Heartstrings Part 2
November 18, 2025
Heartstrings Part 2
Why do we feel such empathy when we see injustice, pain, or human need? Because our heart's center of intelligence instantly tells us that something is not right. Something has gone against the human spirit or our sense of decency, sense of morality, fairness, or human dignity. The heart does not stop to analyze; it responds. In harmony with the body’s instinctive center, it brings tears, compassion, or even the urge to act. In this way, our heartstrings become part of our moral compass.
But our heartstrings do not pull only for the suffering of others. They are also stirred by experiences that mirror our own joys and struggles. Our empathy deepens when we recognize ourselves in another’s story.
The heart center of intelligence is a divine gift, our inner barometer of feeling. Without it, we would move through life relying only on mind and body, unable to sense what we love or what truly matters. Through the heart, we experience such divine emotions as forgiveness, connection, compassion, grace, and mercy.
When we speak of “heartstrings,” we usually mean the emotions that awaken our tenderness, empathy, and love. They remind us that we are deeply, beautifully human, and that the Divine still moves through the cords of our hearts.
However, the heart also holds our painful emotions, such as anger, envy, resentment, cowardice, vengeance, greed, shame, and fear. These may not pull our tender strings, but they pull those that cause negative emotions. If they invade the heart, they can overtake our tender, warm, and vulnerable emotions. Though these negative feelings are not pleasant, they must be felt and understood. But to be overtaken and dominated by them is counter-productive to the spiritual life.
So, when we say, “from the heart,” we must be aware that our hearts hold even the vilest of emotions as well as our compassionate ones. In The Godfather, Vito Corleone’s comment, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse,” came from his heart, but it was a heart overtaken by greed and tyranny. Such comes from a passion for dominating, manipulating, and gaining vengeance on others. Again, this is why negative heart feelings are associated with suffering and are referred to in Enneagram studies as the passions.
Jesus reminded us to keep our hearts pure. He said this in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Interestingly, Jesus said, “They shall SEE God.” This tells me that our harmful and destructive emotions blind us to the Divine. Keeping my heart pure when I see so much violence, egocentricity, dishonesty, and the misuse and deaths of innocent people in the world is a great challenge for me. My negative heartstrings get pulled every day.
However, in the spiritual life, we have an edge on whether we allow these negative emotions to take over. We can take a conscious pause and stop ruminating on negative emotions. We give them to the Higher Power instead of allowing them to “pull” us down. After all, what good are we for the cause of consciousness if we are heavily laden with our passions that we cannot see the Divine? In acknowledging the negative feelings, in refusing to allow them to take over, and in asserting the Higher Power, we become more powerful agents for universal change.
Spiritual practice: What pulls your tender heart strings and your negative ones? Compare and contrast these, and how they add or detract from your spiritual life.
Self-inquiry: How has a negative emotion blocked you from seeing the Divine?
Prayer:
Dear God, In your mercy, you pull on my heartstrings every day. I am thankful. Amen
