Deeper Meanings of 'Heart': Beyond the Physical

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Have a Heart What does the word "heart" mean? Strictly speaking, a heart is an organ of the physical body which pumps blood into the organism. The term "heart," however, extends to more than the physical body. When lovers part, one will often claim to have a broken heart yet remain living. A saddened gent or lady will often clutch the area between the ribs at the center of the chest, and moan in sorrow over a lost lover. Physical or not, the heart in this case is also something that pumps life into the emotional body. "Don't lose heart," says a friend to another who has been discouraged by one of life's many trials. Now how can anyone lose a heart? I ask. Easily, by getting discouraged. Again, the heart becomes a symbol for pumping life into a system, but not a physical one. When one gets to the heart of the matter, she gets to its center - that which gives it meaning. When people beg, "Have a heart," they are asking you to be compassionate - to recognize the soul in another. Having a heart-to-heart talk means to share something from the center of our being with someone else. Speaking from the heart always implies communicating from what is real and essential in our lives. Perhaps the most common definition of the word "heart," therefore, should recognize that "heart" is something essential to every human being, whether it is physical or not.

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