In My Heart and In My Mind: The Analogy of the Kite

[Note: This post was inspired by two other posts by people I admire greatly. If you want to read them before reading this post, here are the links:]

“Reining in the Analyst” (http://www.wheatandtares.org/2011/12/07/reigning-in-the-analyst/)

“Unrelated (but still really great) Thoughts” (http://latterdayspence.blogspot.com/2011/12/unrelated-but-still-really-great.html)

I first realized I thought differently than most other members of the Church when I was about 7 years old – the first time I read the Book of Mormon and thought:

“Wait. That doesn’t say what people at church think it says.”

(As a simple yet important example, I probably was about 10-12 years old when I first realized that the Lamanites must have joined a relatively larger, indigenous, darker-skinned population, much like the Nephites did with the Mulekites – since that was the only thing that made sense to me when I read that the Lamanites still outnumbered the Nephites greatly, even after their combining with the Mulekites – and since it explains the Nephite statements about skin color so well.)

From that beginning, I have had the “luxury / blessing” of starting very early (and more “naturally” than most) to learn that it’s OK to be different – and I now have had almost 40 years of practice at letting my mind (my analyst) roam free for most of the time I live and reining in my mind (my analyst) somewhat, at times, at church. I live very comfortably in both worlds at this point – the settlement and the wilderness, so to speak.

The best description I’ve ever heard is that of a kite:

My mind flies all over the place, flitting around looking at lots of things and thrilling in the ride – but my heart is grounded firmly by the string that connects me to my community, my family, my church, my “foundation”. Without the kite of my mind, my heart might break – but without the string of my heart, my mind might fly off into the sun and burn.

In other words, I have learned to “study” things out in my heart AND my mind – and “reining in the analyst” (letting it rest or even sleep for a few minutes/hours) helps keep the kite of my mind from causing too much tension and breaking free of the string of my heart.