“The heart should be cultivated with more assiduity than the head.”

– Noah Webster, lexicographer

Noah Webster registered the copyright on his American dictionary in the English language (A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language) over 185 years ago.

When I was young I was not such an avid reader. Words – especially words like assiduity – tripped me up, due to my lack of understanding and my impatience.

Both of my parents installed the discipline of taking time to learn the meaning of such words, much to my initial frustration. Today, I know it was the assiduity of their hearts that had me persist in this flagging effort, to help me learn and grow.

Exercise:

Imagine what life would be like if Webster had also created a dictionary of the heart. What other books and resources – such as the Bible, Torah, Koran, or works of literature – provide such heart-developing wisdom? Perhaps a dose of assiduity is called for here.