The heart means love. A good heart means love to the Lord and to the neighbor, while a hard or stony heart means the love of self or the world -- riches and things. When the psalmist asks the Lord to search his heart, he wants the Lord to see what it is that he loves. And we are what we love. What we eat may form our earthly body, but it's only temporary, what we love forms our spiritual body, beautiful or ugly as we have chosen. It's interesting to note that the first multi-cellular motion of our embryo is the pulsating that starts in a twist of blood vessel that is to become our heart, and the last motion of our natural body is our heartbeat. It is there for all of our natural life. And of course there is a beating heart in our spiritual bodies when we come to put them on.

2203. “说, 我既已衰败, 岂能有这喜事呢” 表那真理所怀有的情感不愿改变自己的状态. 这从 “衰败” 和 “岂能有这喜事” 的含义清楚可知: “衰败” 是指要脱去人性, 因而改变状态, 如前面所解释的 (2198节); “岂能有这喜事” 是指不渴望这种事, 因而是指这不是它的情感. 从有关撒拉的论述 (2196节), 即 “撒拉站在那人后边的帐棚门口” 明显可知这些事是怎么回事. 也就是说, 对于真理, 人类理性具有这样的性质, 即它无法理解何为神性, 因为那真理沉浸于表象. 所以, 它不相信它无法理解的事, 并且它不相信的事也不会对它产生影响. 这理性所沉浸的表象则会对它产生影响. 因为这些表象本身就有快乐; 若失去这些表象, 它必以为再没有快乐可言; 而天堂的情感并不在表象中, 只在良善与真理本身中. 由于理性真理具有这种性质, 所以它值得原谅, 并被许可沉浸于表象, 以它们为乐. 当主将自己与神性联结起来时, 沉浸于表象的这种真理在此由撒拉来代表. 这解释了为何经上说, 她站在帐棚门口, “暗笑说, 我既已衰败, 岂能有这喜事呢?” 这句话表示理性真理所怀有的情感不愿改变自己的状态.