an expert stoic's guide to accepting feelings

growing up, one of my favorite characters to watch on tv was Mr. Spock. he was always the problem solver, always the voice of reason, always able to keep his head when the other characters got carried away by their emotions. as a Vulcan, of course, he claimed to have no emotions at all, but rather operated solely on logic. and it didn't hurt that he was usually the one with the snarky one-liners. i think i kind of admired his character because i tend to be so frustrated by my own feelings. indeed, i've often referred to them as "the bane of my existence." feelings are fickle--they demand that you pay attention to them and cater to them, yet they can change at the drop of a hat. they have nothing to do with rationality, nothing to do with wisdom; they cannot be reasoned with. such a nuisance--this is my gut reaction. and yet, upon closer introspection, feelings are not so devoid of reason as we might expect, but they are instead built on it. if we find the reason behind our emotions, we can often track the purpose for them. for example, take sadness. in the same way that physical pain is designed to alert the presence of a problem or an injury, emotional pain forces one to pay attention to more abstract problems, like the loss of something important. likewise, anger is a way to activate the mind against perceived injustice. jealousy is similar, recognizing the violation of a perceived right to someone or something. fear alerts one to perceived danger or unwanted situations. depression (if it were a healthy emotional response), on the other hand, acts more as a numbing agent against emotional pain that has ceased to be helpful. this is probably well known information to anyone who has seen Inside Out, but the really interesting part is the redemption of these emotions--how are they treated biblically? humans are biblically designed to reflect our Creator, and the experience of emotions is no exception to that. sadness, as our expression that something is abstractly wrong, reflects our need to be cared for and healed. anger reflects God's desire for justice, and even spurs on the conviction that injustice should not go ignored. fear is perhaps the most enigmatic, since "pure love casts out fear," yet the Bible does make one provision for the fear of God. the conclusion here is that for one whose faith is in God, there is nothing to fear because the one with power over all things, even death, is the advocate for your eternity.

forgiveness: part i

a couple of thoughts:

forgiveness is NOT the same as reconciliation, which is something i didn't realize until recently.

that being the case, having to face forgiving someone really gives me a new perspective on God's justice system. i understand so much better now.

and the prospect of forgiving wrongs is somewhat easier when i direct my rage at the real enemy. i may be full of spite, but maybe i can be motivated to forgive out of spite toward the evil that keeps screwing up this beautiful world.