What the ‘Hearts up!’ Practice is:
An ancient command to orient your entire self - mind, body, spirit - toward God’s presence, used for 2,000 years at the Eucharist and available to you every moment of every day.
It’s our orientation towards God.
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The Sursum Corda (‘Lift up your hearts’ - it literally means ‘Hearts up!’) is the earliest act of Christian worship.
It’s the command to orient ourselves to God before celebrating and partaking in the Eucharist.
And - we can orient ourselves towards God anytime. This ancient phrase of devotion and attention is our constant call to turn to God with our whole lives.
The morning ‘Hearts up!’
It’s your spiritual warm-up. You’re waking up your soul, orienting your mind to God, preparing yourself for the day.
You’re setting your defenses. You’re establishing your foundation.
Before the busyness starts, before the ‘have to’s’ pile up, before we get too distracted:
Hearts up!
Throughout the day
These are your reset moments.
Like pausing between sets at the gym, you pause to refocus. You shake off whatever is keeping you down and recommit to what matters.
Before that difficult conversation: Hearts up! When things are not going well: Hearts up! When you notice something beautiful: Hearts up!
It becomes automatic. You don’t have to think about it. You just turn toward God.
Try It Right Now
Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing:
Say out loud: “Hearts up!”
Raise your arms in the ‘orans’ position if you want to add Bodily Prayer.
Say ‘Heart’s up!’ when you’re overwhelmed with gratitude…
… or when you’re having a bad day..
… or anytime you need to turn towards God.
Notice what happens in your body and spirit
In two seconds, you’ve joined 2,000 years of Christian practice.
What Happens When You Practice
You might not feel anything - at least at first. And that’s ok!
You’re setting your intention. You’re saying: “God is above me, around me, calling me. I orient myself toward God’s presence and power.”
The practice becomes automatic. You don’t have to think about it anymore. You just turn your heart toward God.
Like the earliest Christians. Like billions of Christians over thousands of years.
The more you practice, the more you stretch and strengthen your soul. The more peace, connection, grounding, and JOY you feel.
The gym parallel (why we practice it at Trexo)
Think of ‘Hearts up!’ as your spiritual stretching.
At a physical gym:
Before we start, we make sure to gently move our bodies and get them ready for testing.
Hearts up! works like this for our souls:
It turns us gently back towards God - looking in the direction of our hope and our salvation.
If we feel lost, this is our steady North star.
Through all the adventures of life, we live in posture of gratitude and adoration.
It puts us in proper relationship with reality.
If we feel alone and discouraged, if we feel joyful and energetic - no matter how we feel - it’s our constant reminder that God is right there. Our life is a dynamic relationship with the source of all joy and love.
Just as a physically stretching prepares us for tests of endurance, a spiritually trained soul can live more consciously in God’s presence, and experience greater transformation and JOY.
The Complete Hearts up! Practice:
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Get started stretching and strengthening your soul.
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