Reading for the Day: Drowsy Hearts and Hearts Weighed Down

Because I posted late (am out of town and not techie enough to have roaming access, will probably be late again tomorrow), this post contains two essays in one.


Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life..
Luke 21: 34

I have more questions than I have answers about this passage but I am drawn to it. What I find interesting is the contrast on the one hand between carousing and drunkenness on the one hand and the anxieties of daily life on the other. 

The part about carousing and drunkenness is easier to understand especially when seen in the context of Jesus' stories of rich men who enjoy their wealth and suddenly die. 

But what captures my attention more is the drowsiness of heart caused by the anxieties of daily life. How does daily life make our hearts drowsy? Maybe someone is so absorbed in daily life that they fail to notice that God is already around. Their hearts are not alert. Or maybe their daily life is so mundane that their senses have deadened and they fail to notice that God is around. Or maybe Jesus was talking (or the evangelist was talking) about disciples who have stopped waiting for Jesus to come. They have allowed themselves to be preoccupied by the concerns of daily life. 

I found a different version: 

But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life.. 

This is a more comprehensible version of the same quote from www.mass-schedules.com. Hearts weighed down by cares of this life is more comprehensible. We may lose sight of what's important because of the cares of this life. 

What's also interesting from this quote is the word dissipation. In this case, I guess it means harmful self-indulgence but imagine if it meant lack of focus that weighs down our hearts. 


The use of the phrase "this life" is also interesting. Whatever version you choose, there is a common element of sensitivity to something more than this life and a heart that is oriented to that something more. A heart that does not indulge excessively in the pleasures of this life nor is weighed down with its cares and concerns. 


And finally this quote asks us to "take heed to ourselves", to check ourselves once in a while to make sure that neither pleasures nor the anxieties of daily life make our hearts drowsy, weighed down and overly absorbed in this life.