Emotion

I've been thinking a lot about emotions a lot lately...especially how we mismanage them.  Please understand, I'm not a very emotional guy.  I grew up learning how to take care of my sad, mad, scared feelings without  anybody else's help.  Our family just wasn't very good at dealing with them which made not dealing with them seem normal.  On top of that was popular advice given to boys like, "Big boys don't cry" and "Stop being such a baby", etc. 

Two problem areas have made me take a look at emotions in new light--addiction and marriage.  Isn't it true that many people develop an addiction because they don't know how to deal with their pain and loss and grief (emotions) in a healthy way?  They're overwhelmed by a truck load of negative feelings and so deal with them the only way they know how...they medicate.  And  in marriage, husbands and wives sometimes don't bond as strongly as they could because they don't learn how to explore their negative feelings and to comfort each other in those negative feelings.  They may share information and raising children and and chores around the house and vacations but they leave unexplored a whole other dimension of their humanity (their emotions) and so fail to connect at a deeper level.  One or both may feel something is missing but they're not sure what.  And so there's disappointment, and sometimes divorce.

This is where Jesus enters the picture.  He didn't minimize negative feelings or avoid them.  He said that in his kingdom, people are blessed (happy) when they mourn (a negative emotion) because they will be comforted (think of comfort as relief from the pain).  We will have pain and when we do, with Jesus, we can find genuine relief.  We don't have to medicate or avoid the sadness.  We can get through it.  And in the case of marriage, the grief will even draw the couple closer together as they learn to comfort each other.  In our unhealthy approach to painful feelings we have actually multiplied our pain through addiction and failing marriages.

When I used to come home from work I'd ask the family "what's the latest news we can use".  I was all about information.  But now I'm beginning to explore feelings with my family and we're all the better for it.  How about you?  Are you experiencing any painful feelings?  Do you know what they are and why you have them?  Have you talked to anybody about them?  Are you finding genuine relief from the pain?  May the God of all comfort be with you.

Rick