Change of Heart

A few days ago I heard that former Vice President Richard Cheney had a heart transplant.

We often speak of our hearts. She has a good heart. He broke my heart. He is heartless. You have no heart.

The heart is the organ that will determine our physical well being, and, if the attributions are correct can fill us up with joy or bring us to our knees when we are emotionally distraught.

So what happens when you get a heart transplant? Do you still have the same sensibilities? Are you hurt by the same events that were painful to you when you had your old heart? Do you love the same people as intensely as you had previously.

Say, your heart was broken. Would a transplant allow you greater resiliency. It seems silly to think so. So, if your heart was broken and then you had a heart transplant and still your heart was broken, then apparently it could not have been your heart that was broken in the first place.

What was?

Will Dick Cheney have any greater or less remorse now than he did a month ago for things he might have done in the past. Will he go home and greet his wife and say, "Sorry spouse. I've got this new heart and it seems as if I love Jane Jones from Poughkeepsie. Let me get my hat and I will be off."?

Probably not.

In South Pacific, the lead sings that on some enchanted evening, you may meet a stranger and fall in love. And nobody can explain why, "Who can explain it, who can tell you why. Fools give you reasons wise men never try."

If it is not the heart that creates the attraction, and there is no logic that can explain the attraction, why do we fall in love.

I will ask Dick Cheney the next time I see him.