The moss, grime and damage

Unattended parts of walkways exposed to rains in Kerala are potentially dangerous. A few friends faced the wrath of these walkways. Moss grew and made the walkway beautiful to look at, but dangerous to walk on. They fell - thankfully with no major damage.

One friend said, I can bring a pressure pump and wash it away. But my question was - won’t it grow again? Another said, Use bleach. We did, but it gave only minimal, temporary benefit. The third semi-permanent solution was to cover the walkway and protect it from rain, which we tried, but damp groundwater still seeped in. The only permanent solution seems to be taking the stones out and replacing them with moss-resistant stones. But that comes with a cost.

We were about to settle for the pressure pump solution - but there were three issues. Water under pressure can damage stones. Moss will grow again. And pressure pumps cost a bit too much!

At times, my heart looks a little like those moss-filled pathways, waiting to push me down, because I have exposed it to overwatering from the ‘www’ and social media with unhealthy information. 

Should I pressure pump it away, bleach it clean, protect it, or replace the unhealthy sections with healthy moss-resistant stones? I suppose I need to do all these to preserve and protect my heart. But the easiest is to pressure pump it away. The danger is that it is temporary and can damage the sensitive sections of my heart too.

Recently, while cleaning a grime-covered painting, I realized there is a better way. Paint decays over time, causing colours to lose their original hues. Glazes age, darken colours, and yellow the overall work.

This is the story of how such paintings were restored in the Sistine Chapel:

“Dirt, dust, and candle smoke covered the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome for centuries. To make the needed repairs, a team of art restorers worked on the frescoes for fifteen years to remove the age-old grime. 

Using sophisticated photographic-equipment, spectrometers, and computers, the group located the areas needing the most work. Once the restoration was complete, the ceiling showed the brilliant colours and depictions created by Michelangelo in the 15th century. To ensure the long-lasting effects of the restoration work, a special air filtering system, like that used by NASA on the space shuttle, was installed to monitor the amount of humidity and dust.”

Restoring the marred masterpieces — by gentle and careful cleaning, and then protective filters! Will it work on my heart? To clean the grime it has accumulated? I suppose it can, but this too is temporary. It needs to be protected from grime in the future. And it takes time...

But then, I was reminded of a water meter I had to change recently. Unattended for years, it had clogged up, and we were getting zero bills every month until the meter reader found it out. We had no other option but to replace it. It was damaged beyond repair. 

I wonder if this can be done for my heart too. The malfunction that happens at times? A heart transplant. 

I have a classmate - a world-renowned heart transplant surgeon - who performs transplants regularly. Recently he did two back to back, it seems! He makes it look so easy. A master at cardiac surgery.

(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Chacko_Periappuram). Maybe I should check with him how long a transplanted heart will function. Is it a permanent solution?

My heart can appear like the moss filled pathways, grime covered painting or mal functioning water meter at times. Slippery, marred or malfunctioning. Because I do not take care of it.

But then, my heart is different from the walkway, the painting, or the water meter. 

Sixty to eighty times a minute, it receives good blood and pushes it out under high pressure, cleansing all the crevices, nooks, and corners where moss, grime, or junk could potentially develop. The rhythmic regularity and flow are sustained not by careful planning and implementation, but because innate to the heart is a system to sustain it — the SA node, created and kept there intentionally. 

I am grateful for similar heart cleansing system which is available for me too.  Fresh flow which can come from the Creator if I am connected.  That is the answer: intentionally connect to the Creator; Keep the SA node firing, the flow will cleanse it and keep my heart clean. I can avoid a transplant. 

By the "Touch of the Masters Hand". 

https://youtu.be/77Bx6vICdtY?feature=shared