Friends don’t let friends be in a glass case of emotion. (via 8tracks)
Yes, I’m afraid it’s come to this. We need to talk about Heart.
Heart. That most useless of all superpowers, next to talking with sea life. That insidious force that governs human emotion and can make us stupid piles of squee-jello at the drop of a pin.
Emotions are one of the most unruly, hard to tame aspects of the human person. Anyone who’s been a teenager (and unless you were spawned from a tank, you probably were, or will be) knows the brutal toll hormones can have on one’s emotional state. This is particularly true for you young ladies out there. Yes. You know who you are.
There is nothing worse than letting your emotions govern you. Yes, I know we hear “follow your heart!” all the time from our culture. Or, my favorite, “do what feels good!” Hm. Yes. I’ll admit that giving in to your emotions can feel very good indeed. So does eating an entire tub of Chocolate Caramel Brownie Avalanche, but the aftermath is not pretty. Not in the slightest.
Natasha knows what I’m talking about. (via snOOp)
I’m not saying emotions are evil. Quite the opposite, in point of fact. God blessed mankind with hearts to love and adore Him above all things. The Heart is the house of our Creator within us, who is Love beyond all loves. And there is a singular purity in properly-channeled emotions that can lead mankind to create deep, soulful works of art, that can inspire him to commit acts of singular heroism. Heart is the driving force of human life, and to deny that is to deny that which makes us capable of greatness.
But just as with a flabby body and an undisciplined mind, a heart unguarded and unchecked can destroy a person. Emotions are the easiest parts of the human person to manipulate, and the forces of darkness are more than happy to take advantage of a weak heart. Love which knows not itself can so easily be twisted into lust. Ambition to greatness can so easily be swayed into ambition at all costs. A word whispered in the ear, a hunger left unchecked, can easily grow into a dragon that defies slaying.
So we have to kill the dragons while they are still geckoes. And we can kill the geckoes of sin with discipline and prayer.
To discipline the heart, we have to allow our minds to work alongside it. As in spiritual matters, emotions must be governed by Faith and Reason. To ignore positive emotions and think only with the mind can prevent us from being compassionate. But to ignore red flags because we are so caught up in emotional frenzy can lead us into places where Reason cannot follow. We must reflect on what is good, what is true, what is beautiful. For God is in these things, and that which is of Love generates more love.
If we stare too long into the darkness, if we let worry and fear rule our hearts, we are essentially feeding our hearts a steady diet of whiskey and doughnuts. And, if we allow frenzy to overshadow common sense, we can overindulge even on good things. As with a physical diet, moderation is key.
Temperance. Always and forever, Temperance.
Prayer is the squat rack of the human heart. In developing a healthy prayer life, we learn to control our hearts, rather than allowing them to control us. In prayer, we come before Love Himself, so overwhelming and powerful that He obliterates all lesser emotional responses and makes all new in reflection of His glory. If we surrender to his passionate onslaught, if we relinquish the lesser things we cling to, He will teach us how to live in control and passionate Joy beyond our own ability. When you truly give yourself over to God’s will, the Heart finds at last its home, and the restlessness and fickleness of the untrained heart will ease.
This is why I firmly believe that all good things must be rooted in prayer, for all good things must come from the Source of all good. Every night before I go to sleep, I pray a prayer that asks God to make me a bearer of light, to bring me in line with His Divine Will. I thank him for my blessings. I thank him for my trials, for even these are blessings as they are born out of Love. And since I began praying this prayer, I have never been more at peace. My emotions do not master me. I can be patient. I can be pure. I can begin to really be who I was meant to be.
If you are ready to train your Heart, go to God, your personal trainer. Let Him lead you. Let Him teach you. Above all, let Him love you.
The rest will follow.
-E.G. Norton
The Trenchcoat Introspective 