Ego Trampling

One of my brilliant friends, Helena Bugler, made this statement "I don't let ego trample all over my heart". This is a multifaceted image creating wonder statement. Picture ego, yours perhaps, in all of its glory making decisions for you, leading you by the invisible ring in your nose and having a good stomp fest on your heart by telling it "you don't matter, what you say DOESN'T COUNT". The heart is the seat of the soul, the ego is a petulant child that screams pay attention to me, do it my way and when ego wins, there begins heart ache in its many forms. In our society, there is an inclination to making the claim that if your heart says you should do something, than you must follow it, you are entitled and deserving. This is not what I am speaking of although it is an excellent example of full tilt indulgent ego decision making. The heart is relational, it is inclined to connection, wound healing, extension of self for the sake of others and in relationship the heart can only want what is best for another~it is never demanding or impositional, controlling or self serving. Ego is a completely different animal. In the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde we can see Heart and Ego in soul combat. Inside of us lives a Mr. Hyde, lurking in the shadows and desirous of satisfaction, often at the expense of relationship and in the extreme, the Hyde in us is destructive, murderous. Words are our weapons of choice, they can be used subtly and are an excusable form of ego expression without the speaker being perceived as a real threat...the heart is no fool, it knows danger and detects it immediately. If my words are destructive, murderous, they are an outpouring of what resides in my heart. My friend used the imagery of trampling~my imagery is of a knife, thrust into the heart, twisting with force, ensuring injury. Ego as a knife does not concern itself with blood flow, life force extinguished. The heart when given its due, is soft and vulnerable, wise and kind. I am reminded of Martin Luther King Juniors' words "I love you, I would rather die than hate you" and this, from The Bible, 1 Corinthians 16:14: Let all that you do be done with love. So, I ask you, what rules in your life, ego or heart?