following day to continue his quest.

I mention this because this man was obviously a serious fan, and initially seemed somewhat borderline fanatical on first brush. But after talking to him for a while, his sincerity came through, and while his dedication may have appeared a little too close to adoration, it was clear he admired her music, her values and the way she had created a community of like-minded souls surrounding her music and view of the world expressed therein. 

So then, back to the title of this rather longer-than-normal reflection. We can only tell who someone is by their “heart.” All we have to do is to listen to what their heart is broadcasting to our own. Something to ponder for the week.

ADD TEN SECONDS

Add ten seconds to each moment,

And my response would be better,

kinder, warmer, more forgiving,

than my first.

But can I ever be as loving as He is to me?        

Poem, image and reflection Copyright Michael J. Cunningham 2024