Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The mind and heart in concert


Over the years it has become quite common for me to hear people invalidate something they actually know because, as they complain, they only understand it "intellectually". I often find myself recommending that they go ahead and use the intellect to coach the parts of them that don't understand yet.

I really like the way Kierkegaard expresses this:

It is a wonderful thing to see a first-rate philosopher at prayer. Tough-minded thinking and tenderhearted reverence are friends, not enemies. We have for too long separated the head from the heart, and we are the lesser for it. We love God with the mind and we love God with the heart. In reality, we are descending with the mind into the heart and there standing before God in ceaseless wonder and endless praise. As the mind and the heart work in concert, a kind of loving rationality pervades all we say and do. This brings unity to us and glory to God.


-- Søren Kierkegaard

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