Posted on: July 31st, 2008 Out of the Heart
Today in my CPE program at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio we had a helpful presentation on domestic violence in which the presenter quoted from the Tao Te Ching:
No peace in the world without peace in the nation.
No peace in the nation without peace in the city.
No peace in the city without peace in the home.
No peace in the home without peace in the heart.
This passage is particularly powerful when thinking about domestic violence, especially if you have ever experienced it or ministered to someone who has.
I was reminded, in our Christian tradition, of Proverbs 4:23 and James 4:1-4 (respectively):
Out of the heart flow the issues of life.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
