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I listened to his heart. The beats were fast. His pulse was irregular. His skin was flushed and sticky with perspiration.
Fifty years old and recently released from prison, the man came into the free medical clinic where I volunteer as a nurse. He patiently waited through all the paperwork and for his given appointment time.
But he was very sick.
Too sick for our little clinic. We quickly sent him over to the hospital for care.
His heart sent us messages that something was terribly wrong.
Hearts fascinate me.
Did you know:
· The average adult heart beats 72 times a minute; 100,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a lifetime.
· Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day.
· A kitchen faucet would need to be turned on all the way for at least 45 years to equal the amount of blood pumped by the heart in an average lifetime.
· Every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles. In a lifetime, that is equivalent to driving to the moon and back.
· The heart pumps to almost all of the body’s 75 trillion cells. Only the corneas receive no blood supply.
· During an average lifetime, the heart will pump nearly 1.5 million gallons of blood—enough to fill 200 train tank cars.
The heart is vital to us both physically and spiritually.
Guess how times “heart” is mentioned in the Bible? The Biblegateway web site lists 722 verses in the NIV version. Wow! Guess God has something to say about our hearts too.
February is heart month in the United States and a great opportunity to think about our spiritually heart health.
February 22 is also Ash Wednesday and the start of the Lenten season. How can I best prepared my heart for my Lenten journey? How will my heart be healthier by Easter?
During this month many of the posts on this blog will focus on healthy heart spirituality.
Just like our physical hearts, for healthy heart spirituality we need proper nourishment and exercise. How can we best improve our hearts this month?
First I am going to start by having conversations – focusing more on listening than talking with God through prayer and journaling. I want to spend more time with God and get to know His heart in new ways.
Next I want to study some of those 700 plus Bible verses in His word to gather wisdom there.
Finally I have asked a couple of fellow bloggers to be guests this month here and share their insights to having healthy heart spirituality. One component of discernment is learning from others in our Christian community.
I hope you also participate in this venture by commenting and adding to the conversation. What helps you prepared your heart for Lent? How do you nourish and improved your spiritual health?
The heart of the matter is that the heart matters.
