An empty heart can be filled with love or tears. Tears seep through the cracks of the broken, and leave the heart empty still. Love creates a deep reservoir in its chambers that never runs dry.

The pitted, gravel parking lot outside of Common Ground collected all the overnight rain and created the heart-shaped puddle beside my car.

Looking at this, my feeling is that hearts only collect what is put into them. If my heart is muddy, what have I done to it? Who have I let inside by mistake?

Hearts shouldn’t be locked. They should be kept open…but guarded. Not everyone who knocks deserves to enter. No matter how pretty or persuasive, it’s up to us to control what comes in and what goes out.