OUR MIND MUST BE CONNECTED WITH OUR HEART - Don Hanley’s blog #67

Last evening, I watched an inspirational movie entitled I CAN ONLY IMAGINE. I’ve never been a fan of Country-Western or Gospel music, but this is the story of a fellow who writes and sings both. He was alienated from his alcoholic Dad, and he had left his faithful girlfriend and joined a band. He is an excellent songwriter with a fantastic voice, but he didn’t make it ‘big’ until he had an ‘ah-ha’ experience of enlightenment and ‘found’ or ‘saw’ Jesus.

His singing and songs didn’t have ‘soul’ until he forgave his dad – who had a similar encounter with God- and reunited with his girlfriend. I wanted to tell my Nazarene folks about the film, but then I would have had to explain films, the Gospel movement, and modern culture more than I already have. So, I decided to try to explain my ideas that we needed to have the ‘right’ mind as it is connected to the open heart. I wanted them to know that I know that our heart needs to be connected to our brain to be truly enlightened, i.e., transformed into a total Christian follower of Jesus.

Again, John was the only non-Nazarene sitting with Mary and Ruth this evening. Joshua was with Julie and Isiah in the house. Both women greeted me warmly, and Ruth stood by to hug me. Mary was, like me, old enough to have the privilege of remaining seated. Mary had a topic she wanted to discuss, and it matched mine.

“Don, we’ve been talking about love a great deal – going back to when Jesus was a young lad. I remember one day when he was around twelve. We had gone to Jerusalem, and while Joseph and I were shopping, Jesus talked with a group of elders who spoke Greek and Hebrew. I spoke a little Hebrew, and neither Joseph nor I spoke Greek, but Jesus, to our surprise, seemed to learn both almost instantly. As the three of us were returning home, Jesus was very excited to learn that the Greek language had two words for love – Agape for Yahweh’s love for humans and all creation and eros for the positive feelings between a man and a woman and deep friendships. Jesus wondered if his love for his father and me was a combination of agape and eros because it was too strong to be only one. So, Don, what do you think? After all, you are, in a way, 2,000 years older than we are.” Ruth and John nodded in agreement.

 I was flattered that Mary would ask me about love as she was the living specimen of love – SHE IS LOVE! Anyway, I answered, “First, I want you to know that I’ve learned more about love, or being love, from meeting with all of you than I did in all my ninety-plus years of life. So, you validated and enhanced the ideas I had about love. I’m afraid that the Catholic Church, and Christians in general, have put too much emphasis on what we intellectually think about what Jesus said and stood for than they are about being kind, joyful, and experiencing love. Too often, I fear thoughts have become more important than being. Too often, our 21^st century Christians are more worried about being orthodox thinkers than being loving human beings.”

I continued with a personal experience: “When I was accepted as a candidate to become a priest by a very kind bishop, or high priest, I believe you would call him, I did not realize that I would be expected to conform to all kinds of restrictions to be a ‘good’ or respectful priest. Nor did I know that I would be expected to unconditionally accept as absolutely true all that I would be asked to memorize during my eight years of training.  But I thought I could still be like Father Chisolm in the film Keys of The Kingdom. Anyway, my accepting bishop had retired before I became a priest, and we got a new fellow who was very unkind and completely orthodox. One time, I celebrated Mass with a small group of nuns (I had explained earlier what a Mass was and who nuns were) without wearing all the required vestments. One of the nuns reported this to the bishop, and I was ordered to report to his office.

In a very tone of voice, he said, “Father Hanley, do you think that you know more about the sacred rites of our church than the holy congregation in Rome?” I knew he expected me to apologize and promise to be more obedient in the future, but after I hesitated a few moments, I said, “You know, Bishop, for a small group of nuns in Kansas, I believe I do.” The poor man turned crimson, shook, and yelled, “You, Father Hanley, are a Free Thinker! Get out of my office right now!”

“He confirmed what I had already believed but had not said aloud – We are born to be and/or become FREE THINKERS, and I believe Jesus believed that also.” Mary and John confirmed it, and I was satisfied with myself as I vanished. Now…

Please open your heart and ensure it is securely connected to your brain—not to someone else’s brain—and enjoy the adventure that is your life!  "And let us use this time to reflect, recharge, and emerge stronger than ever. And together we can create a brighter future."  Patrick Ball, my friend and mentor.