I recently saw a child’s predicament in a toy store. Her mother issued an ultimatum, stating that she could only purchase one of the toys. The youngster had to decide between a puzzle set and a toy train set. The young girl finally decided what she wanted and bought one of the toys after what seemed like an age.
Many of us in life are like that. We have a lot of wishes. That is not incorrect. It’s acceptable to wish to make a lot of money in order to satisfy both our ambitions and the needs of the underprivileged and the needy. It is acceptable to have many goals, numerous hobbies, and occasionally even concurrently successful careers. However, we also understand that these diverted initiatives and energy are not going to help us perform or develop to our highest potential in a particular field. There are, of course, exceptions!
Purity of heart refers to having good intentions and doing for the greater good rather than for any other reason. Perhaps Soren Kierkegaard understood the brittleness of the human heart as he wrote his potent and eloquent exposition. He also saw the heart’s ability to respond to our highest calling as humans, which is to achieve “purity of heart, which is to “will one thing,” in flashes.
The Road to Willing Just One Thing
Can we assert that our intentions are unclouded by immoral motivation? There might be a few obstacles to such purity of aim, according to Kierkegaard: rewards, sanctions,and so forth. All of these factors, including religion, profession, life’s passion and purpose, as well as our standing and place in society and community, find significance through these drives. From a young age, we are also driven to react to rewards and penalties, heaven and hell, ego and insult.
What is the cost of not having a pure heart or not wanting those various things? Such will result in the exposure of our self-justifications, justifications, and mental ramblings. Because we must deal with our conscience at some point, this inescapable misery leaves an imprint on our conscience—possibly not right away.
So, according to Kierkegaard, when we take our time, reflect, evaluate the motivations behind our good deeds, and see the self-deception that binds our thoughts, we can pause.
