Mummy, who attacked Grandad’s heart?’ My seven-year-old granddaughter was worried when she heard that I had suffered a heart attack. Who indeed? I was a fit non-smoker with no previous ill health. Could it be due to stress, the subtle demon that seems to lie behind so many of today’s ills? How had I managed to allow things to get to this state? Three years have passed. With a change of job and a more relaxed environment, I have remained well. Recently, I read a Proverb and the whole experience came back to my mind…

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

This verse led me to Paul’s urging of the Philippians…

Rejoice in the Lord always… Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true…think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9)

This brought another scene to mind. Some years previously in Tanzania, a group of nuns, led by the Mother Superior, appeared in my gynaecology clinic. One of the sisters complained of a number of non-specific symptoms. After examining her, I wrote out a rather unusual prescription and they all left. Minutes later, there was a furious knocking on my door and the nuns all burst back in and demanded that I teach them the chorus that I had prescribed.

All your anxiety, all your care. Bring to the mercy seat, leave it there. Never a burden he cannot bear, never a friend like Jesus. (from All Your Anxiety by EH Joy)

After an impromptu choir practice, I could hear the words echoing round the department as they marched out of the hospital.

What was Paul’s advice to those wanting to guard their hearts and minds against the physical, emotional and spiritual onslaughts of this world? What was his prescription for a stressful situation?

• Learn to rejoice and give thanks in every situation
• Pray into every situation and be thankful
• Fill your mind with good and excellent things
• Follow his example and put the things you learn into practice

He goes on to talk about having learned the secret of contentment ‘in any and every situation’ and of the fact that he can do all the things that Jesus has asked him to do through the strength he supplies (Philippians 4:12-13).

I was given all sorts of lifestyle advice after my heart attack. Yet, ‘above all else’, I needed to relearn these spiritual lessons and to know afresh the peace that passes all understanding in my heart. I needed to enter into that rest that is ours in Christ. Perhaps these are lessons that we all need to be relearning continually in the midst of our busy and stressful lives.

I have come to see each day as a gift from God, days that might not have been. We were made with only one heart and are given only one life here on earth. Heed the words of the writer of Proverbs: above all else, guard your heart in order to enjoy the life and work that God has given you to do for him.