That Muscle in Our Chest

When I speak of "heart" I do not mean the physical thing that pumps in our chest. I mean, as you suspected, the collective whatever-it-is that makes each of us unique; that inner whatever that forms our conscious thoughts, our subconscious stirrings, and our conscience. (I don't know the exact origin of the word "heart" to refer to this, but I'm sure it goes back to when people realized that without that thing beating in one's chest, one is dead.)

Some could argue that what I refer to as "the heart" is really nothing more than biochemical response based on genetic programming. I don't buy that argument, but I can't personally disprove it. I doubt those who argue for it can prove it. There is something quite mysterious about all this, isn't there? People have been pondering it forever.

Dallas Willard has a much more complete treatment of "the heart" (and the soul, and other aspects of our being) in "Renovation of the Heart." I doubt you'd find much in the book you'd agree with, since he makes assertions based on his experience/belief but doesn't offer proof. I'm not sure how proof can be offered in the realm of psychology and such.

My cousin had a heart transplant. He lived 12 years with it and passed away recently. He was the same person -- more or less -- before as he was after.

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What I mean by "community sacrifice" is this -- taking care of the sick and the elderly; willingness to "die for a cause," providing charity and compassion. All of those are qualities and traits that run counter to the notion of "survival of the fittest." If I were driven by a hardwired chemical need to procreate more effectively than you, I wouldn't do a darn thing to help you under any circumstances. If you were injured, then all the better for me.

What I'm getting at is the fundamental question that's occupied the mind of man for all history -- what makes us different? We clearly are different from our animal bretheren. We can't simply be "just more advanced" because the gulf between us and the rest is simply too enormous. One would think that "natural selection" would have left something somewhere in the middle of the gulf ... a more graduated dispersal of life.

The answer is, of course, that bloody monolith. Damn thing was so compelling -- all black and gleaming in the early morning sun. :-)