Sometimes, one reason is enough for something.

I always wondered why I ended up a Mormon —what purpose was that in my life?

Here’s why: When I first converted to the church, there was a lady in relief society who was probably 50 instead of the 90 years old that the 19-year-old me assumed she was.

She always advised, “Pray for an understanding heart.”

She never taught Relief Society, she never advised, “Read your scriptures,” “Pay your tithing.” Nope, it was always, “Pray for an understanding heart.” Certainly not mormon doctrine.

I wonder if Dr. Gabor Mate had prayed that when he said, “Don’t ask why the addiction, ask why the pain.”

Do you suppose Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito prayed that prayer?

What if "Pray for An Understanding Heart" were a campaign slogan?

Kathleen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What if "Pray for An Understanding Heart" were a
> campaign slogan?

It would be great to find out, Kathleen.

Dang, Kathleen. That is deep. For me, at least. I'm so into mind, but where is wisdom really?

I'm afraid it would be a "whoosh" on the Q15.

I think Rusty needs to adopt that as the LDS slogan. He's trying desperately to keep the Christian nationalists from completely infecting Mormonism. Personally, I think that ship has sailed. It's too late.

      

Yes. That is deep, kathleen.

And the best way to ensure you never have an understanding heart is to sit in the pews and hear the same "obedience to strict rules indoctrination" over and over so that you can judge over and over as you are taught. The Gerontocracy teach judging. Pure and simple. That is what they mean by "gospel doctrine".

My father, as Mormon as he was, had an understanding heart. He was like your relief society friend. The exceptions to the rule, they were.

I do not remember my father ever studying the Book of Mormon or mentioning it. Nor the BoA or D&C--which book by brother lives by. Don't remember him saying much about Joseph Smith. Seems odd in some ways for a devout Mormon who was bishop for eleven years, high council and eventually Stake Patriarch and adored in the county.

What he did was read "Jesus the Christ" by Talmadge from cover to cover and then usually start all over again. Sometimes a Louis L'Amour novel in between but that was about it.

I've never read J the C but I suspect that at least leaning into the legend of Jesus as laid out in that book had a great impact on his understanding of others. I also think that being raised dirt poor (actually having a dirt floor for the first ten or so years of his life) and living in a poor town where everyone was there for everyone else pushed his natural inclination toward kindness as well.

By the end of his life he "understood me" and told me in so many words. Meant everything. Love you Dad.

Thanks Kathleen for making me think these thoughts today.

You and I struck gold in the Dad department.

:)

Done & Done Wrote:
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> By the end of his life he "understood me" and told
> me in so many words. Meant everything. Love you
> Dad.

Wow, D. Made my eyes water.

Too, your analysis is interesting. Remembering the basics is a good way to proceed, imho. I think the bishop I had was that way inclined. Unusually in my Mormon experience, especially in the chapel I was assigned to, he was a convert. That definitely gives one a different take on Mormonism. Expanding your experiences is not the bad idea some make it out to be. You can gain more insight, which is valuable in this life.

As an aside, it was excruciating for both of us when he as bishop went through the specific personal questions with me as mandated by Mormon rules. We both blushed. Seeing him blush made me cringe all the more.

What the bloody hell was that all about is the only question that leaped to mind as I left his office.

That's just one of the reasons I came to understand that members, including many leaders, are just going through the obstacle course laid out for them, running when directed and leaping as commanded.

It's enough to put you right off religion. Haha.

I like it. I always pray for a compassionate heart. To understand, I often need to empathize. This often gets in the way of my feeling compassion. I don't need to feel what others feel, I need to not judge then but learn to feel whatever love I can for them.

I love Dr. Gabor Maté! And his son Aaron, one of the great truth-tellers of his generation, is a particular hero of mine. I admire them both immensely.


When we see the homeless, the addicted, the mentally unstable on the streets, we too often are only aware of our own discomfort, our own disgust even, rather than aware of the pain of the one suffering from being unhoused, addicted, unstable. Too many of us just blame these people for making *our* life uncomfortable. We hire cops to remove them from our sight to God only cares where. Given this, allow me to give the larger quote from Maté:

——-
The question is never “Why the addiction?” but “Why the pain?”

The research literature is unequivocal: most hard-core substance abusers come from abusive homes. The majority of my skid row patients suffered severe neglect and maltreatment early in life. Almost all the addicted women inhabiting the Downtown Eastside [Vancouver] were sexually assaulted in childhood, as were many of the men. The autobiographical accounts and case files of Portland residents tell stories of pain upon pain: rape, beatings, humiliation, rejection, abandonment, relentless character assassination. As children they were obliged to witness the violent relationships, self-harming life patterns, or suicidal addictions of their parents—and often had to take care of them. Or they had to look after younger siblings and defend them from being abused even as they themselves endured the daily violation of their own bodies and souls. One man grew up in a hotel room where his prostitute mother hosted a nightly procession of men as her child slept, or tried to, on his cot on the floor.”

—Gabor Mate, M.D.—
—In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts—
——-

And these stories go on forever. Of course, not all of us that have suffered these kinds of childhoods go on to be addicted and dysfunctional, but what does that matter? Some of us do.

An understanding heart is a way of stepping outside our own concerns and actually concerning ourselves with others.

maybe it should be "Think with an understanding heart"

Yes, that for many.

Here, I wanted to credit my friend with her exact words—-the contrast between her beautiful admonition and what we generally heard in meetings. She said something I’d never heard befor nor since in Mormonism—-nor anywhere else.

My heart is a blood pump, it doesn’t think or feel anything;

why are so many people stuck on, at least as far back as the Egyptians, that the heart has thoughts, emotions, ideas?

My brain does all those, tyvm.

I'm not sure that's the case, GNPE. There's a lot of data available re cellular memory and how, for example, a guy gets new heart and suddenly finds himself attracted to redheads and sports cars.

Come to find out, that's what his donor had.


And muscle memory.

I think our whole body is involved in thinking and feeling.

If it wasn't how would people make love or war?

I feel emotions deeply and intensely in my chest cavity. I have felt such strong emotions at times that I swear my organs froze, convulsed, and/or did flip flops. No surprise to me that the heart has long been a metaphor for the best of us and sometimes the worst of us. And it does connect everything.

Thank heavens they didn't choose the pancreas for that job. )

Or the colon.

At least one modern Bible translates it as "inner-most being." The KJV uses "heart." The point is, some part of our psyche has a powerful intuitive element, and can subjectively connect us to others--or not. As a Christian, I see this as a junction between the supernal and the temporal.

In an older thread, members discussed the origin and nature of evil. I hold that there is evil, and it manifests itself at both the supernal and temporal levels. But also, there is love, which is also both temporal and spiritual. That is what prompted Kathleen, and her LDS mentor from years back.

"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of... We know the truth not only by reason, but by the heart." (Pascal)

Thanks, Kathleen, and...
Amen.

Thanks, Caffiend. :)

Only my brain processes information ‘data’ & arrives at choices, conclusions & motivates actions.

Many medical professionals call the gut "the second brain." The vagus nerve is said to carry messages in both directions.


"Stimulating the vagus nerve can help epilepsy and depression." --Vagus Nerve Stimulation. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved 19 October 2018.




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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2022 03:03PM by Kathleen.

Okay then. I think we've pinpointed the problem, my friend. That'll be $25. ;)

Argue as we may, GNPE, a long time ago, I formed the opinion that you are indeed one with an understanding heart. :)

... or brain--whichever you prefer.

Pray for an understanding heart, or, just DIY it? You can actually get one with or without prayer. Either way it's important to have one.

DIY it. LOL