\V~ JLSV1 o.WJ ~4e. d~d 16 "..
8~o~v ~T t
-/
Does the Heart Think?
\ Until recently, people consid-
L tem three times every minute.
~ ered the heart to be simply a mus-
cle that pumps blood to the rest of .
~-
If;
the body. However, the One Who
~:
designed the heart ascribes to it the
t"
f:
capacity to think and reason,1 feel
~;
emotion/ and make decisions.3
~
~i In recent years, there has been
~..
~. a renewed interest in studying
~ the capability of the heart to func-
~.
\; tion as an intelligence center.4,5,6
~
~ What researchers have found is
~
both amazing and vital to our
~. ability to achieve total health.
I'0; When we understand this aspect
[;
~.. of our lives, we will realize why
W
God warns us to guard the heart
!f "with all diligence; for out of it
,.
are the issues of life."7
The Marvels of
the Heart
The endurance and efficiency
of a healthy, average heart are
amazing! The heart beats 100,000
times a day, pumping 2,000 gallons
of blood through 60,000 miles of
veins, arteries, and capillaries.
During an average lifetime, the
human heart will beat more than
2.5 billion times! It will pump
about 1 million barrels of blood-
enough to fill more than three
supertankers!S
The body contains only about
-'s of blood, which circulates
[Khumanheart
through the cardiovascular sys-
pumps enough blood during
its lifetime to fill more than
three supertankers! But that
The Brain of is just the beginning of its
marvelous wonders.
the Heart
Researchers were baffled
when they discovered that the
heart begins its incredible func-
tions before the brain is developed
in the womb. Recent discoveries
have revealed that the heart con-
tains cells that make and release a
large number of neurotransmitters,
which were previously thought
to be produced only in the brain.
This discovery further affirms
that the heart has its own "brain,"
which communicates with the
brain in the head through the ner-
vous system, hormonal system,
and other pathways.9,lO,ll g: by the belief system
of the heart that we think,
The Electrical System speak, and act. This is a vital
The heart produces an electri- principle of total health.
cal field that is sixty times You will never control the words
strongen:than the field produced
of your mouth with your brain,
by the brain, and the magnetic because" out of the abundance of
field of the heart is five thousand
the heart the mouth speaketh.1I13
times stronger fhan the field gen-
erated by the brain.12 .
"Those things which proceed out of
The normal frequency range the mouth comeforth from the heart; and
of the electrical activity in the they defile the man. For out of the heart
brain is between 0 and 100 Hz, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulter-
whereas the normal frequency of ies, fornications, thefts, false witness,
the heart is 250 Hz. Input from blasphemies. "14
15
 l:

the heart to the brain can either
inhibit or facilitate the activity of
the brain. In his book Everyday
Miracles by God's Design, Dr.
David Jernigan writes: "Within
this context the heart is considered
a single entity.The 'brain in the heart'
is a network of neurons, neuro-
transmitters, and proteins that send
messages between neurons."15
Like the brain, the heart has
support cells and a complex cir-
cuitry that enables it to act inde-
pendently, learn, remember, and
.." produce the "feeling of the heart"16
The type of information sent
. from the heart to the brain has
a ~electtomagneriC a profound effect on higher
field of the heart is like a functions, influencing percep-
d
tions, emotions, and thought
. huge radio tower that sends processes.17.l8.l9The heart is the
. out signals to the world. primary means by which a per-
son seeks and perceives God.
. God points out, "Ye shall seek
me, and find me, when ye shall
. search for me with all your heart"20
The psalmist testified, "With my
whole heart have I sought thee: 0
let me not wander from thy com-
I mandments."21 In order to control
1 our thoughts, we must go beyond
:l the "battle for the mind" and
J engage in a "battle for the heart"
If stressful thoughts are al-
lowed fo go from your mind to
your heart, they will become a
part of your belief system and
impair your body's resistance,
allowing sickness and disease. It
is certainly true that as a person
"thinketh in his heart, so is he."23
A New Look at
"Am "
usement
The type of entertainment
that you allow yourself to enjoy
will have a profound effect on the
belief system of your heart and,
thus, the words of your mouth,
the decisions you make, and the
actions you carry out in your life.
The word amuseis made up of
two words from the Old French:
A means "to," and muser means
"to divert." It implies diverting
attention from what is serious
or important. To be amused is to
bypass your mind and not to
think about what is going directly
to your heart's belief system.
The type of music you listen
to is especially important, because
music is the most powerful form
of worship. For this reason, the
command to be filled with God's

: t Spirit is followed by instructions

: ~
'""
1 ~low &equency of
)
the heart is siniilar to the sonar
frequency used in submarines
( in that it can transmit unhin-
dered to faraway locations.
Music bypasses the brain and
becomes a part of the heart's
J belief system.
, imaginations, and every high
How Stress Affects
the Heart
When a thought enters your
mind, you have an immediate
resp.pnsibility to filter it through
God's wisdom and rejectit if it does
not acknowledge the way, truth,
and life of Christ Paul explains:
"The weapons ot' our warfare are
. . . mighty. . . Casting down
thing that exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bring-
ing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ."22
to sing and make melody in our
hearts to the Lord.24
There are two powerful mes-
sages that come from music. The
first and most powerful is the
message of the music. The second
and less powerful is the message
of the lyrics.
The tremendous effect of
melodious music on the health of
a person is seen in King Saul's
deliverance from overpowering
rage by David. When David
played melodious music on his
harp, the evil spirits could not
stand to listen to it, and they left,25
 I

Factor 1: What We Think

The thoughts of your intellect shall deliver me from the body of

are ideas that can change with
new information. However, the
thoughts of your heart make up
your belief system and dictate
what you think, say, and do.l
If you have ever tried to con-
trol every word you say, you have
no doubt experienced how im-
possible that is. Scripture ex-
plains the problem: "The tongue
can no man tame; it is an unruly
evil, full of deadly poison."2
Why is the tongue so untam-
able? The tongue is not controlled
by the intellect, will power, or
emotions. It is controlled by the
belief system of the heart: "For
out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh."3 Therefore,
if you want to control your tongue,
this death?"5
The Heart and Health
The belief system of the heart
controls the release of neuro-
transmitters and hormones that
determine health. For example,
studies have shown that people
who have faith have stronger
immune systems and better health
than those who do not.6
Faith comes by the Word of
God, which should make up the
belief system of the heart. Every
system in the body is directly
affected by the thoughts of the
heart. Joyful thoughts will
strengthen the immune system7 as
Scripture states: "A merry heart
doeth good like a medicine: but a
6..ch plallethas a fre-
quency that is in harmony
with every other planet.9
If our music is not in harmony
with God's universe, we will lack
inward peace and suffer in our
health.
The attraction and addiction of
loud, dissonant sound is that it
causes a continuous adrenaline
rush. This activates other hor-
monal impulses and disorders.
iii
~ "If"" .'
/
~
'."(:<"

"""",,/,,,
"-:'.
you must first change the belief
system of your heart. broken spirit drieth the bones."8 1/
\<';"""
;l"" ,,;1"'- ~ '4.~ "!';Ai.'\)
~ '.Iff .,Ii[" - ~ /"... '-'(
A clear demonstration of the
Similarly, you may know in .~ "i.~,!~f
'~:~
!{~~,
( .' rL.L!>";~'i,fI.j~<,
your intellect that certain behav- influence that thoughts have on !J
ior is wrong, hate the deeds of health is seen in the results of dJ ;'~;~;~S.i'~~j~

that behavior with your emotions, patients who take placebos. A

and purpose with your will that
you will no longer behave in such
a way. All of this is to no avail,
because the belief system of your
heart will control your actions.4
Thus Paul writes: "For what
I would [do), that do I not; but
what I hate, that do I. . . . 0
wretched man that I am! who
placeb~is used to measure the
effectiveness of a proposed drug.
While certain. patients are given
the actual drug, others are given
something that looks like the
drug but contains nothing of
substance.
A surprising number of test
subjects who take a placebo
:y:'average American',
life expectancy is 77 years.
More than three hundred
top rock stars' had an average
life span of 37 years, while
orchestra conductors have a
life expectancy of 89 years.IO,n
17
 actually get better, because they
believe in their hearts that it will
work,12In some studies, the num-
ber of patients who were helped
by the placebo was the same as
the number of those helped by
the drug-and the placebo had
no damaging side effectsP3,14
Jesus points out the connec-
~ is a key factor in
healing. But faith mu~t be
tion between the beliefs of the
heart and faith that can accom-
plish miraculous works: "Verily
I say unto you, That whosoever
based on Scripture. On the
shall say unto this mountain, Be
Mount of Olives, Jesus spoke thou removed, and be thou cast
of faith moving "this moun-
into the sea; and shall not doubt
c:
tain." This teaching was based in his heart, but shall believe that
on Zechariah's prophecy that those things which he saith shall
( dereth all his going.
one day this will happen.21 come to pass; he shall have what-
soever he saith."15
The Power of Thoughts
for Life or Death
There is a reason why the
Bible warns us to guard our
hearts with all diligence. The is-
Ij sues of life and death that come
j'
out of it affectnot only us but also
~
everyone around us.
Jesus applied this principle to
~ 0>.,,"'1 OTwWui,s,l"r.",ilyp,"I~,"'m
lust. He said, "Whosoever looketh
~ on a woman to lust after her hath
.;
, committed adultery with her al-
~ould have been
ready in his heart."16
more profitable for Samson Notice that Jesus does not just
~ to have lost one eye than to say that the lustful man commits
have had both eyes gouged aduJ!~ry in his heart but rather
out, lost his freedom, and that he commits adultery with her.
His lust has a destructive effect on
been forced to labor in a cold
her heart as well as his own.
prison, serving his enemies The effectthat the thoughts of
amid the taunt and ridicule our hearts have on other people
of curious onlookers. can be understood by the fact that
someone can often sense when a
person behind him is staring at
him. He cannot see or hear the
1~
person. But the frequency and
magnetic field of the person's
heart directly affects the frequency
and magnetic field of his heart in
a negative or a positive way.
Often girls are plagued by
immoral thoughts and wonder
what is causing them. It rarely
occurs to them that their immod-
est dress will cause men to lust
after them in their hearts.
Scripture challenges young
men to be strong in this area:
"Why wilt thou, my son, be rav-
ished with a strange woman,and
embrace the bosom of a stranger?
For the ways of man are before
the eyes of the LORD,and he pon-
"His own iniquities shall take
the wicked himself, and he shall
be holden with the cords of his
sins. He shall die without instruc-
tion; and in the greatness of his
folly he shall go astray."17
No wonder Jesus counsels
that it would be better to lose a
right eye or hand than to have our
whole bodies cast on the rubbish
heap with disease and death.1s
The beliefs of the heart can
lead to either health or destruc-
tion: "For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies: These are the things
which defile a man."19
The evil thoughts that pro-
duce the corruptions of sickness,
disease, and premature death stem
from seven destructive stresses.
These stresses are given by
Jesus in the Sermon on the
Mount. They are anger, guilt, lust,
bitterness, greed, fear, and envy.
Each of these stresses directly
affects the systems of the body,
determining health or sickness.2o
~vJl, -
b-A.\~~~
-
~IIJ -IoA-O\p.t'

'W-/v,pit> f,)~l, ~ 1111

~ to j301~ CO'-

MAKING THE CHOICE FOR HEALTH

V ictor Frankl was a psychiatrist and a Jew. Nazis imprisoned him

in the death camps of World War II Germany, where he expe-
rienced things so repugnant to a normal person's sense of decency
that he could scarcely reduce them to words.
~, Frankl's parents, brother, and wife died in the camps or were mur-
dered in the gas ovens. Of his immediate family, only his sister sur-
vived the camps. Frankl himself suffered torture and innumerable
indignities, never knowing from one moment to the next if his captors
would send him to the ovens or leave him among those who were
"saved" and left with the task of removing the bodies or shoveling out
the ashes of those who had been cremated while they were still alive.
One day, naked and alone in a small room, Frankl began to
become aware of what he later called "the last of the human free-
doms"-the one freedom his Nazi captors could not take away.
Frankl openly acknowledged that the Nazis could control his entire
l'nvironment and do what they wanted with his body. They could
not, however, destroy his inner identity. He saw himself as a self-
nware human being who had an ability to be a somewhat objective
(Ibserver of his situation. He still had the power within himself to
dctermine how his outer circumstances and the Nazis' treatment of
him were going to affect his inner self. He saw that there was a gap
hctween what happened to him (the stimulus) and his reaction to the
~timulus (response), and that in that gap lay the freedom or power to
dJOose a response. I

139

,~.

DEADLY EMOTIONS
Frankl came face-to-face with the reality that his own choices,
not his circumstances, defined his identity. No matter how horrify-.
ing the environment in which he lived, and no matter how much~
humiliation and degradation others heaped upon him, he was stil\;;
in control of how he chose to respond. .'1
The same is true for each one of us.
No matter what you may have been through, even unspeaka.~I~1
pain, you are still in control of your identity. No event can change III!
you on the inside unless you allow it to do so. No person can cau~e!@,
you to respond in a particular way on the inside unless you choose
to react that way. The freedom to forge your own opinions, ideas"j
attitudes, and choices rests solely and uniquely with you.
THE POWER OF YOUR,ATTITUDE
AA~
I recently read a, short'es~ay on attitude by Charles Swindoll.
, ..
wrote: . "'l.
Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our
attiiudetoward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become
that life is 10 percent what happens to us'and 90 percent how we,i~
respond to it.
I believethe single most significantdecision I can make on a
day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than
my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures,
fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my
circumstances,or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples
my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my,:~
attitudes are right, there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, !'~
no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.
Stengthening Your Grip
by CHARLESR. SWINDOLL
Insight for Living, www.insight.org
(Nashville, Tenn.: W Publishing Group, 1982), pp."206-7
Used by permission of Insight for Living, Piano, TX 75026
140
IU " 1I'!r-'I~""
~
"
,;« MAKING THE CHOICE FOR HEALTH
All deadly emotions, to some extent, derive from our attitudes. And
attitudes are something we can control. You can choose how you
will think and feel about any circumstance, event, or relationship in
your life. You can choose to a very great extent how you deal with
grief, resentment, bitterness, shame, jealousy, guilt, fear,I worry,
depression, anger, hostility, and all other emotional situations that
readily trigger physical responses. "
The first step you need to take toward health is to reflect upon
your oWn attitudes. Own up to the attitudes you have. Ask your-
self, "Is this the way I want to thinl('and believe?"
'IIJ
CHECK IN WITH YOUR REAL SELF
As we discussed in an eadier chapter, your "heart" is the real yom
H~ ~~ Even before the brain of a fetus forms, a tiny heart begins to beat.
Scientists don't know what makes it begin its long journey of beating
for seventy, eighty, or more years. Medical practitioners use the word
110 autorhythmic to describe how a heart begins beating all by itself.
While the source of the heart's beating is foupd within the heart
itself, researchers believe the brain controls the timing of each beat.
Even so, a heart does not need to be "hardwired" to the brain. to con-
11 tinue a steady, rhythmical beating. When a surgeon is harvesting a
heart for transplantation, he severs the nerves running to the deceased
person's brain. He then places the heart into another person's, chest
and restores. the beat. Surgeons do not know how to reconnect the
III nerves of the newly installed heart to the brain, so a connection
between the two organs is lost, at least temporarily. Nevertheless, the
new hear~ that is jump-started continues to beat, beat, beat.
How can this be? In recent years neuroscientists have discovered
that the heart has its own independent nervous system. At least forty
~U thousand nerve cells (neurons) exist in a human heart. That's the
\II same amount found in various subcortical (beneath the cerebral cor-
tex) centers of the brain.2 In other words, the heart is more than a
mere biological pump. These abundant nerve cells give it a thinking,
141
<!!'
.-. "'
"
 DEADLY EMOTIONS
feeling capability.
The heart's "brain" and the nervous systemrelay messagesback
and forth to the brain in the skull, creating a two-way communication
between these two organs. In the 1970s physiologists John and.
Beatrice Lacey of the Fels Research Institute found a flaw in current
popular thinking about the brain. The popular approach was to
assume that the brain made all of the body's decisions. The Laceys'
research indicated otherwise.
Specifically, these researchers found that while the brain may
send instructions to the heart through the nervous system, the heart
doesn't automatically obey. Inste,ad, the heart seems to respond at
times as if it is "considering" th~ information that it has received.
Sometimes when the brain sends an arousal signal to the body in
response to external stimuli, the heart speeds up, as might be
expected. On other oifasions, however, the heart slows down while
all other organs are aroused as expected.
The selec~ivity of the heart's response suggested to the Laceys
II
that the heart does not mechanically respond to the brain's signals.
Rather, the heart seems to have an opinion of its own".which it
communicates back to the brain.
What was even more interesting in the Laceys' research was theli
fact that the messages that the heart sent to the brain seemed to bq~
ones that the brain not only understood but obeyed. In effect, heart.,
and brain hold an intelligent dialogue. At times the heart submits
to the brain, and on other occasions the brain seems to submit to
the heart. The messages from the heart appear to be capable of
affecting an individual's behavior.3
The ultimate "real you" is a composite of what your heart tells
your brain, your brain tells your heart, and your will decides to
believe, say, and do. c o i--o ~ 'f""f'~ -l)o(!.~ \-te. ~ -. y4li11~
COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR OWN HEART
Two of the most powerful antidotes I know for toxic emotions are
142
MAKING THE CHOICE FOR HEALTH
these:
. Communicating with your own heart
. Learning to live in the love that flows from the heart
\
King David talked to his own heart. He asked of himself, "Why
are you cast down, 0 my soul? And why are you disquieted within
me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His coun-
tenance" (Ps. 42:5).
You may feel silly "talking to your heart," but do it anyway! Voice
to yourself what it is that you are feeling most deeply. Just venting the
words will do two things: it will clarify to you what you truly are feel-
ing, and you will give release to some of your pent-up emotions.
Notice that David did not only admit to himself that he was
downcast in his soul. He went on to tell himself, "Hope in God!"
He went on to say of his chosen course of action, "I shall yet praise
Him." Furthermore, David said he would praise God for the "help
of His countenance." He praised God not for a specific act that
God had taken or would take, but for the sheer help of knowing
that God was present with him.
These three steps David took in his "soul conversation" are
very important. You can follow his lead:
1. Admit to yourself-speaking aloud-what it is that you
are feeling. .
,jj 2. Voice aloud your decision to hope in God.
3. Voice aloud your decision to praise God for who He is in
your life. Acknowledge His near presence and His
continual availability to you.
David went on to voice these same concepts to God in prayer:
"0 my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore I will remem-
ber You" (Ps. 42:6).
Turn from speaking to yourself to speaking to God. Admit to God
143
,.
 DEADLY EMOTIONS
every day listening to your heart. And then:
your feelings. Cast your concerns on Him and voice your decision to
trust Him-to remember that He is with you and will always be faith-
ful to you.
What is required for effective communication with your heart?
You must become quiet and do your best to turn off the constant
mental tapes that are playing in your head, to turn away from the
remembrance of painful hurts and frustrations. The heart speaks in
a quiet whisper. Many people find it helpful to focus on events or
people in their lives that have brought joy, love, happiness, and peace.
Also develop an attitude of gratitude and appreciation by focusing
on all the good things in your life rather than the traumas or nega-
tive things that have happened.
-1 THE HEART SPEAKS IN A QUIET WHISPER.
~,
~ .
Ask your heart;
. "What is it that you are really feeling?"
. "Why are you really feeling this way?"
. "What good thing are you really hoping for?"
. "What good thing do you want to see done?"
The heart speaks in the quietest of voices. You may feel a little
internal "nudge" or a sense of warning. Give your heart the bene-
fit of communicating its wisdom to your brain.
I cannot tell you how many of my cancer patients tell me th~y
"just knew" they had cancer even before they were diagnosed. In
contrast, I've had patients tell me they were so afraid they had can-
cer, even though deep down inside they didn't believe it was really
so, that they seemed surprised when a physician told them they
were healthy. These people had allowed fear to cloud the messages
from their own hearts. I encourage you to spend a few minutes
144
MAKING THE CHOILt: rv" ..~..-
. Speak words of encouragement to your heart.
. Voice words of appreciation for life's blessings-words
thanks and praise to God.
of
. Recall events in your life when you experienced
tremendous joy, peace, or love.
. Speak words of acknowledgment about personal
accomplishments, reflections of noble character, or acts of
kindness or ministry to others. If nobody else openly
acknowledges the goodness of the Lord manifested in and
through your life, acknowledge this to yourself.
Read aloud the Word of God to your heart. I recommend
that you place an emphasis on the words of Jesus in the
New Testament, the book of Proverbs, and the books of
1,2, and 3 John.
. Voice your heartfelt prayers and concerns to God, beginning
with a time of giving God thanks for all He has done, is
doing, and has promised to do. Speak your praise to God
.
for who He is.
Give God your frustrations, fears, and anger. Turn over your
anxious thoughts to Him. The Bible tells us, "Let [God]
have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking
about you and watching everything that concerns you"
(1 Peter 5:7 TLB).
. Ask God to fill your heart with His love and presence.
Openly invite the Holy Spirit to impart to you the fruit of
His presence in you, which includes "love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23).
When you experience God in your heart, you will also experi-
145
 DEADLY EMOTIONS
ente His love. The Bible says the two are inseparable: "He who does
not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8).
IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
IN YOUR HEAD OR HEART?
Pastor Jack Frost has spoken eloquently about having a heartrela-
tionship with God. He contrasts this with having a "mind experi-
ence with doctrine," which leads a person to become judgmental
and legalistic. Legalism is cold and harsh compared to the warmth
and wonder of divine love. i\~
Frost's father was a stern, rejecting man who was impossibfe
to please. Frost perceived that God operated in the same way. He'
continually sought to win God's approval and love in the ways'ih~
had sought his fathe~§. Instead, he found what he calls "co~g
abandonment. "
Eventually ,frost's own family fell into a serious crisis time. His
wife became deeply depressed. His children exhibited numerous
behavioral problems. His own heart was warped by cold jUdgmen!"
talism and legalism.
Then one day as Frost was crying out to God, the Spirit of God~
ministered to him in an amazing way. Frost lay on the floor as waye
after wave of God's love swept over him. He wept uncontrollably
for quite a time as God's love pushed the hidden core of pain to the II
surface of his heart and then washed it away. ,;11
When Frost finally stood up, he was a new man. He said, "I had
a radical encounter with Jesus that changed the moral issues of rriyj'
I~ "" life." He felt in touch with his own heart for the first time in many
years. He saw his heavenly Father as loving and in turn, he felt love
instead of fear, rejection, judgment, bitterness, or pain. In those"m.
moments pf supernatural "heart-soaking," the pendulum of his heartfl
and God's own beating heart fell into a synchronized rhythm.4
I have had a number of patients who grew up with a father simi-
lar to Jack Frost's. They have rehearsed tales of criticism, judgment,
and hate that at times have made me feel great disgust and sadness
146
II
'.
MAKING THE CHOICE FOR HEALTH
on their behalf. Some of these fathers have told their children, ver-
hally or nonverbally, that they were and are stupid, worthless, and
incapable of any form of genuine achievement.
Every child has the basic need to be loved without condition-
t'o be loved simply because he is, solely because he is a creation God
entrusted to this earth. Infants who are held, kissed, and hugged on
n regular basis are usually much healthier emotionally than those
who are held infrequently. Touching is a vital component of thriv-
ing for an infant and young child.
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL COMMUNICATION
OF THE HEART TO THE BODY
As you learn to communicate with your own heart and release posi-
tive feelings of love to your own soul, your heart in turn communi-
cates this message of well-being to your body through the release of
helpful hormones and neurotransmitters. The most powerful channel
of heart communication to the body, however, is through the heart's
dectromagnetic field, which is about five thousand times greater in
strength than the electromagnetic field the brain produces.s
Scientists are able to detect electronic information the heart sends
through a .brain-wave test called an electroencephalogram (EEG).
Gary Schwartz and his colleagues at the University of Arizona found
in their experiments that neurological or other established communi-
cation pathways could explain the complex patterns of cardiac activ-
ity in our brain waves. In other words, acting somewhat like military
code breakers in World War II, these researchers had to learn "the
language of the heart." Their data showed the existence of direct
energetic interaction between the electromagnetic field of the heart
and that produced by the brain.
In addition, heart rates tended to send varying messages to the
brain and body.6 When a person is fearful, for example, the heart
speeds up, sending a signal to the entire body. When a person is
content and happy, heart rate slows, telling the entire nervous sys-
tem that the person is feeling good.
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DEADLY EMOTIONS
A seventeenth-century clock maker discovered a fascinatin~
principle that we can apply to this matter of the heart's beating,
Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock, and with gr~at
pride he manufactured a collection of his clocks to sell. One daYi:;as
he lay in bed, staring at his clock collection on the other side of"tft~
room, he noticed that all of the pendulums were swinging in uni~Qn,
even though he knew with certainty they'hadn't started out that"W'!y.
Huygens got out of bed and restarted the pendulums, purppse-
ftilly ~etting them at different times to break the synchronized rhythm.
To his amazement, in fairly short order, the pendulums began swing~
ing together again."
Later, scientists discovered that it was the largest clock with the
strongest rhythm that was pulling the other pendulums into sync
wit~ it~elf. The1;~gavethis ph~nomenon the name "entrainmd~tJ'7
whIch ISapparent throughout nature.
The .fact is, the strongest biological oscillator,in the body isi"tl1e
<
heart. It acts in a way similar to Huygens's clocks. The heart has
the ability to pull every other bodily system into its own rhythm,
whatever ,that may be. When the heart is at peace or filled wi~p
love, it communicates harmony to'the entire body. And conversely,"
when toxic emotions have triggered the heart to beat in an irregt::(c
lar y, to beat harder, or to beat faster, the heart commun!id~es'l
the v ry opposite of peace to the other organs of the body. I ~
WHEN THE HEART IS AT PEACE OR FILLED WITH LOVE, IT
COMMUNICATES HARMONY TO THE ENTIRE BODY.
1111 Spiritually speaking, when you experience God's peace,
IIII
heart communicates peace to every fiber of your being. Each?;ua
every organ experiences that rest. When a person experiences Gq~Vs
love and the love of other people, the heart in similar fashion som-
municates that love to his mind and to his entire body. When love
fills your heart, your entire body takes something of an emotional
plunge into healing.
The greatest Physician and Healer who ever lived, Jesus Christ,
148
.1,
MAKING THE CHOICE FOR HEALTH
explained this phenomenon in His own terms: "It is not what goes
into a man that defiles a man, but what comes out of his heart"
(Matt. 15:16-18, author's paraphrase).
A patient named Hal came to me because he was experiencing
palpitations in his ,heart. I told him that each time he had one of
these episodes, he needed to stop and listen to his heart instead of
his head, which was telling him he was having a heart attack and
he needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. I said tdHal,
"Take a daily 'heart-soak.~," By that I meant that Hal needed to get
into a quiet place of prayer eaehday and all~.whis heart to experi-
ence the things that it desired: gentle moments, quiet gratitude,
small pleasures. I instructed Hal to spend at least ten minutes a day
"soaking" his heart in the things he loved.
One thing Hal loved greatly was his youngest grandson, Josh.
Josh adored Hal and mimicked everything he did. In his time of
"heart-soaking," Hal began pullihg thoughts and feelings from
deep inside his heart that were identical to the thoughts and feel-
ings he had when Josh visited him. I encouraged him to savor the
pleasure of those experiences and to begin thanking God one by
one for each and every precious encounter he had enjoyed with his
grandson.
Soon, every time Hal's stress began to trigger palpitations, he
was able to pull Josh's photo out of his wallet, get in touch with his
heart, and quietly thank God for this precious child. He and his
wife, Frances, started taking walks together in the woods, some-
thing they had done when they were dating. Hal loved the smell of
ii-
moist earth in the woods and the grand elegance of the chestnut
t«e
"IJ
trees growing on his property. In fact, he had initially purchased the
property for its trees, but somehow through the years he had for-
gotten to appreciate their beauty anq grandeur. I
It wasn't long before Hal's heart palpitations stopped. More
important to Hal, however, was the fact that he had learned to
enjoy his life again. He had learned to listen to his own heart.
Begin to practice an attitude of gratitude and appreciation. In
Philippians 4:4, Paul says, "Rejoice ip.the Lord always. Again I will
149
 DEADLY EMOTIONS

say rejoice." Paul was writing to the church in Philippi, which was
a Roman colony. Paul, however, wrote this letter from prison.
Judgment for Paul was imminent, and conditions were harsh for
him, and yet Paul also wrote from prison in Ephesians 5:20, "giv- 12
ing thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ." Where the mind goes, the health of your
body will follow. If your mind is full of anxiety, fear, anger, depres-
sion, and guilt it chronically stimulates the stress response which
REPLACING DISTORTIONAL
opens the door for disease to enter the body. I believe that many THINKING WITH TRUTH
diseases, such as autoimmune disease and cancer, are directly related
to deadly emotions. It's like deadly emotions are flipping a self-
destruct switch in your body.
Start practicing appreciation and thanksgiving on a daily basis.
Compliment your wife, children, coworkers, and friends regularly.
P
.
eople avoided Milt, and it was no wonder. In a crowded, busy
restaurant Milt was known to pull his shirt out of his slacks,
unzip his trousers, and show off his abdominal scars from various
Begin to compliment or give words of appreciation to strangers
such as waiters, store clerks, toll-booth operators, and people that surgical procedures. No matter how a conversation with him
you come in contact with daily. Instead of pointing out their faults, started, he eventually ended it with one or more of his many tales
of "rare and unusual diseases" he had experienced.
begin to see their strengths. I remember complimenting a toll-booth
operator for the great job he was doing and how his line moved After nearly two decades of diligent effort to <;onvince the
bureaucrats a'ssociated with disabilities that he really was "dying"
faster than all the others. His face beamed with pride. Most people
yearn for others to acknowledge and recognize the good job that of emphysema, Milt finally won his case.~ttHe was absolutely
they are doing. It is true that people will work harder for recogni- delighted over the fact that the government had affirmed his state
of chronic sickness, and he rarely stopped talking about it.
tion than for money.
Agnes was similar in some respects, although her chronic dis-
eases were different. She was a very short, extremely obese woman
who scheduled her week around visits to chiropractors, doctors,
D

massage therapists, various medical specialists, and other people

she hoped would help her feel better. Only in her early thirties, she
looked and acted much older. People often mistook her for a retired
person. After years of visits to a long list of medical-care providers,
she had finally rec~ived a diagnosis of chronic fatigue, arthritis, and
fibromyalgia. She wore that diagnosis like a badge of honor. She
spoke of little else.
I encountered Milt and Agnes shortly after I began my medical
practice, and frankly, they puzzled me. I had never before encountered

151