Thursday, November 4, 2010

Give Me An Enlarged Heart



I hope I die of an enlarged heart.


“Wow! Hold on a minute” I can hear you saying. “Are you crazy?”

Not really. Just thinking about my life and whatever legacy I may leave behind to show that I passed this way. I would be hanging out with some pretty impressive individuals you know.

Mother Teresa had one. Mother Teresa was the epitome of compassion and caring to the world. She cared wherever she went. She had a heart of love and compassion that knew no bounds. She walked among the sick and afflicted, she served the poor, and she suffered with those physically racked with disease.

Mother Teresa had an enlarged heart.

Billy Graham has one. His passion and mission is and has been to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and around the world. He is one of the most consistent, focused and respected ministers this world has ever seen and he has remained a man of integrity and has stayed true to his purpose.

Billy Graham has an enlarged heart.

Patch Adams has an enlarged heart. His unorthodox medical practices have garnered him volumes of criticism and praise. He is passionate in recognizing the patient as a human being first, with a name, a personal identity and uniqueness.

Patch stated in an interview that “during my own hospitalization in a psychiatric ward I realized that many of the patients around me suffered from extreme loneliness. They didn't have people in their lives who loved them as I loved them.”

He made friends with the patients, and he soon discovered that the key to human happiness is having loving and caring people in your life. It was then that he decided that the best way to spread his newfound knowledge was by becoming a doctor.

Patch Adams has an enlarged heart.

One of the great feel-good movies of 2007 is a movie called Freedom Writers. Based on the life of Erin Gruwell. Freedom Writers tells the story of a school teacher in an inner city school system. She possessed compassion and a burning desire to make a difference in her students, and not let them become just another statistic on the charts of Wilson High School in Long Beach, California.

Erin’s heart appeared to be near the breaking point and she was close to defeat, but her enlarged heart beat another beat, and little by little she won the hearts of her students. They started paying attention; they learned, and they grew to love and respect this amazing woman named Erin Gruwell, who had an enlarged heart.

When you meet a person with an enlarged heart, rarely will you sense anything ‘wrong” with them. They don’t swell up, smell badly, look strange or take medication. Rather, people with an enlarged heart often live their lives without seeking a lot of public lime-light. They have an attitude of “What can I do for you today?”

What exactly is this enlarged heart thing all about? Here are just a few of the symptoms you’ll probably sense.

-Focus and a passion for something worthy for mankind
-A desire to make a positive difference
-A desire to leave people better for you having come along their pathway
-Demonstrating unconditional love
-An attitude and spirit of self-less giving

How is your heart? Is it a bit more swollen after thinking about this? You’ll change your world you know. You’ll most likely make a difference in the middle of mundane living.

I hope you become afflicted with an enlarged heart.

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