I will give you a new heart

and place a new spirit within you,

taking from your bodies your stony hearts

and giving you natural hearts. (Canticle of Ezekiel 36:24-28)

What would it be like to have a “new heart”? Not a new organ (a heart transplant) but a new attitude toward everything—myself, my family and friends, my work, the world I live in? What if my cynicism were replaced with humble gratitude? What if my selfishness gave way to charity and justice toward all? What if my words were perfectly aligned with my thoughts and actions? What if I were not a hypocrite but an honest and true man?

I am currently re-reading Charles Dickens’ novel Our Mutual Friend. It’s a complex, masterful set of interlocking stories which contrast honesty and simplicity with many different varieties of arrogance, falsehood and vanity. Some of Dickens’ characters are irredeemable—destined to come to a bad, and often bitter, end. But others experience forms of conversion and have their “stony hearts” replaced by new “natural hearts.” As always, the process of transformation is fascinating—never happening overnight, but always gradually with many obstacles to be overcome before the new hearts are firmly planted and take root. 

If I examine my conscience honestly, I have to admit that my own heart is partly stone and partly natural. I can be compassionate, but I can also be cruel. Depending on the issues (or persons) concerned, I can be fully engaged or totally disinterested. 

I ask the Lord to give me “a clean heart” and “a steadfast spirit” so that my stone-like heart will be replaced by one that is more consistently natural. I should be careful what I ask for.