"A man cannot serve two masters."
Our "yes's", used as building blocks of our character, keep our hearts free from pollution such as jealousy, anger, bitterness and greed. Another way to express a pure heart is an undivided heart. Personally, I have a lot more trouble maintaining an undivided heart than I ever have maintaining an unpolluted heart.
I see the down side to the pollution. I know people who have created their own personal hell of bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, etc. They try to escape through pleasure or addiction, but everything they do reinforces and strengthens the house they've built. I have no desire to live with a polluted heart, and as soon as I recognize the pollutants, I start working to get rid of them - usually through a liturgy of "yes's".
The concept of an undivided heart is pretty simply stated: "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Translation: Seek, Love and Assign Value to that which is universally Good, Pure, True and Right and pay absolutely no attention to the rest. Listen to and enjoy the music of life, and disregard the noise.
It's easy to say and hard to do.
First of all, I need an ear that can distinguish between music and noise. The difference is a little subjective and mostly not subjective. There is a structure and order to music. A pure (unpolluted) heart accepts the music and filters out the noise. A pure (undivided) heart never hears the noise. It only listens to music. In fact, an undivided heart hears the faintest music in the presence of a lot of noise.
A pure, unpolluted, undivided heart recognizes the good in everything and everyone. It emphasizes and draws attention to the good, even in the worst circumstances. By doing so, it causes the good to grow, to become more important and observable than the rest. A pure heart lights up the good like a flood light lights up the darkness. I want to be like this.
At times in my life, I have been. I've shined my light into situations and watched as the good grew and the rest fell away. Even the most beautiful flowers grow in just plain old dirt. The dirt is not important. The beauty of the flower is.
I have seen first hand the impact of this kind of thinking. People get so attached to the noise. I went to lunch once with a guy who was having a whole lot of trouble getting his head around a programming project we were involved in. In less than an hour, I helped him see through that fog and the corresponding fog that surrounded his whole professional life. He got the project done and changed completely. All it took was a little encouragement from someone who could discern the difference between the music and the noise, and point out the music. He did the rest himself. But lunch that day was a turning point, and I am honored to have been a part of it.
Second, I need not to be overwhelmed. Many times I reach the point that I don't want to hear anything - music or noise. I just want everything to be quiet. This doesn't happen in real life. The music and the noise is constant. The volume, intensity and sheer amount of it all gets to me a lot. An undivided heart is not overwhelmed. It is strong, secure and focused. I am not.
But in the few moments of life where my heart has been pure, whole and clean, I have seen wonderful things happen. Life is good. The power of choice can produce amazing results. Faith really does create things that never existed before (good things and bad things).
I want an unpolluted, undivided, focused, sensitive heart. I want my 'yes's' to have an impact and be meaningful. I want not just to hear the music, but dance to it. I want the noise to just pass by me like a fart in the wind.
This is the third little pig's house.