Eagles singer Don Henley and friends wrote “The Heart of the Matter” in 1989. The song was a hit because of Henley's voice and the fact it is so singable. The lyrics tell us that a former love has found someone new. How many similar songs have you heard? A hundred? A thousand? If you thought the song was about a person pining for their lost love, you weren’t alone.
It’s just that, well, there's quite a bit more to it. Check these lyrics:
The more I know, the less I understand.
All the things I thought I knew,
I'm learning again.
I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter,
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter.
But I think it's about forgiveness,
Forgiveness,
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore.
We discover the song is not really about someone pining for a lost love. It’s an exploration of what should come after that. The lyrics include themes of love, grace, and trust. Henley, of course, pours his soul into each verse, making it easy to get lost in his singing—and miss the song. Paying attention, we soon realize that the singer's search for that next step—the heart of the matter—leads to just one place: forgiveness.
You don't find that in just any old song about lost love. This is a transcendence over the love that was lost, an elevation to a higher love, a love that forgives "even if" his old love doesn't love him anymore.
Listen to The Heart of the Matter (with printed lyrics):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x0l8MLRVpj8&pp=ygUedGhlIGhlYXJ0IG9mIHRoZSBtYXR0ZXIgbHlyaWNz
The Greek word for this kind of love is agape. It’s an unconditional love, a love without self-benefit, often referred to as "love, in spite of." It's that challenging kind of love we have to employ to love our enemies.
Agape is also the kind of love the apostle Peter writes about in this week's 1 Peter passage. He calls for his readers to love one another “from the heart”—deeply, warmly, earnestly. He urges believers to truly live out the new commandment Jesus gave them. “Love one another” is more than a little challenging, but it is essential to life together as His disciples.
In the song, we discover: "All the things I thought I figured out, I have to learn again." Now is the perfect time to start learning, again, how to release all the negatives: bitterness, envy, anger, revenge, malice, hatred. We must continually revisit this, keep returning to it—deeply and earnestly from the heart—as a fundamental building block of our growing faith.
Forgiveness: That's how we "get down to the Heart of the Matter."
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PHOTO: Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express
Several quotes on forgiveness:
https://quotement.com/i-forgive-you-for-hurting-me-quotes/
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Join us Friday morning at Our Breakfast Place or on Zoom* to read the scriptures, discuss their meaning, and learn how better to love one another. DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast starts at 8:00 and officially ends at 9:00 (but some stay around and visit).
No one is required to sing.
Blessings,
Steve
*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=s&d=45
Print them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_ThirdSundayofEaster.pdf
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
Third Sunday of Easter (April 19, 2026)
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