the heart.
This is going to be an odd post because I discovered something I didn’t know about the heart but first the trees.
I want to have a record of some trees in March on the Long Walk in Windsor and then some in Popeswood Meadow. Here are three from each.
The three above are in the Long Walk area. The three below are in the Popeswood area.
Now for a question from the Pharisees to Jesus:
‘ Is it OK with the law to divorce your wife?’
Jesus: ‘What does Moses say?’
Pharisees: Moses said yes it was fine to ‘put her away’ but have a document.
Jesus: Moses said that because of the hardness of your heart.
Sandy : What is ‘ hardness of the heart’? And how are the emotions linked to the actual heart?
First some synonyms and descriptions of a hardened heart from a Biblical perspective: lack of trust in God, stubborn, faithless, a refusal to say sorry, lack of compassion, proud, rebellious.
Now for the second question and what I didn’t know.
Apparently the heart is linked to the emotions of the mind, acting as a physical receptor and processor of emotional experience, often described as having its own ‘ little brain’ . While thoughts originate in the brain , the heart possesses 40,000 neurons forming an intrinsic nervous system that sends more signals to the brain than it receives. This system makes it a center for intuition, memory, and emotional processing.
Jesus then answers the question of ‘ Can I divorce my partner?’ in a radical way:
‘ But from the beginning of the creation God made people male and female. For this reason man must leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife.
Sandy: What is cleave?
Cleave is a contronym, a word with two opposite meanings.
The first meaning: to split apart, divide, cut with a sharp instrument.
The second opposite meaning: to stick, adhere, remain loyal to someone or something.
Jesus then becomes more emphatic:
‘ And the two will be one flesh, so that they are no longer two but one. What God has joined together, let no person put asunder.’ ( a well known line at weddings).
Sandy: What is ‘ asunder’?
Commonly used to describe both physical damage and emotional destruction. Some other words are tearing or breaking something apart, violent separation and the word split.
The disciples wanted to know more so when Jesus was alone they asked the question again. Jesus answer was even stronger this time:
‘ Whoever puts away/ divorces his/ her wife/husband and marries another commits adultery against her/him.
This is all talked about in the verses before Jesus blesses the children. Mark 10: 2 -12
If you are interested in reading about The Heart thinks along with the mind. This is the connection.
All being well I want to have posts: April trees and May trees. This last photograph is of water drained off from a gully starting near the main pond, Popeswood.
Take care,
Sandy 🙂