It was like trying to dress every morning for the weather in a nation we had never heard of.~Kathryn Schulz (From Lost And Found)

There is a scientific term for a broken heart. According to Florence Williams in her book, Heartbreak, it's called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.  The author states that in 1990 Japanese researchers used new imaging technology to reveal "an unexpected signature of illness." In Takotsubo patients seem to be having a heart attack. However Ms. Williams writes, "What makes these attacks different is that the arteries are free from the typical blockages that cause cardiac failure. Instead, a portion of the left ventricle--the heart's main pumping chamber--wildly under performs, causing it to balloon in compensation. No longer a neat fist, the heart now sprouts a weird distension like an overeager blister. Doctors named the condition Takotsubo after the Japanese lobster trap, which has a narrow neck and bulbous head. In this kind of cardiac event, the heart cells don't necessarily die, but they give up for while...Case literature of Takotsubo patients include recent widows, women whose children or pets just died, and people undergoing other extreme stressors." In 2006 the American Heart Association formally recognized the condition.

Giving up for a while resonates. The heart shouting its imperative amidst the cacophony. "No more." 

On Easter Sunday, I sat on a stone bench watching a gaggle of children dressed in pink, yellow and green pastels hunt for candy in a church courtyard. A father and a child joined me on the bench, the toddler carrying two small drawstring bags of candy. She sported a head of brown curls, her plump baby feet filling tiny sandals with such tenderness that I almost cried. I smiled at the father and said, "She's a lovely child." The little girl stood just a few feet from me. I could hear her breath, see her chest rise and fall. The father sighed and said, "She's a handful sometimes, and also such a gfit. She helped me get through Covid. "How so?" I asked. "It's been a rough ride," he said as his story tumbled out. "These past couple of years have been hard--trying to parent when the kids couldn't go to school, my business losing money, my wife and I trying to hold it together. We have two other kids. I felt like I was losing my mind," he said. "What kept you going?" I asked. 

"Well, every morning I'd take this little one and we'd walk to the beach. I held her in my arms, and I'd breathe in the salty air. I'd hear the waves. Just being there with her seemed to make everything better." I replied, "Sometimes it's just those kinds of things that help us bear life for one more day. Keep us sane." The father nodded. "Yes," he said.

When we experience heartbreak, the grief can feel confusing and complex, like trying to dress every morning for the weather in a nation we never heard of. May we find solace in the beauty around us, the warmth of the sun, the sound of the ocean, a child's chubby hands clinging to a bag of chocolates. Often it is these very instances that keep our hearts from bursting, that signal God's closeness.

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.~Psalm 34:18