Spiritual Connection of the Heart

A couple of years ago I learned of the passing of an Iranian friend. He was one of the multitude of people who got taken out of the game by the first wave of Covid that swept through the world. I first encountered Ali while he was visiting his refugee family here in Australia. Any of these folks would have a profound story to tell, and Ali was no exception.

In his case, he was a recovering alcoholic. Now, alcoholism is a tough gig wherever it occurs, but in a strictly Islamic country like Iran, where alcohol is taboo, it doesn’t take much imagination to know the painful rigors he endured. But here he was, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, sitting across a room from me. His English was very rudimentary, but as soon as he spoke, I felt a deep connection with him. Every intonation of his voice, every gesture of his well-worn hands, every twinkle in his kind eyes, told the tale of a man of God and then some.  

It was the most beautiful of all connections, a spiritual connection of the heart!

Hardly a word got exchanged between Ali and me, but as we came face-to-face a little later that evening, he just fell into my arms and we hugged, you know, a man hug thing. Our subsequent meetings followed a similar pattern. Words were superfluous in favor of the deep knowing that He and I were One, simply kindred spirits. It was the most beautiful of all connections, a spiritual connection of the heart! 

How is it possible that two strangers could make such a deeply felt connection? Martin Luther King Jr. famously said:

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” 

Despite our different backgrounds, Ali and I were both old fellas who’d been through the ringer and then got raised up from the ashes. In my experience, there is an unspoken comradery between people who have received this kind of healing from the hole in the soul. We just seem to have the intuitive ability to spot each other in a crowd and mysteriously connect in the realm of the Spirit.

Let me here draw upon my favorite Augustine quote:

“Our hearts are restless till they find rest in thee.”  

Augustine digs deeply into Hebrew and Christian scripture to come up with this concise, beautiful, and meaningful one-liner. There is an innate longing in the human heart for connection with the living Creator who is the source and crucial sustaining element of all life. Effectively, we’ve made for this connection of the heart. And make no mistake, as I’ve written previously on this blog, the heart is the primary focus of the biblical scribes. 

Connection with God always means heart connection with others.

Heart connection with the living God is the name of the game, but it only fully manifests when we connect with others. Connection with God always means heart connection with the other, every other. For in the end, we’ve all got the hole in the soul, comrades, and we all need liberating from the same. Ultimately, we are all kindred spirits, just longing for heart connection. Rest easy, my God-man friend! My old misfit mystic heart still feels your warm embrace.