The Heart

Sacrament meeting Sunday was a really great meeting.

One of my favorite ideas from the meeting was an analogy between our hearts- our physical heart, and the heart that is the center of our being.

Sometimes, when one's heart is not working properly, a person must undergo a heart transplant in which the old heart is removed and replaced by a fully functional heart.  Once the new heart is in place,  the body recognizes it as a foreign object and tries to kill it. After much nervous waiting, the body will hopefully accept the new heart and begin to work as one again.  

With our spiritual heart, we too must undergo a heart transplant.  We must remove the old, incorrectly functioning heart and replace it with a heart that is humble, meek, and submissive.  It is our natural instinct to try and kill the new heart.  The concept is foreign to us. But after much patience and long suffering, we see the good that comes from this new heart.

Heart transplant patients must take daily medication to maintain good heart health. It is most important to take medication on the days when they feel their best.  Often, patients become so comfortable that they feel they can ween themselves off the medication; and this is when the heart begins to fail again.

Like heart transplant patients, we too must continually take care of our heart. We must constantly communicate with our Heavenly Father, our doctor.  He has and will continue to advise us to have our daily dosage of scripture study, prayer, and pondering. The days that we feel most comfortable are the days that we must absolutely take our daily medication.  If we ever forget to take it, we risk becoming unhealthy, and could potentially require yet another heart transplant.

Heart transplants are risky, and are not the easiest thing to maintain; but I know if we continually take care of our heart by doing the little things everyday, we can receive the greatest reward. LIFE.