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The heart lies between
the head and the stomach, and fortunately so, because more often than not it
tempers the brain, wherever the brain happens to be at the moment: the head or
the gut. If it were not for the heart, the brain, left on its own, could become
the body’s own worst enemy. When the brain is in the
gut, the body and the mind operate on perceptions and likes. The food looks
good, so we eat it because we are convinced that something so good looking must
also be so good for us – or at least the brain-in-the-gut makes it so seem. If
the food, or the person, is not pleasing to the sight, we convince ourselves
that there must be something wrong, even bad, with that person. Gut reactions
can get us into trouble. But, then, so, too, can
perfectly rational responses to what we see and hear: the brain-in-the-head can
prevent us from going down roads we should go because those roads seem to be the
incorrect roads to take. We come up on a situation, analyze it thoroughly, and
rationally determine that the best thing for us to do is walk away. The brain
tells us to have nothing to do with what we see, and we do not. Listening to our
head can prevent us from doing what we should do. So it is very good for us
as individuals and as a people that the heart gets in the way. Sometimes,
perhaps more often that we realize, it is only the heart that keeps gut
reactions in check and lets us loose from rational prohibitions. If it were not
for the heart, we would never be Good Samaritans. The gut tells us to avoid
those we do not like and the head tells us to avoid trouble. The heart says that
we must help someone in trouble even if we do not like the person and even if it
is dangerous to do so. The heart tempers. Both
the gut and the head are narrowly focused. The heart is as wide as can be. The
gut chases after that which is pleasing and avoids that which is not. The brain
thinks not of pleasure but only of what is best for the self. The heart reminds
the gut that what is pleasing is not always good and what looks bad may very
well be very good. The heart reminds the brain that while discretion may be the
better part of valor and while prudence is a virtue, the right thing to do is
not always the safest and surest. If it were not for the
heart, we would all be very lonely and isolated people, and also very stuck. We
would not eat the pleasing food because the brain-in-the-head would warn us of
the danger involved and we would not eat what was good for us because the
brain-in-the-gut didn’t like its taste. The heart allows us to be open to
everyone and everything but keeps us from going overboard in either direction.
It does gut checks and brain scans to help us do what is right. We need to rely
more on our heart than on our head or our gut. WJP
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