Matters of the Heart

Before the days of internet and email I would need to write a letter. Having done so I would hope they got it. Particularly if I had had to send money. Back then I subscribed to a music magazine, and I would eagerly await its arrival monthly.
One month it declared a record the album of the year. (back in the days of records. The cover would evoke memories that last a life-time)
Anyway I took a chance. I had not heard the album or the artist, but I ordered it. To me it thoroughly deserved the recognition. It was a folksy album and I loved it. It was called “Matter of the Heart” by a guy called Bob Bennett.
I bring it up because I was listening to it on Spotify and the words in a song were sung and it reflects the way I feel. The words were “day by day the integration of the concrete and the spiritual.”
In so many ways that is my modus operandi. I guess it is safe to say I abhor the thought of being “so heavenly minded I am no earthly good.” For so long I have thought of balance being needed in life.
I guess I have found from my experience that when balance is ignored, and the scales are tipped too far in a direction it is too easy to lose sight of what matters. For me even when positive influences are at play, I need to make sure my feet are firmly planted on the ground.
One of my favourite sayings is “naturally spiritual and spiritually natural.” I doubt I will ever invent a miracle cure for what besets mankind or invent something that is praised as helpful the world over. But what I know I can do is help the person next door. Not in a trumpeting “look at me” sort of way, but in an incognito sort of way.
I am not dependent on the recognition of my peers for validation (though I will never knock it back), but my validation comes from doing what I know to do and treating others as I would be treated.
Simple acts can mean so much (a simple act is all I could ever do anyway. I reckon I am a really good tradies assistant, but when I do anything I am more like one of the Dogey Brothers).
Just this morning I saw the neighbours fence had a paling down. He is away for a number of weeks. I thought I could reattach that paling. So I grabbed my battery powered screwdriver and screws and set off to do it. The screw would not go in. So I went and got something to make a hole. I then screwed but it burred. I went and got other screw drivers to get it out. None worked. I went and got a spanner and that worked. I screwed in another screw. It was too short. So I went and got a longer screw. It too was too short. One screw gripped so I walked away.
For me, salvation is not found in doing good things but doing good things are a consequence of salvation. It really is like the album cover “Matters of the Heart”, and “day by day the integration of the concrete and the spiritual.”