A Cloudy Heart; Beware the Leaven; the Sign of Jonah Is Not What You Think
week in review for the week ending june 15th
The Heart is a Resonator and the Instrument of Your Soul
—by Jamie Freeman via Jan Wellman on Substack Notes—
“They taught you the heart was just a glorified meat pump. That it squeezes and pushes blood like some crude mechanical device. A hydraulic engine made of flesh. That is what they want you to believe. Because if you buy into that primitive lie, you never ask deeper questions.
But it is false. It has always been false. And the real science proves it.
Dr Francisco Torrent-Guasp, a Spanish cardiac researcher, discovered what the textbooks refuse to acknowledge, that the heart is not a pump. He dissected thousands of hearts and found that the heart is a single continuous muscle band, folded into a spiral. He proved the heart works like a vortex generator, creating suction and torque, not pressure.
He called it the Helical Ventricular Myocardial Band and it changes everything.
The real movement of blood comes from pressure differentials, electromagnetic flow, and coherent resonance. The blood spirals naturally. It does not need to be forced through miles of arteries and capillaries. That idea is beyond stupid. The so-called pump is not strong enough to push thick fluid through 60,000 miles of tubing. That is basic physics. That lie was dead on arrival.
Here is the truth. Blood moves before the heart forms in the embryo. It flows via frequency, resonance, and electric charge. The body is a field, not a factory.
Your heart creates a toroidal electromagnetic field that radiates six metres from the body. This field syncs with the Earth, the Sun, and every living being around you. It is a resonator. A tuner. A conductor. It aligns the rhythm of your cells. It feels. It remembers. It emits. And it responds to emotion, thought, light, sound, and breath.
When you feel love, grief, fear, or peace, your heart transmits it. It is the central frequency modulator of your biology. Not a fucking pump.
And the institutions know this. The HeartMath Institute has measured these fields for decades. They know the heart has more neuronal cells than parts of the brain. They know it is a second brain. They know coherence in the heart transforms the entire nervous system.
So why are they still teaching children a 400-year-old guess from William Harvey that has never been updated?
Because if you knew the truth, you would never accept statins or beta blockers again. You would understand that trauma, emotion, and disconnection break the heart field, not cholesterol. You would stop obeying the medical cartel and start tuning your body like the intelligent frequency field it is.
They do not want coherent humans. They want disrupted, inflamed, fragmented people who rely on drugs to survive. That is the business model. And the fake heart pump lie is central to it.
Your heart is not a pressure valve. It is a vortex. A field tuner. A resonating gateway between physical and energetic worlds.
It is the instrument of your soul.
And it has been hijacked by science that refuses to evolve.”
Pastor Jeremy preached on Matthew 16:1-12 yesterday. I’ve provided the Bible passage below for readers to reference and peruse.
Matthew 16:1-12
Demand for a Sign
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.[a] 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees
5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Pastor Jeremy called this week’s sermon Clear Skies, Cloudy Heart. You can watch the video clip of the sermon below.
Reader, before I begin my written reflection on this week’s reading (see above) and sermon, (Clear Skies, Cloudy Hearts, see YouTube video above), I wanted to share an excerpt from a beautiful Facebook post written by my lovely Orthodox Jewish friend Lee Weissman.
“And while I am pretty much just as "observant" as I have ever been, I am a lot less dogmatic. I no longer believe that I am part of the small team that has the exclusive hold on G-d's own truth.
From one perspective, I am more arrogant in trusting my own moral instincts.
From another perspective, I am more humble in knowing that there is a lot about G-d's will that I really do not know.” — Lee Weissman
Reader, if you want to see a picture of a Pharisee or a Sadducee, look in the mirror.
A few things stood out for me from yesterday’s sermon. One being the application of the instruction from Matthew 7:3-5 to remove the plank from our own eye before deigning to remove the sliver from someone else’s eye. In this week’s reading we hear the not uncommon story of religious hypocrisy, a scenario in which the self righteous expend more effort and energy pointing out the flaws and errors in others than they do examining their own. This week, we’ve build upon that concept by remembering that arrogance clouds the heart and that obstructs our path to and vision of g-d.
As we proceed through the Gospel of Matthew, learning about the Kingdom Culture of Jesus, we see a few key messages repeated in various forms in the teachings of Jesus. We also see some kind of structure take shape, as one lesson builds upon another—like layers of brick forming a wall in a the construction of a building. Last week we reflected on Heart Disease, three weeks prior we reflected on Found Treasure, this week we reflect on Cloudy Hearts. I sense a theme, reader — the heart as an instrument of the Divine, the heart as a gateway to g-d.
So, back to things that grabbed me in Pastor Jeremy’s sermon.
First of all, the story of Jonah. What’s the lesson we’re meant to take away from Jonah’s experience? What is the sign of Jonah? Pastor Jeremy thought it was Jonah spending 3 days in the belly of the whale and then being released, as a foretelling of Jesus spending three days in the belly of death and then being released back to life.
I think that’s too obvious and easy, reader. I think the sign of Jonah has to be something else, something more. Let’s review the story of Jonah.
Jonah resisted g-d’s call to go and deliver His message to Nineveh, enemy to the Jewish people. Why should g-d show mercy to the wicked enemy of the Jewish people, thought Jonah. The thought of mercy for Nineveh upset Jonah. He fled, ended up on a ship, where he caused a storm. Jonah awoke from his place down in the ship and realised the storm happened because of His disobedience. At his urging, his crew threw him overboard, and a whale swallowed him. After Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the whale, praying for relief, the whale spat him out.
Jonah did obey g-d and go to Nineveh. The people received his message—Jonah felt unsatisfied at the wicked receiving deliverance from g-d. Jonah wants to die, not wanting to live in a world where the wicked received mercy. Again, he fled. Jonah found himself in the heat of the desert without shade and g-d provided him with shade from a kikayon plant, and Jonah felt happy about the plant. The plant died because a worm attacked it, Jonah felt upset about the kikayon plant dying. Again, Jonah wanted to die, not wanting to live in a world without compassion for the innocent. G-d explained to Jonah that He felt the same about Nineveh as Jonah felt about the plant that died. “You cared about the plant, which you did not work for and which you did not grow, which appeared overnight and perished overnight. And should I not care about Nineveh …?”
We don’t get a resolution in the story of Jonah, the Book of Jonah leaves us hanging.
So, Jonah ran away from g-d. In his quest to dodge his purpose as a prophet, Jonah fled the Jewish land. To where did Jonah flee, reader? In Aish, Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller writes about Jonah. She explains the significance of Jaffa (Joppa) and Tarshish. When Jonah ran away from g-d, he fled to beauty and wealth.
In the text of the Jonah story we are told that the places that he sought were Yaffo and Tarshish. While these places actually exist and are known as Jaffa and Tarsis, the literal meaning of the names of these cities are “beauty” and “wealth.” —Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller, Jonah and the Whale, in Aish
What is the sign of Jonah, reader? Let’s check out what my favourite Rabbi, David Fohrman, says about Jonah.
If we read the verses carefully, we can see that Jonah is deeply troubled by the problem of evil in the world. Jonah doesn’t run away from God just because he’s lazy. He resists God’s commands because he has questions about Divine justice. Questions about how God can forgive evildoers, even if they repent. After all, they still did tremendous harm in the world! Where’s the justice for their victims, if God forgives their crimes? — Sarah Penso, The Meaning of the Book of Jonah, in Aleph Beta, 24.01.2024
Let’s explore Fohrman’s theory.
Jonah does a lot of things wrong. He runs away from God. He wants to die. He never apologizes for any of this. He never repents. You can never find teshuvah anywhere in the book, even in his prayer, which he prays to God from the belly of the fish, can’t find any thoughts of teshuvah in that prayer whatsoever.
Reader, we can’t fully understand the sign of Jonah, without studying the ending.
The city of Nineveh has repented; God has saved them. Jonah is upset by this, and he tells God that he wants to die. As it happens, it’s very hot outside, so God causes this very large gourd to just come up overnight above Jonah. In the morning he’s got this gourd and it’s providing shade for him. Then, God causes a worm to come and the worm eats away the roots of the gourd and destroys it. At that point, Jonah wants to die again. And then God says to Jonah, atah chasta al-hakikyon asher lo amalta bo. You had compassion on this gourd that you never worked for. It was only here for one night and was gone the next night. Don’t you think I should have compassion for Nineveh?
Reader, the Book of Jonah leaves us without a satisfactory ending!
How does the beginning of the book make sense – why does Jonah want to run away? How does the end of the book make sense – what is God trying to teach Jonah with the story of the gourd and how is the analogy effective?
Jonah never repents. He runs from g-d, he wants to die after the people of Nineveh repent because he questions Divine justice, g-d spares bad people. Then Jonah receives shade from a kikayon plant, and a worm kills the plant and Jonah wants to die because he again questions Divine justice — where’s the compassion in killing an innocent and beautiful plant?
When Jonah wants to die, after the worm kills the plant, what he’s really saying is, I don’t want to live in a world where beautiful things, expressions of love, are taken away just because they don’t deserve to be here. And then God says, aha, you understand!
Reader, what’s the sign of Jonah, then, for those of us with a cloudy heart, like Jonah’s cloudy heart?
What if the entire story of Jonah’s journey that serves as the sign of Jonah? Remember, the prophet of g-d named Jonah, son of אֲמִתַּי, ʾÁmītay, (Hebrew for truth), never repented.
The book of Jonah ends with Jonah’s heart remaining cloudy. Jonah never repents. He remains a work in progress, like us. We don’t know the outcome, precisely because g-d knows and we do not.
Justice serves Compassion, reader. That’s the way of the Divine. There’s no escaping g-d. We cannot hide in wealth or aesthetics. We cannot hide in the bowels of our own self idolatry. G-d never sleeps, He sees all. He knows our heart. G-d is closer to us than our jugular, reader. Our hearts tarnish and cloud up, we lose sight of g-d, and still He never leaves us. We cannot escape Him, because we cannot run from ourselves. The breath of g-d powers us, to run from Him would be like running from the wind. And that’s the sign of Jonah for cloudy hearts.
You can watch the Aleph Beta video course here.
Reader, I highly recommend Aleph Beta, it’s a great way to learn about the Hebrew Bible aka Old Testament. The animated videos provide a fun and accessible way to explore the OT and really learn the human lessons we can carry away and apply in our daily lives. The videos are suitable for children. I wish there’d been a thing like Aleph Beta when I was a kid to teach me about the Bible stories in a fun and engaging way — who doesn’t like animation, reader? Judaism has a knack for unpacking the meaning of these ancient stories in a way that makes you think, and that resonates for modern relationship and life. I think Christians at their own peril and to their own disadvantage dismiss the contributions of Judaism to the understanding of scripture. The Bible stories provide timeless wisdom and insight into the human condition and I value rabbinical wisdom highly in my study of the Bible and my journey to walk with the Divine. Aleph Beta is worth your $25/month.
What else stands out for me, from Pastor Jeremy’s sermon?
Well, the disciples cannot seem to see the forest for the trees. When Jesus tries to warn them about the leaven of hypocrites and arrogants who challenge Him, the disciples fixate on the bread they forgot to bring. How often do we fixate on the minutiae and miss the truth of the situation? How often do we seek refuge in our own limited perceptions and deeds? The Pharisees and Sadducees who challenge Jesus, like Jonah, find themselves in the belly of a whale, in this case it’s figurative.
So, Jesus tries to make point about the danger of hypocrisy and arrogance in religious life and leadership and the disciples worry about having bread to eat. It’s amazing, when we think of the fact that they just watched Jesus turn 5 loaves into baskets and baskets of bread to feed 5 thousand people, and then He did it again, turning 7 loaves into baskets and baskets of bread to feed 4 thousand people. What does it take for us to believe, to have faith in the Divine?
Remember, g-d knows and we do not.
Reader, none of us has ownership of or special access to g-d. The cloudy-hearted amongst us think of ourselves as right, we elevate ourselves and look down upon Those Others, les pauvres, who simply don’t get it. We all have a tendency to do this, the adversary sews his seeds in our hearts, the weeds grows tall and they choke out the g-dcentric vegetation that will bear good fruit. We think so highly of ourselves, reader. And yet, there’s so much we don’t know and don’t see, in our limited perspective, with our limited vision.
The cloudy heart blinds us, though.
So, what if we stopped talking through our cloudy hearts? What if we stopped worrying about what Those Others do, believe, follow? Words carry weight, as the power of creation given to us by the Creator. We would do well to use that power responsibly and prudently. Remove the plank from your own eye before you remove the sliver from your neighbour’s eye, says Jesus in Matthew 7:3-5. What if we focus on the state of grace of our own soul, on the clarity of our own heart? What if we devoted our energy to our connection with g-d, and not our limited assessment of the connection we think Others have in their hearts and what they believe blah blah? Jonah disagreed with g-d that the people of Nineveh should get mercy and forgiveness. He felt aggrieved that enemies of the Jewish people would be embraced into g-d’s fold. Yet he also felt aggrieved that the kikayon plant died. G-d reminded Jonah that, as he feels aggrieved for the kikayon plant, so does g-d feel aggrieved for the wicked people of Nineveh.
Pastor Jeremy ends his sermon by reminding us that g-d transforms the hearts of men. Moshe was angry, Yakov was deceitful, David was impulsive, Saul of Tarsus was brutal and blind to the truth, Simon Peter was loud and proud and afraid to suffer. All these biblical leaders and figures experienced a profound transformation when they softened their hearts to g-d, after experiencing g-d’s call in their lives. Perhaps that’s the lesson we can carry forward into our own daily lives.
Below the line you’ll find the essays I wrote last week.
The Strong Sword of Silence can serve as our best response to drama and complexity when cloudy heart syndrome plagues us. In our cloudy-hearted dysfunction, we throw our pearls to the swine. When we engage in Virtue Signalling it can serve as our first outward sign that we have cloudy heart syndrome. In keeping with the theme of hypocrisy, the morality of Hallmark seems like a collective and cultural manifestation of a society with a cloudy heart. Finally, addiction clouds the heart and it can plague an already clouded heart. It’s a form of enslavement and “Harm Reduction” as a policy and a social justice value seems like a misnomer, serving to enable the suffering and indignity of those humans plagued by addiction compulsion.
How can we draw nearer to spiritual clarity? How can we draw closer to g-d?
My first column in the New Westminster Times was published last week! Modern Day Enslavement;" One Addict's Heartrending Story. Please read my piece and support the New Westminster Times. I will be a regular contributor, writing about addiction, drug policy, harm reduction, and homelessness.
"Helical Ventricular Myocardial Band" -- HVMB, nice. 🙂