Invited to believe, with your heart

By Bill Lewellis
The Morning Call, Feb. 17, 2011

"We are invited to believe." The line jumped out at me from the printed copy of a sermon a friend recently preached. It was on the Dorchester Chaplains. Two Protestant, one Roman Catholic and one Jewish chaplains, they gave up their life jackets and means of rescue to others on the Dorchester, a converted cruise ship whose boiler room was struck by enemy fire on February 3, 1943, one day from their Greenland destination. They are commemorated in an Episcopal book, Holy Women Holy Men.

Diocese of Bethlehem Archdeacon Howard Stringfellow mentioned "the ice and the horribly cold water," 19 degrees, in which they drowned. "We are invited to believe," he said, "that the Lord was there with them. We are invited to believe that theirs was the greatest love, for indeed they laid down their lives for their friends (John 15:13). We are invited to believe that their sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that is being revealed in them (Romans 8:18).

We are invited to believe. What a wonderful way to imagine the faith to which we are called. Not an obligation, not a should or a must, but an invitation. We are invited to trust, as much a matter of the heart as a matter of the head. Perhaps more a matter of the heart.

Several articles last week in the columns of The Morning Call, prompted I suppose by the proximity of Valentine's Day, celebrated stories of the heart. Among them, Dr. Raymond Singer, chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery for Lehigh Valley Health Network, rejoiced that his mom had successfully undergone open heart surgery in her 80s. Now, at 88, she continues to live a vibrant, independent life." She continues to have a good heart.

More to my point here, Morning Call writer Milton Carrero gave us two intriguing stories.

In one about the emerging field of neurocardiology (http://www.mcall.com/health/mc-health-neurocardiology-20110212,0,4655502.story), he began with familiar phrases: "Listen to your heart," "Have a heart," and "I love you with all my heart." They all, he wrote, "refer to the heart as something more than a pump. And scientists are coming to similar conclusions.

"Until recently, the brain was considered the sole conductor of the body's symphony. But studies in the new field of neurocardiology are showing what people have intuitively believed, that the heart may play a significant role in the way we experience emotions and make decisions. The acknowledgement of the constant communication between the heart and the brain is giving birth to new inter-disciplinary fields and proving invaluable in the treatment of neurological and cardiac diseases."

I was taken by his concluding sentence. "While the practical have warned against it, following the heart may be the smart thing to do."

Carrero begins his second article: "Spiritual teachers through the ages have said that the heart is the most powerful energy center and that it speaks the subtle language of sensation, silence, intuition, inspiration and love. But how can we become aware of its signals? How can we tap into the power of our hearts? (http://www.mcall.com/health/mc-health-neurocardiology-heart-sideb20110212,0,3412649.story)

Many Christians, during our Sunday Eucharist or Mass or Communion, whatever we prefer to call our grateful remembrance of God's good deeds, pray the Nicene Creed. "We believe in one God ... We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ ... We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life ... We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church ... We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."

We are invited to believe.

The word "creed" comes from the Latin word credo (I believe), which has the same root as the word "heart" (cor).

Saying "I believe" isn't just an abstract statement about whether I believe God exists. It's a statement about where my heart is. When I proclaim "I believe," I say I am giving my heart to God. To give my heart changes how I choose to live.

Try praying the Nicene Creed or the Apostles' Creed in this way. In place of the word "I/we believe," pray "I set my heart on." Follow your heart.

[Canon Bill Lewellis, [email protected], a retired Episcopal priest, served on the Bishop’s staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem for 24 years and on the Bishop’s staff of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown for 13 years before that.]