947AFC112009
Happy Aloha Friday, Beloved! Today I am thinking about you. There is a place in my heart for each of you. This means that it is not really my heart, but our heart. Here is a little story by that famous author, Anonymous, that illustrates what I mean.
A Piece of My Heart
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said “Why, your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but it was full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.
The people stared — how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine. Mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”
“Yes,” said the old man, “yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love – I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.”
“Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges — giving love, is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?”
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.
~~Author Unknown
I am very grateful for the pieces of your hearts I carry in our heart. Should the time ever come when the pieces of your hearts far outnumber the leftover pieces of my heart, then our heart will begin to look a little bit more like His heart. That is why I pray each day, “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto your heart.”
Pray, Beloved. Pray as if the future depends on it, for truly it does. Pray for ALL the people. Pray about the hearts in your heart. Pray with anyone and everyone who has loved, does love, or will love you. Remember, “When we pray FOR each other, we act as intercessors, “in-the-place-of” praying. It’s making a prayer on behalf of someone else rather than on behalf of ourselves.
When we pray ABOUT each other, we’re making prayers that are intended to be blessings. We ask God for this favor or that outcome for one another. I might pray for your health or you might pray for me to find strength in a trial.
When we pray WITH each other, ah, there’s a power in that. Usually this is focused on something outside of both of us, like the people who are suffering in troubled areas of the world, or a child who has been kidnapped.”
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!
Chick Todd
Age quod agis.
Gracious and ever-living God, I thank you for these 63 years I have spent in your presence because of the graces given to me through your Son Jesus Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
947AFC112009
Happy Aloha Friday, Beloved! Today I am thinking about you. There is a place in my heart for each of you. This means that it is not really my heart, but our heart. Here is a little story by that famous author, Anonymous, that illustrates what I mean.
A Piece of My Heart
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said “Why, your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but it was full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.
The people stared — how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine. Mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”
“Yes,” said the old man, “yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love – I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.”
“Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges — giving love, is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?”
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.
~~Author Unknown
I am very grateful for the pieces of your hearts I carry in our heart. Should the time ever come when the pieces of your hearts far outnumber the leftover pieces of my heart, then our heart will begin to look a little bit more like His heart. That is why I pray each day, “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto your heart.”
Pray, Beloved. Pray as if the future depends on it, for truly it does. Pray for ALL the people. Pray about the hearts in your heart. Pray with anyone and everyone who has loved, does love, or will love you. Remember, “When we pray FOR each other, we act as intercessors, “in-the-place-of” praying. It’s making a prayer on behalf of someone else rather than on behalf of ourselves.
When we pray ABOUT each other, we’re making prayers that are intended to be blessings. We ask God for this favor or that outcome for one another. I might pray for your health or you might pray for me to find strength in a trial.
When we pray WITH each other, ah, there’s a power in that. Usually this is focused on something outside of both of us, like the people who are suffering in troubled areas of the world, or a child who has been kidnapped.”
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!
Chick Todd
Age quod agis.
Gracious and ever-living God, I thank you for these 63 years I have spent in your presence because of the graces given to me through your Son Jesus Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
About Chick Todd
American Roman Catholic reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver Colorado. Now living on Kauaʻi. USAF Vet. Married for over 50 years. Scripture study has been my passion ever since my first "Bible talk" at age 6 in VBS.
