The hardhearted person never truly loves. He engages in a crass utilitarianism which values other people mainly according to their usefulness to him. He never experiences the beauty of friendship, because he is too cold to feel affection for another and is too self-centered to share another's joy and sorrow. He is an isolated island. No outpouring of love links him with the mainland of humanity.
We would be wrong to think of the hard-hearted person as an isolated individual that is easily isolated because his/her life is so obvious. This is more about all of us when we turn-in-on ourselves...when our relationships are broken - with God and with others. When we are turn-in-on-selves, we see others as objects and each "thou" becomes an "it" that we think we can use like a stick or a rock or any other object. When we lose touch with the individuality of the other, we become less human. That is, we lose that part of us that is essential for each of us to be truly human. We are human when we are living as people in relationship. Without that - without being in relationship with other people - we go by the way of any tyrant and bully and self-absorbed fool who will not find a place among the rest of humankind. When we are like this, others become disposable and worth-less.
Connection: The mainland of humanity needs people with hearts that are open to the experience of being with others. When we are open to that, we are open to new life and a more full expression of what it is to be human.
You created us in your image, O God, and we find ourselves both draw to and pushed away from others who are also within the image of your creative will. Be for us the encouragement to step beyond our wants and needs so that we can enter into the relationships that more fully display your divine image among us. Amen.
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