After worship on Sunday, my wife and I decided our family would dine for lunch at our family’s favorite local Mexican food restaurant. Upon entering the authentically decorated restaurant, we were greeted by the owner as everyone always is when entering, with a warm, “Hello my friends!” Honestly, his warm welcome alone may be the real reason we keep going back there and call it our favorite place. (I’m sure their great service and great food probably contribute to our opinion as well.)

After we received our warm greeting, our family positioned ourselves along the short wall to the right, assuming this to be the most out-of-the-way place to patiently wait for an open table. I quickly then dismissed myself to the restroom so I could get back before we were seated. It was during my time in the bathroom that I began to think about something…

When I entered the men’s bathroom I noticed the same things I always notice when I go in there: the single slick black toilet with its matching slick black sink to the left, the dark olive green walls which seem to close in on you as you shut the door, and the always interesting foreign aroma that is unique to this one-man bathroom. However, it was what I heard that truly caught my attention this time.

It was music. It was a tune I recognized, but the words were in Spanish. I knew it was an older song, one I had listened to many times when I was younger, but I was so confused by the understandable lyrics. I listened for a moment, alone in this awkward but familiar place, trying to place the tune. Then, finally, it struck me. I was listening to Achy Breaky Heart, translated into Spanish! I laughed out loud. The thought that another entire culture of people would be blessed by singing and dancing to this song made me happy and sad all at the same time, and laughter seemed to be the only way to vent my emotion.

I left the bathroom thinking about Achy Breaky Heart translated into Spanish and wondered how well that worked. I mean seriously, I’m not even sure what that song is about in English! How can “achy breaky” translate into Spanish? I’m sure there was and is a simple way to make the translation with words, but does this new Spanish listening culture understand the real original meaning that Billy Ray was trying to convey (whatever that meaning was) when he wrote this gold mine masterpiece? Was anything lost during the translation?

This got me thinking. I started thinking about my words and how they translate to others. Do my words give justice to my innermost feelings when I open up? How much of my heart is not being conveyed when I attempt to share it with others?

When I tell my children “I love you”, are they able to understand my deep passion for them, my intense desire to be all I can possibly be for them as their father and spiritual leader, and the pain-filled abyss that would exist in my heart if anything tragic were to ever happen to them? When I tell my wife that she is “the love of my life”, does she understand the immense voluntary commitment I want to give her, the inexhaustible companionship I cherish and will clutch until death do us part? When I tell my friends how much I appreciate them and care for them, do they understand my true heart’s message through my words about how I feel about them?

I have decided, no matter what people may understand whether it’s what I meant to convey from my heart or not, I have decided that I must keep trying to share my heart. To stop trying would be disastrous. I must continue to make every possible effort to translate my heart through my words to the people I love, and with close follow-up in action.

It is true, people may never fully understand what is in my heart that belongs to them, and I accept that notion. Nevertheless, I figure since God went to such great lengths to show his heart‘s infinite and passionate love for me (us) through the redemptive gift of his Son, then I should keep trying to show my heart to the ones I love; even, I guess, my achy breaky heart

“For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” – Jesus (Matthew 12:34)