Let’s start with some wisdom:
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Biologically speaking, the human heart develops before the brain. It contains some 40 million specialized neurons known as “the little brain within the heart,” and has pre-synaptic access to the mind via the vagus nerve. Thus the admonition, “ABOVE ALL ELSE, guard your heart, for EVERYTHING you do flows from it.”
Though scientists haven’t figured out the science of it, it all flows from here:
There are many bits of wisdom that speak to this truth. One of my favorites is:
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
—The Book of Proverbs
Many people like to mock the idea of “thinking in the heart,” but I believe it is foolish to do so. Given the science of our biology, it makes perfect sense that those 40 million neurons serve the distinct purpose of inner reflection. This is the seat of our inner awareness, and out of this awareness sprouts the very essence of our soul.
To guard the heart then, means to guard this awareness. It means to guard our inner reflections. It means to guard the spirit within us—so the question is how.
Raise your hand if you already know the answer!
I’m sure some of my Christian brothers and sisters would be quick to shout out, “Put on the armor of God!” They would be quoting the New Testament book of Ephesians, which offers the following words of wisdom:
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
At times I bend over backwards to avoid bringing the Bible into political analysis, because it tends to evoke a certain set of assumptions that reinforce the sort of groupthink that is being driven like a stake into the heart of American society.
Religious divisions are just as bitter and caustic as political divisions. That’s true of inter-faith squabbling, as well as the atheistic assaults on all religions in general. The vast majority of the time when someone identifies with leftist politics, it’s because they flatly reject religious fundamentalism, starting first and foremost with rejecting the Bible.
High on their own egos, these intellectual fools toss the baby out with the bath water and miss the opportunity to learn from perhaps the most prominent text in human history. This is extremely shortsighted and creates a significant disadvantage in public discourse, due to the inability to converse fluently the language of the people.
The point is this: you don’t have to believe in the Bible to read it and learn from it.
One need not sacrifice their skepticism or relinquish their doubt to read the words and analyze their meaning. Surely that makes sense to those self-avowed critical thinkers who are quick to mock the “bitter clingers” who love their guns and Bibles.
Thus, while I strive not to mix politics and religion, because it so quickly creates a philosophical quagmire that degrades the bigger conversation, at times, such as today, reflecting on passages from the Bible provides us with critical insights.
These insights are both practical and tactical, and only a fool would dismiss them out of hand. So let’s reflect on what we’ve learned:
Guard your heart because everything flows from it.
This wisdom aligns perfectly with modern science.
Whatever happens in our heart manifests in our life.
As for how to guard our hearts, we are told to put on the armor of God—which sounds good to me, but I’d like to unpack that from the angle of a spiritual skeptic.
Let’s try to remove the labels and strive for a rational understanding, line by line:
Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.
Stand firm with the breastplate of righteousness in place.
Stand firm with ready feet, fitted with the good news of peace.
Stand firm with the shield of faith.
Stand firm with the helmet of salvation.
Stand firm with the sword of the Spirit.
STAND FIRM.
We are told to dawn this armor in the days of evil, so that we can stand our ground and remain standing. The question is: are we in the days of evil?
The answer, to me, is obvious. If anyone doubts the evil impulse that is currently driving the world’s affairs, I’d recommend getting up to speed with these reports:
Again, one need not be religious, believe in God and the Devil, or quote the Bible to see and agree that there is evil in the world. There are people who intentionally hurt others, exploit vulnerable people, and rape and pillage the village, just for the hell of it.
Forgive me for the disturbing image, but this is front page news today and it really makes the point:
The story is about how Arab fighters are carrying out a rolling ethnic massacre in Sudan, and it goes on to say:
Of course, we need to look to further than our own deplorable crime-ridden inner cities to see this sort of depravity right here at home. There are evil people in the world, and they are doing evil deeds each and every day. Only a fool would deny that.
But the far greater evil is not that which so violently lashes out at us. Instead the greater evil in the world is that which operates on trickery and deception—those who lie, who twist words, who lure their victims with honey and handouts.
“Hey kid, you want some candy?” In today’s world, that candy may be fentanyl.
Also, “Hey citizen, I’m from the government and I’m here to help keep you safe.”
Stand firm and resist the temptation to believe the lies. You cannot get something for nothing, and the government has nothing of its own to give. The government takes from some to give to others. In promising cradle to grave entitlements to the poor hungry peasants, they have monopolized monetary manipulation and turned American taxpayers into slaves of the state.
To me that’s evil, but let’s get back to the bigger picture.
We can guard our hearts by donning the appropriate armor and defending ourselves with the available weapons. Think about tactical gear, like a breast plate, an LBV, a k-pot, and a modern assault rifle. You might conjure an image like this:
That’s a pretty fancy outfit, right? If you were equipped and outfitted with all that gear, you’d probably feel like a badass, right? You might even get some sense of invincibility, or at least a hefty boost of confidence in your ability to survive, right?
HERE’S THE THING: Even with all of this gear, you are still as vulnerable as ever.
I’ve written a lot about psychological warfare, about 5GW, and about the threats of menticide and subconscious taming. It is our minds that are under relentless attack, but it is our hearts they want to capture. They want to break our will to resist, to crush the rebel spirit, and subdue our wild mysterious souls.
As I’ve said before, this is a spiritual assassination.
This sort of subversive attack separates us from the spirit within. That in turn separates us from our inner strength, from our inner knowing, from discernment, wisdom, inspiration, and ultimately, it separates us from our inner self, from our soul—and once they have done that, they’ve won the war without even firing a shot.
This is the essence of the Art of War, and it also happens to be how the communists plan to conquer the whole of humanity. If you don’t believe me, read this:
With that said, let’s move on to solutions.
How to Guard Your Heart:
To guard your heart, you need to put on the armor and pick up your weapon.
First, the belt of truth goes around the waist. Think about a wrestling match and you can see how the waist is the center of balance, and how balance is necessary in a battle. By extension, the belt of truth gives you balance and keeps you centered, and it does so by grounding the mind in natural reality.
Next, put the breastplate of righteousness in place. Note that this breastplate of righteousness comes after the belt of truth. Why? Because any sense of righteousness can very quickly go to your head, and thus pull you out of balance and cause you to stumble headlong down the prideful path—and pride comes before the fall.
Righteousness need not be an idea, but a deeper sense of goodness, of knowing in the heart what the right thing to do is, right in the moment. You know the difference between right and wrong, and the breastplate of righteousness protects this inner knowing—and I must emphasize, again, this is NOT a head level experience.
Now then, you are ready to stand firm, you are grounded in reality, and your heart is attuned to discern between right and wrong. Shall you fight or take flight?
When your feet are properly affixed with the good news of peace, you are prepared for either path. Peace may mean, the good news is we don’t have to fight. We can walk away and take the higher road. Then again, peace may mean a fight to the death, and the good news is that’s okay—it’s a perfectly acceptable and natural course of action.
Think about the battle of life and death as it plays out in nature and you’ll know in your heart what I mean. If you need a scriptural reference, consider that it is written:
“There is a time for everything… a time to kill… a time to hate… a time for war…” —Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
With all of this firmly in mind, as we stand firm in evil times, there will likely come a time when we do need to engage in battle—metaphorically, spiritually, and even militarily as the need may be. Before we head into battle, we need to grab the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
Rationally speaking, what does that even mean?
Shields are used to block incoming attacks. Faith blocks incoming mental, emotional, and spiritual attacks by holding firm to truth. Faith, to me, is belief in what’s real—which is not always what I can see or understand, but that which exists outside of my limited cognitive capacity and mental comprehension. I have faith that the world will keep turning, and that when it’s my time to depart, then it’s my time.
Faith is the opposite of fear, so fear not and have faith. With it you guard your heart. Similarly, the helmet of salvation will guard your mind. What is salvation? Salvation is a means of deliverance from destruction, difficulty, or evil.
Guarding your head with the helmet of salvation means guarding your mind from destruction or evil by focusing on goodness and truth. In other words, when you take a blow to the head and the world “rings your bell” with confusion, frustration, depression, or desperation, focus on salvation and deliverance. For many people this may mean fixing their eyes on Jesus, for others it may mean just holding onto hope—not hopium, but hope—which again must be rooted in natural reality.
Lastly, grab your sword. It’s the sword of the Spirit—not your spirit, THE Spirit.
Your spirit is all armored up and ready to face the chilling evils of the day. Your heart and mind are protected by faith and hope. Now you must enter the fray.
Pick up the sword of the Spirit. Hold it in your hands. You are powerful because of the power that flows through you. When you wield your sword with intention, you are wielding the power of almighty GOD. You are a spiritual beast. Proceed wisely.
Put differently, for my atheist friends, it is through the power of intention that we manifest our heart’s desires in the material world. In other words, through the magic of taking action, we quite literally manipulate the universe at the molecular level.
In simplest terms, we stand against evil by taking action.
As we face the chilling possibilities of the evils all around us, as darkness seems to be having it’s day, these are the truths that set me free. That’s why I wanted to share.
Guard your heart. Life is good. It’s a great day to get out and live it!
And never let them steal your joy!
Happy Friday friends, I hope you all have a very blessed weekend.
PS: Don’t forget, now it’s easy to catch up on previous episodes by listening to The Torch Report on iHeart Radio, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Apple iTunes —enjoy!
TR 457 - The Chilling Possibilities of Evil