Dear Reader:

It is interesting sometimes to go into one’s private administrative section of WordPress concerning your individual blog post…to get information on which posts from the past are still drawing readers.

When I looked at the list yesterday one popped up that I didn’t remember so I looked it up, re-read it, and realize since it had been written over four years ago…that the timing was right to look at this observation again.

It was an excerpt, I discovered from a young writer. The topic centered around Proverbs 4:25. “Above all else, guard your heart. For everything you do flows from it.”

In our country we take for granted daily greetings we give each other. We, Americans, are used to “How are you today?” as we briskly pass a stranger or casual acquaintance and are slightly irritated if they respond with more words than “Fine, thank you.”

In Persian or Arabic (English translation) it sounds more like: “How is your haal”? What is this haal that you inquire about? It is the transient state of one’s heart. In reality, the question is, “How is your heart doing at this very moment, at this breath?” When I ask, “How are you?” that is really what I want to know.

I am not asking how many items are on your to-do list, nor asking how many items are in your inbox. I want to know how your heart is doing, at this very moment. Tell me. Tell me your heart is joyous, tell me your heart is aching, tell me your heart is sad, tell me your heart craves a human touch. Examine your own heart, explore your soul, and then tell me something about your heart and your soul.

Tell me you remember you are still a human being, not just a human doing. Tell me you’re more than just a machine, checking off items from your to-do list. Have that conversation, that glance, that touch. Be a healing conversation, one filled with grace and presence.

*The young author concludes this differences in cultural greetings with these final thoughts:

I don’t have any magical solutions. All I know is that we are losing the ability to live a truly human life.

W. B. Yeats once wrote, “It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a soldier to fight on a battlefield.”

How exactly are we supposed to examine the dark corners of our soul when we are so busy? How are we supposed to live the examined life?

I want us to have a kind of existence where we can pause, look each other in the eye […] and inquire together: Here is how my heart is doing. […]

How is the state of your heart today?

Resource: (How Is Your Heart Doing? by Omid Safi)

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So until tomorrow…“How are our hearts doing today?” Take time to find out. 

*My heart and stomach are doing great…Gin-g just dropped off some lasagna and bread….Bless you ….so nice to eat other’s cookin’!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Look at my Mr. Lincoln rose…It’s got lots of heart from yesterday to today…but then so did our 16th President. 🙂

*Anne’s first moon flower bloomed…hopefully mine won’t be too far behind…the blooms are so beautiful…it just takes one’s breath away.