Am I at Risk of a Heart Attack?

It seems every time I check my email, snail mail, TV or radio there is a new warning about something that puts me at risk of a heart attack. Is there a spiritual lesson?

In recent years there have been more and more warnings about women’s risks of heart attacks.

So in response, on a daily basis we might choose organic or unprocessed foods, take food supplements, watch our cholesterol, cut down on meats and fried foods, or go vegan. Or perhaps we adopt a “what will be will be” attitude—when it is my time to die, there is nothing I can do about it.

Christian parallel?

Sometimes we become consumed with this physical, temporal life when, in reality, life is not about this physical body and its existence.

Yes, God will look at what I do with this physical body He has entrusted to me, but that is not the entire point. It is what I do with the body and mind I am entrusted with that matters most. It is how I use it in my relationships with others and my overall mind-set and purpose in life, day in and day out.

Perhaps I should be more concerned about my spiritual health and spiritual diet. What about the symptoms of a spiritual heart attack?

Heart attack symptoms

The American Heart Association’s website has a short article titled “Heart Attack Symptoms in Women.” It says:

1. “Even though heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, women often chalk up the symptoms to less life-threatening conditions like acid reflux, the flu or normal aging.

“‘They do this because they are scared and because they put their families first,’ [Dr. Nieca] Goldberg said. ‘There are still many women who are shocked that they could be having a heart attack.’”

Could I have a heart attack spiritually because of putting family, others or things first? There is a balance. Matthew 6:33 tells me to seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness first.

2. “A heart attack strikes someone about every 34 seconds. It occurs when the blood flow that brings oxygen to the heart muscle is severely reduced or cut off completely.”

If the flow of spiritual blood is not consistently supplied, danger lurks.

“This happens because the arteries that supply the heart with blood can slowly become thicker and harder from a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances (plaque).”

Could my spiritual blood vessels be suffering from a buildup of “plaque” from the physical things I feel I must do each and every day to get by? Could such buildup be caused by habits I slip into that erode my valuable time? Things I enjoy doing but spend too much time on?

Guilty as charged! When summer comes and my structured time evaporates, it is all too easy to get involved in innocent pursuits that do little for my spiritual goals. It is so easy to allow the world’s attitudes to infect me with a hypocritical and “I am not responsible” approach.

3. “Many women think the signs of a heart attack are unmistakable … but in fact they can be subtler and sometimes confusing.

“You could feel so short of breath, ‘as though you ran a marathon, but you haven’t made a move,’ Goldberg said.”

This makes me think of the times I have not been as close to God as I needed to be and tried to handle a trial on my own. I found myself exhausted and totally frustrated and disappointed with the results.

4. Other symptoms could be “upper back pressure that feels like squeezing or a rope being tied around them, Goldberg said. Dizziness, lightheadedness or actually fainting are other symptoms to look for.”

Spiritually, have I ever felt light-headed or disoriented because I was not “up on my game”? In the face of trials, do I feel like giving up? Or am I feeling pressure to make a decision I know is not really a godly one?

Future awareness

Spiritually, I cannot adopt a laissez-faire attitude, so my next visit to the grocer will lead me to think about whether I am eating organic spiritual snacks, offering low-fat prayers, having low-cholesterol Bible studies and participating in whole-wheat meditations.

This only scratches the surface of this subject, but perhaps it gives us food for thought. May your heart be healthy, physically and spiritually!

Susan Scott Smith has been a teacher for more than 20 years and is a member of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, in Texas.

For more about the new heart God wants us to have, see the section on the “Covenants” on the LifeHopeandTruth.com website.