THE BRAIN AND THE HEART

by Jorge D. Lomboy



The brain is the portion of the central nervous system that is responsible for the interpretation of sensory impulses, the coordination and control of bodily activities and the exercise of thought and motion.  The brain is also the functional equivalent of the head, the mind, the intellect, intellectual endowment and intelligence.

The brain as a physical structure has a narrow definition for it is confined, contained and fettered.  But the brain as a metaphor of the mind has a broad definition for the mind is unconfined, uncontained and unfettered.  In any event, these two parts of the body influence our choices, decisions and actions.  The choice and decision we make and the action we take form a battleground between the brain and the heart.  Which of the two is more important is an issue to be debated by neurologists and cardiologists.  All the man-made wonders and troubles in our world are sourced from the brain and the heart.

The heart is a hollow, muscular organ of vertebrates that pumps blood received from the veins into the arteries thereby supplying the entire circulatory system.  The heart is also the functional equivalent of compassion, kindness, love and sympathy.  The heart as an organ has a narrow definition for it is confined, contained and fettered.  But the heart as a metaphor has a broad definition for it is unconfined, uncontained and unfettered.  The heart as a metaphor is what makes us human and it is what humanity is all about.  Without the heart there is no such thing as humanity, the Sermon on the Mount is good for the idiots and the Ten Commandments would lose their validity.  Nothing but the heart holds the world intact and keeps relationships from falling apart.  When to use the brain and when to use the heart will make all the difference in our lives and the lives of others affected by our decisions.

There is a short distance, a very short distance, between the brain and the heart.  And yet, even as they are too near, they are too far.  Their longings and motivations are never the same to being irreconcilable as black and white.  The mind is rational as it appeals to argument, logic and reason.  It listens to reason and explanation before making decisions.  Argument, logic and reason are the light of the mind used to determine what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad, what is important and what is not important.  These lights are faculties of the mind that purge the heart.  The light of the mind is a source of power to build and construct as well as the power to corrupt and destroy.  In other words, the mind is not quite human as it is blind to compassion, to kindness, love and sympathy.

By contrast the heart is a feeling, an emotion and a throbbing.  Feeling and emotion are irrational.  The heart does not appeal to argument and logic, it doesn't listen to reason and explanation in making decisions.  Argument, logic and reason are banned when the heart is used to bear out, bail out, help out and reach out.  Compassion, kindness and love are the faculties of the heart that sometimes exclude the influence of the mind.  The heart is the till of charity in our within our body that blocks the light and the power of the mind.  We use our heart to determine what is human and what is inhuman, what loves and what is unloving.  In other words, the heart is human for it is blind to argument, logic and reason.

The distance between argument and compassion is inestimable.  The distance between logic and kindness is unfathomable.  The distance between reason and love is immeasurable.  The big difference in the workings of the mind and the workings of the heart is alluded to the tenuous relationship between God and man.  That difference is as distant as heaven and earth for heaven is a place where the heart works best while earth is a place where the mind works best.  There is an internal struggle between the reason of the mind and the love of the heart, and that internal struggle is our eternal trouble.  Many of the problems we face as individuals, as a community and as a society are caused by the light and power of the mind that keep suppressing the longings of the heart.  There is intelligence and literacy in the brain and there is light and power in the mind.  But all the workings of the brain are vain without the products of the heart.

The mind is a terrible thing to waste and the heart is a dreaded thing to lose.  We need to nurture both for life is bare and barren without one or the other.  All levels of education are designed to enrich our minds, dispel ignorance and bring us from darkness to enlightenment.  All the books we read and the lectures we hear contribute to the literacy we need in order to stay abreast in a competitive world of survival of the fittest.  It is the enriched mind that has given us the uncanny ability to cope with the vagrant demands of an exacting world.  No wonder leadership roles are a monopoly of the well-informed and the well-read whose brainwork puts us all to dance in the palm of their hands.  The power of the mind working in our brain is what we rely on for it projects the authority to make decisions affecting all of us.

We are stranded in poverty for we are governed by the laws, rules and regulations made by our best minds.  We are helpless and powerless because it is the mind and not the heart that has power, a power that passes in the bloodline.  Our best minds keep dabbling to eliminate poverty but behind closed doors charity begins and ends at home.  The mind knows what is wrong but cannot right it.  It sees suffering but cannot alleviate it and it sees injury but cannot heal it.  Ideas, policies, programs and legislation are products of the mind that are useless to people who are wronged, people who are suffering and people who are injured.  Knowledge alone doesn't solve problems, intelligence doesn't relieve hunger and wisdom doesn't fill necessity.  The mind may be filled with argument, logic and reason but when the heart is devoid of compassion, kindness and love, everything in the head is nothing.

People in our time and generation no longer care who much we know until they know how much we care.  Necessity needs the heart but not the mind.  It is useless to give a lecture to a hungry child just as it is vain to tell a smoker that it is bad to smoke if we give him an ashtray as a gift.  I don't need to hear any reason to make me believe that the mind is the light of life and I don't need to listen to any argument for me to postulate that the heart is the bread of life.  I saw the importance of the mind in my rigorous academic life which I had used to do the right thing.  I also saw the importance of the heart in my home life which I used to show the better angel of my nature.  Breaking the bread of life is far more rewarding to the needy than giving light to their minds.  The brain is not the answer, the head is not the remedy and the mind is not the solution to social injustice.

Everything would be a tumultuous affray with everyone to each his own when the mind dominates the heart, when argument overrides compassion, when logic overrules kindness and when reason overpowers love.  It is wrong to use the heart when we deal with people seeking truth and it is wrong to use the mind when we deal with people begging for their daily bread.  Careful balancing of the heart and mind is of utmost importance for good and evil dwell in the heart and in the mind.  If we could be punished for our thoughts and feelings, everyone would be incarcerated.  All weapons of mass destruction and all endowments of relief have their onset in the brain and the heart.