Checking In

Medical appointments. We have them. Some of us have them with much more frequency than others. Many of us have them with multiple medical professionals. Most of us aren’t thrilled when they roll around. That may or may not be because of the quality of care we receive. It’s more likely to be because of the condition we’re in.

But it’s important so we do it. We keep the appointments with the numerous medical providers. We know we need these checkups. So we go. We check in. And then we are checked on. Finally, we check it off the list for another stretch of time. And when the bill for the balance arrives, we write a check for what our co-pay didn’t cover. It’s all so very lovely, isn’t it?

We might have conflicted feelings about the state of medical care in our country these days. But we don’t know what we can do about it. And it’s likely we have conflicted feelings about these bodies of ours that require medical attention. And we sometimes don’t know what we can do with them either. So we monitor our blood pressure and step on the scales and down the prescribed medications and try to stay hydrated and maybe we exercise and maybe we don’t. We’re flesh and blood, after all, and – for better or for worse – mortal. This regimen of checkups won’t go on forever because we won’t.

But here’s the thing: we are more than flesh and blood while we walk this earth with breath in our lungs. We’re marvelously rich and complex creatures with a boatload of emotions, some of which we summon through our wily willpower and others of which ambush us without warning. Beyond that, we’re human beings who describe a feature of being human as having a “heart” that’s not the internal organ that causes us to visit a cardiologist. So that begs the question: how often do we check in on that “heart” part of us that plays such a big part in our lives? What are our hearts filled with? What do they chase after? Where do they lead us? Are they scarred and bruised and perhaps a little abused? Have others treated them kindly or have we sealed them off tightly from others of our kind? What keeps us from checking in on the condition of that which makes us most human?

Sufi poet Rumi wrote these words about this mysterious and magnificent part of us: “Heart is sea, language is shore. Whatever sea includes, will hit the shore.” Some care about what’s in their wallets. It’s infinitely more important to check in on what’s in our hearts.

Composed by Rev. Rebecca Taylor, Pastor, without engaging AI