Reply To: A contrite heart and spirit

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Reply To: A contrite heart and spirit

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October 13, 2017 at 7:33 am #5156

Gary

Participant

Thank you for pointing this out. I think this is an important distinction. One can be “broken-hearted” for losing something or someone and feeling sorry for him/herself for the loss. This kind of broken-hearted is full of self. This kind of broken-hearted should, and does, lead us to desire something higher, holier, more substantial than the things of the world we might otherwise hold dear. As you wrote, the broken AND contrite heart is the one that has lost its connection with God, its moral compass so to speak, for having violated a law of God, and feels that loss. That is a healthy state, when you recognize that you have lost your connection with God and desire it more than anything.

Mrs. Eddy describes this experience well on page 266 of S&H: “Would existence without personal friends be to you a blank? Then the time will come when you will be solitary, left without sympathy; but this seeming vacuum is already filled with divine Love. When this hour of development comes, even if you cling to a sense of personal joys, spiritual Love will force you to accept what best promotes your growth. Friends will betray and enemies will slander, until the lesson is sufficient to exalt you; for ‘man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.'”