They Turn Their Hearts Aside.

I have this obsession.  With hearts.  Not the actual bloody, pumping, oozing muscle that lays within the walls of your chest.  No, my fixation has to do with what exists inside of this incredible structure.  From within the heart you can learn the nature of a person.  When you discover one’s heart, you find who they really are.  No way to hide or diminish it, for the heart speaks loudly, and always in sincerity.  The inner workings of a heart are remarkable.  They have the ability to cure, to strengthen, to teach, to influence, to illuminate. My craze for it begins here, but ends somewhere much greater.

Sometimes I envision premortal existence.  I like to visualize a young, vibrant daughter of God that anxiously awaited her call to earth, that she might prove herself worthy to be in the presence of her Father.  It was a precious calling because she loved Him so, and wanted her eternal existence to be right by His side.   When her call came, her joy spilled over.  She wept with elation and eagerness.  Yet as she prepared herself for this most cherished opportunity, the impact of knowing that she would be separated from her Father concerned her mind.  As she came to depart from her heavenly home, she looked upon Him and asked, “But Father, how will I know?”  Tenderly, He placed His arms around His worried daughter and replied, “My daughter, do not fear.  I will give unto you a gift.  One that will be your constant guide and companion.  A piece of me to carry with you, to help bring you back home to me.  Through this gift you will hear my voice, feel my presence, come to a remembrance of me, and will find a haven within the storm.  My daughter, my gift to you is my heart.”  

The heart of our Father.  Given to us.  So that we can have Him with us always.  That we may be led and guided by Him.  That we may feel protected and secure.  Loved and valued.  It is a gift that our Father yearns for us to remember, for it will surely be the light to lead us back into His outstretched arms.  Understanding this, it comes as no surprise that the mention of the heart is given 871 times in the Bible, 394 times in the Book of Mormon, 183 times in the Doctrine and Covenants, and 25 times in the Pearl of Great Price.  He seeks to evoke our memory.  He desires for us to remember.

The heart is a miraculous place, where tender feelings of truth are discovered.  Where the inception of testimony begins.  Where the whisperings of our Father’s voice can be heard.  It is so sacred that the Holy Ghost has chosen to dwell within it.  His presence is what allows us to feel the burnings of these truths. 

Now the significant thing about hearts is that their tenderness has to be nurtured.  Encouraged.  Developed.  When dealt with carelessly, the heart will undoubtedly lose its tender sensitivity.  Becoming impenetrable and firm.  It solidifies quickly, and the Holy Ghost will find that He can no longer reside.  Our companionship is lost.  We will be left with nothing but an empty, hardened heart. 

So how does this transfiguration begin?  It commences by turning our hearts aside.  We turn away our hearts when we choose anything, in place of Christ, to be the focal point and center of our lives.  Our hearts remember Him.  Our tender, emotional center, the very one that the Holy Ghost speaks through, remembers Him, our Savior and Redeemer.  It also recalls us.  It retains memory of who we are, who we were, and of our potential of what we can become.  When we build our lives around, and emphasize, worldly distractions, our hearts have no other choice but to stiffen.  Because they are spiritual things, and they cannot exist without Him as the center, for it remembers Him so vividly, and He maintains the beating from within.  So they toughen, because they cannot be disloyal to the truth that lives inside.  No longer do they stand as a communication point for our Father, one to bring us back to remembrance, but they lose all life.  They become nothing but a petrified muscle, cold and rent of feeling, stuck in the very depth of our chest.  And we have been taught the outcome of such a tragedy:

“And because they turn their hearts aside…and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish…” (1 Nephi 19:14)

However, we must remember that because the heart comes from our Father, it does not give up easily.  For our Father always brings hope, even to the dimmest of circumstances.  Although hardened, it will attempt to restore our memories, and seek to soften once more.  As we departed our Father’s side with His most blessed gift, He knew we would have moments, or episodes, or perhaps even complete stages where we would forget to cultivate it.  Where we would be left wandering in the flesh.  His love for us was so immense, so incomprehensible, and He sought to save us from perishing. So He sent His beloved Son to atone for our sins.  That if we might turn our hearts to Christ, He would touch them.  He would kindle our hearts so greatly that it would burn like fire, replacing the ossified muscle stuck within our middle, with the tender, emotional center, the very one that we left home with as we began our mortal journey.  So we must seek to remember Him.  To sustain our focus on Christ, that He may always be our emphasis.  Always be our cornerstone.  Always be the very light within us, the one that brightens and preserves the piece of our Father we are blessed to carry deep inside.