I pushed on the door but it didn’t move more than a couple of inches. I pushed harder, but it didn’t make any difference. The door wasn’t entirely shut, but there was something behind it, preventing it from being entirely open. I peered into the darkness that was the electrical room to see a corner of one of the kids’ tumbling mats. They were lodged behind the entrance, thus preventing my access to the breaker-boxes. What would any other guy do? Shoulder the door, of course! Those mats are flexible, and I had a job to do!

I wrapped my left hand around the edge of the door, took the stance, and threw all of my 135 pounds into the door. The mats popped out, and the door swung wide and fast, and my middle finger, which happened to be reaching around the edge the furthest, found itself between one door and another; one of the breaker box doors had been left open. A jolt shot through my body, and for a couple of seconds, my mind didn’t function. I had managed to smash the nail of my middle finger. I saw the splatter of blood on the cold gray metal of the breaker box door, and felt the pain before I looked at my own hand, now covered in blood.

A loud swear rang out through the gym of the church. Of course, I was cussing in the room with the most reverberation, which also happened to be in the center of the church. After that little release, I staggered to the mens’ restroom just east of the gym. If one wanted to, they could follow a trail of blood, leading right to me. In the bathroom, I ran cold water over my disfigured finger. I watched transparent red liquid swirl before it disappeared down the drain. Aside from the pain, the only other thing I noticed was my heart beating. I could feel it pushing blood down my arm, and out of the damaged tissue.

The Jewish notion of heart is a little different than the one we have today. They saw it as the center of emotion, seat of appetites, the very center of a man. Their definition of heart appeals to our definition of brain. King Solomon was wise, when he penned,

Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.

When I think of issues, I think of dreams, relationships, pain, smashed fingers and swear words. Smashed, bloody fingers and swear words truly stand out as issues to me. The funny thing about something like a wrecked digit, a literal, physical example of pain, is that you can feel your heart beating there. Even more interesting, is that you don’t feel this muscle in your chest go into overdrive but rather, you feel it at the source of your pain, reverberating out. Your center-your heart might not have moved, but the most tangible expression of that center is apparent right where there’s action. Where an issue caught your attention.

God used Solomon to tell us to guard our heart because the heart has a presence in anything and everything that we find ourselves involved in. Frankly, our hearts might be tough enough to do a lot, but they’re still sensitive. I would liken a soft heart to a small dog, that we walk around on a long leash, in a world full of cougars and bears. A lot of bad can happen in that sort of situation, and the last thing we want is something that’s so central to our lives being broken, damaged, poisoned or hurt. Because just like that little dog, and just like the heart beat that rippled out from my finger into my arm, our hearts reach out.

Dogs like to see other dogs, chase squirrels, and pee on things. That’s why we have leashes, fences and kennels. Our heart’s function is to reach out to God and people, and that’s more difficult when it’s not functioning as it should be. So, with that in mind, guard your heart.

For easy application, seek understanding in every situation you find yourself in. This means relationships, events, traumas and dramas, and everything not mentioned here, because they will leave a mark. Memories linger, as do hurtful and healthy words. Know where any event or situation could take your heart, and make a decision to allow it, or learn from it instead.

In essence, the psalmist was telling us, that we need to take care of ourselves, because there’s a lot at stake when it comes to living.