Thursday, 3rd Week: Emotional Life May Control Spiritual Life
"O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at
Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put
me to the proof, though they had seen my work." Psalm 95:7-9
Our emotional lives move up and down constantly. Sometimes we experience great mood
swings; from excitement to depression, from joy to sorrow, from inner harmony to inner
chaos. A little event, a word from someone, a disappointment in work, many things can
trigger such mood swings. Mostly we have little control over these changes. It seems that
they happen to us rather than being created by us.
So it is important to know that our emotional life is not the same as our spiritual life. Or spiritual life is the life of the Spirit of God within us. As we feel our emotions shift, we must connect our spirits with the Spirit of God and remind ourselves that what we feel is not who we are. We are and remain, whatever our moods, God's beloved children ...
Although it is very hard to control our moods, we can gradually overcome them by a
well-disciplined spiritual life. This can prevent us from acting out our moods. We might
not "feel" like getting up in the morning because we "feel" that life
is not worth living, that nobody loves us, and that our work in boring. But if we get up
anyhow, to spend some time reading the Gospels, praying the Psalms, and thanking God for a
new day, our moods may lose their power over us.
"Holy Spirit, help me to achieve the discipline I need for a devout Christian
life."
Henri Nouwen