The Gift of Emotions December 1, 2015

Read Luke 19:41-46

Luke 19:41      As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it

Isaiah 22:4     Therefore I said, "Turn away from me; let me weep bitterly. Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people."

Luke 13:34     "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Luke 13:35     Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Luke 19:42     and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.

John 11:35     Jesus wept.

Growing up, I often experienced negative consequences when I expressed my feelings. So I dampened my exuberance and stifled my anger and sadness, hoping to make life easier. Unfortunately, numbing my emotions through overeating eventually led to obesity and the host of social and health challenges that accompany that condition.

Then I began to notice how Jesus displayed his feelings in scripture. He experienced the full range of human emotion: anger with the moneychangers in the Temple (John 2:15), grief over the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35), and joy in teaching his disciples (John 15:11). Jesus allowed himself to be fully, deeply human whether in joy or suffering. This observation gave me the courage to begin to “feel my feelings” while in the safety of Jesus’ presence in prayer. Gradually, I was able to experience my feelings as they occurred and to understand them as good gifts from God.

Expressing our emotions is part of the abundant life to which Jesus invites us. When we express ourselves authentically, it is a gift to God, to ourselves, and to the world.