Many days I have to willingly embrace my weirdness; it is a reality I cannot deny! Who else, after reading that the heart and head are 18 Inches apart, actually measures a few things with a tape measure to gain perspective on that actual distance: the kitchen tile (20 inches), my foot (9.5 inches), and we all know a ruler is 12 inches. So, whether the anatomical number is truly 12, 14, or 18 Inches for most humans, my Burning Curiosity led me to investigate and ponder, at least for a few minutes, if 18 Inches is an accurate approximation of the length between two vital organs in my body. Not because I might need this random fact to win a trivia game, but because, throughout my life, there is an existing tension between faith and feelings—head knowledge versus emotional expression.
Although the head/heart tension arises in abundance in my studies, it was during the reading of Lois Tverberg’s Walking in the Dust of the Rabbi that a deeper appreciation for examining the Hebrew language (which I hope to share about in the post Word Poverty) drew my attention. As someone who is currently unskilled in linguistics, I am finding a new fascination with etymology (a new word for me), and Tverberg’s explanation that “The logic of Hebrew (and other languages) realizes that an action should result from what is in our minds. If you ‘remember’ someone, you will act on their behalf. If you ‘hear’ someone, you will obey their words. If you ‘know’ someone, you will have a close relationship with them. Hebrew realizes that the longest twelve inches that your faith has to move is from your head to your heart. And once your faith makes that move, it naturally comes out through your hands and feet.” So, in the original Hebrew, Scripture emphasizes that knowledge and feelings are interconnected, perhaps with knowledge leading the heart into action.
Reading Tverberg’s passage just five days following a similar discussion occurring in our dialogue group related to A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, my mind (and heart) was intrigued to think on this concept some more. But God is only beginning this discovery, and this sunny, fall morning, it was a section of Acts 19 that grabbed my attention: “Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside you?”(MSG). So, once again, we cannot disconnect the two from each other. Our faith is both head knowledge and emotional expression. They are linked together in some intriguing ways. And then…while digging into all the places where I had made a notation of “18 Inches,” I was led to Tim Hansel and my favorite explanation so far.
In his book Through the Wilderness of Loneliness, Tim Hansel offers a richer perspective on our faith beyond just the head and heart, he offers us the three-legged stool. “Our Christian walk is made up of at least three parts: fact, faith, and feelings. These are like a three-legged stool. If you pull one leg away, the stool will fall over. Feelings are a part of any love relationship, even our relationship with God. Feelings are what keep the relationship alive. We must know God with our heart as well as our head…Emotions are a gift from God, given to us so we can respond to life…Feelings are real—they need to be experienced and shared—but they are not always accurate. We must constantly balance our feelings against the truths revealed in Scripture.”
It’s this idea of a three-legged stool that I will share with our dialogue group because when a colleague mentioned truth in our conversation, it was to me, as if she might have been addressing this third leg, faith or truth. Because we cannot always rely on emotions to provide us an accurate perspective, we must rely on the truths of Scripture. In providing this third leg to the head and heart, we blend fact, faith, and feelings to give us a balanced viewpoint. This visual works for me, if I only consider the first two legs—head and heart, I topple over, but with all three legs, I maintain a stability that allows the weight to be distributed evenly among them.
So, to be honest, now the actual measurement of 18 Inches really does become irrelevant, but the fact that they are indeed connected continues to maintain its significance for me. And I am still able to honor the original Hebrew language that calls our faith to action—to be the hands and feet of Christ; however, it will require me to arise from the comfortable stability of my three-legged stool!
References:
Hansel, T. (1991). Through the wilderness of loneliness. David C. Cook Publishing Co.
Flourishing @ Life 