For a brief moment or two assume the world in which we live contains only you and I, both card carrying members of the species labeled, “male”.

Before we leave the starting gate we realize our universe is already lacking color without the species labeled, “female”.

However, we decide to go with the flow!

We are not the best of buds, neither are we complete strangers. Our relationship can be described as somewhere in-between both bookends.

We decide to meet for coffee one morning prior to marching off to work.

We sit down, exchange “hey”, grunt a few times, and catch up on the latest from the mind numbing, twenty-four-seven world of sports.

There is a momentary drop in the conversation, which neither of us really minds as we are the less verbal members of the normal male-female universe.

The silence is broken and I lead in with a question.

I ask, “How’s your heart?”

Puzzled, you begin to wonder why I ask and begin to formulate your answers along the lines of a medical response.

“My heart is good. I had my physical recently and the doc said my cholesterol is down and my blood pressure is right on target. Other than losing a few pounds, I dodged the bullet for another year!”

I counter your answer.

“Hey, that’s good. However, how’s your heart?”

Momentarily annoyed at the repeat question, you compose yourself long enough to answer politely.

“I just told you the doctor said everything’s fine. What are you getting at?

I begin to clarify the question.

“What I am asking is how are you doing?”

You steer the car down another alley.

“Work has been OK, a little busy, but nothing out of the ordinary. The wife is fine. The kids are all over the map with school and sports, but they are doing OK too.”

I attempt to have you put the car in reverse.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

I then repeat my original question, with a qualifier.

“How’s your heart?”

“How are you doing?”

At this stage of the questioning game, you begin to wonder whether the doctor had the blood pressure thing correct as your face is flush and you are feeling a bit exasperated with me.

You rip off a knee jerk question back to me.

“What are you getting at?”

I reply one last time by elaborating and the questions asked finally begin to sink in.

• “How’s your heart?”
• “I want to know how you are doing.”
• “What’s going on with you?”
• “What makes you happy or sad?”
• “What buzzes you and what doesn’t?”

The light finally turns on and you begin to feel less frustrated and more in tune with where I am going with all of the questions.

You even begin to open up a little, allowing an outsider a peek under the hood.

Generally, the ladies get this stuff more than the guys do.

They intuitively know what is being asked and are good at decoding it.

However, they too are susceptible at times to answering the real question(s) being asked.

Recently, I listened to an awesome podcast offered by Michael Hyatt.

It echoed truth to me once again, as I needed the reminder as my heart has been under assault lately from many directions.

Although the content is directed toward leadership, its value has a much wider reach.

The podcast link can be found here and is something which I highly recommend.

It would be well worth thirty minutes of your time to listen to the content.

In the dialogue above I was the one being asked the question, “How’s your heart?”, as I listened to the podcast.

Quite honestly, the content took me back nearly four decades ago to a conversation I had with a dear friend, my wife’s former neighbor, “Aunt Bea” as we fondly called her.

Aunt Bea was a trusted advisor to the both of us. She was a spiritual mentor as well. Occasionally she would pray with us and over us.

I recall a time sitting in her living room in her wingback chair, which I referred to as the “hot seat”.

She began to prayerfully impart to the much younger version of me words of wisdom found in Proverbs 4:23 – a verse I consider a guiding light on my path.

These words of wisdom came alive to me and appear below in several versions, each with its own distinct flavor.

• “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life.” (NASB)
•  “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (NIV)
• “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (NLT)

When I first heard these words, the interpretation went something like this.

“Minds your P’s and Q’s, don’t get into trouble, and things will turn out all right”. 

It reminded me of a post I previously wrote.

The words have come to mean so much more.

Their impact has literally shaped much of my world and my existence.

At one point my heart was drastically unattended.

Lifeless.

Dead.

I allowed the cares of day to day living, my job, and many more things to erode all aspects of truly living.

I did not appreciate the blessings which were bestowed upon me in my wife, my children, my friends, and my family.

I was too wrapped up in what I perceived was my world fraying at the edges.

I can honestly say I am much better than I was, but nowhere near where I would like to be.

I too am a work in progress!

I am not sure where you might be in all of this.

However, I do have a question for you.

“How’s your heart?”

• Guard it at all costs.
• Allow life to flow from it.
• It is the wellspring of your life and is the center of who you are.

As you attend to the needs of your heart, the video effect may look like this.

How do you watch over and care for your heart?

Photo Courtesy of Bruce R. Cross