Heart of Stone or Flesh?

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ~ Ezekiel 36:26

I found this stone in Newfoundland, along the shores of a beach laden with purple striped rocks. The heart shape caught my eye amongst all the others—a gift of sorts from the ocean to me. The ocean is always a refuge for me. I can walk for miles and never tire of it.

Hearts are funny matters. We long to give our hearts to someone and yet at the same time most people build protective fortresses around them, rendering it almost impossible for anyone to really know the heart worth loving. On the flip side, my heart is often an open book. People usually know what I am feeling. Being in a friendship or relationship with me is intense. I tend not to hold back. My heart of flesh is messy though. It is not for the faint-hearted or those who want to keep things at a surface level.

I know people who do have hearts of stone. They rarely express any emotions. They hold back from revealing their true selves, covering up the truth not only from others but from themselves too, I think. They run from pain but also from joy. I would find this incredibly frustrating and confusing. As much as I dread walking through painful moments, I would not really trade these for that way of dealing with life.

After a friend died a few years ago, I believed I was ready for a heart of stone. I did not want to feel anything any more. My heart had been shattered enough in life. When another friend asked me to walk with her weekly as she faced a life-threatening illness, something inside of me screamed NO! but the words that came out of my mouth were “of course I would.” My heart of flesh did not even think before it responded. I am wired this way to my core. Sometimes it exhausts me but at the same time my heart grounds me. I know I am loved and loving. That has been a huge gift for me. You’d be surprised the number of people who have not integrated that concept into their inner most beings.

I have wondered what it is like to have a heart of stone. I pick up the rock in the photo from time to time and thank God for my heart of flesh and ask for mercy and forgiveness when I feel the hardness creeping into the fleshiness. We have choices in life. One of them is to live with a heart of stone; the other is to live with a heart of flesh. Which do you choose?

Peace,

Suzanne