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Good morning

I recently underwent cardiology tests to see how my heart was doing. The results were good, I feel a certain reassurance about this aspect of my health at least. In fact my GP tells me that my heart beats at an almost perfect rate like that of a top athlete. I have no idea how this has come about, but I’m grateful.

This wonderfully sophisticated pump, the human heart, has come to symbolise much that is good and wholesome. We speak of someone with a good heart, tender-hearted or kind-hearted. And the Christian scriptures espouses the idea of a cleansed heart. ‘Give me a clean heart oh God, and renew my spirit within me’, the Old Testament character David is quoted as praying.

The heart then is the centre of all that is important about us; our self-consciousness, our emotions and importantly the flow of blood around our bodies. The story is told of someone who was unused to medical examination, objecting to a doctor monitoring her hear through a stethoscope, on the grounds that only God should listen to her heart because only God should know what is in her heart.

It is important to keep our hearts under surveillance because sometimes it does need urgent attention. And it was on this day in 1994 that the world’s first battery operated, dubbed ‘bionic’ heart, was fitted in Britain. Equipped with this new heart support, an unnamed patient with only months to live was given a new lease of life.

Oh God, renew our hearts physically and spiritually that we may lead healthy lives. Thank you for the growing wisdom of cardiologists, surgeons and the scientific community who can now help many to live better and longer lives, than was possible in the past. Amen.