26/08/2014
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Mike Starkey.
Last on
The Reverend Mike Starkey
Good morning. Twenty years ago today some pioneering surgery was carried out in the UK. The world鈥檚 first ever battery operated heart was fitted at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire. Arthur Cornhill had only been given a few months to live. In a four-hour operation.. surgeons at Papworth fitted him with a 鈥榖ionic鈥� heart pump made of titanium and plastic.
Down the centuries.. the heart has become one of our most powerful metaphors. It represents our hopes and dreams.. our likes and loves.. our values and priorities. I say 鈥榟and on heart鈥� when I want to convince you I鈥檓 telling the truth. If I鈥檓 helping somebody make decisions I鈥檒l ask them what their heart鈥檚 telling them. A broken heart means an end to something that seemed to promise love and fulfillment. When Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco we know what that meant: something deep about emotions and identity.
Our love affair with the heart actually goes back thousands of years. In the Bible.. the heart represents our intellect.. our feelings and our values. Our innermost selves.
The Bible writers encourage us to set our hearts on things that aren鈥檛 trivial or transient.听 God is close to the brokenhearted. We鈥檙e told God wants to remove our hearts of stone and give us new hearts. And in 4th century north Africa.. St Augustine wrote of our hearts being forever restless till they find their rest in God.
听
Heavenly Father.. at the beginning of this new day.. examine my heart. If it鈥檚 been broken.. I pray for healing. If it鈥檚 become hard.. I pray for softening. If it鈥檚 restless I pray
I will find my rest in you.听 Amen
Broadcast
- Tue 26 Aug 2014 05:43成人快手 Radio 4
"Time is passing strangely these days..."
Uplifting thoughts and hopes for the coronavirus era from Salma El-Wardany.