Untangling Emotions (J.Alasdair Groves & Winston T.Smith)
What do you think of when you think of emotions? Perhaps it is a movie scene which brings overwhelming sobs, maybe your mind flicks to that anger that flooded over you when that driver cut dangerously close across you, or maybe the characters from Inside Out pop up in your head. In a world that tells us on one hand "You are what you feel" "get rid of anything that doesn't fill you with joy" and yet on the other states "mindfulness and emptying yourself of negative emotions is the key to finding peace" what is our response to be? Emotions are deep and complex, and working towards emotional literacy is not a simple process.
As part and parcel of being a primary school teacher I spend large swathes of my days helping my kids articulate what they feel, find ways to better navigate those emotions and perhaps along the way develop some empathy for others. Despite all my hard work my kids will not leave my classroom at the end of the year as emotional masters, never again to feel overwhelmed by a torrent of emotions or numbed to feeling, how could they when their teacher often struggles with her own?
How does this need for emotional literacy tie into faith and Christianity? Well for one thing we proclaim Christ as King over every corner of our lives including our emotions. For another, as Creator He has interweaved emotions into the heart of what it is to be human and to be made in God's image. Think of our loving Saviour, the perfect man was a man of deep emotions - sorrow at the death of his friend, anger at those desecrating the temple, compassion for the hungry crowds. Every day, week, month, year you experience a vast swathe of emotions from simple joys to anger, from despair to exhilaration. It is part of what it means to be human, it is an indispensable part which plays a crucial role in our relationships both with God and with fellow humans.
Groves & Smith invite you to engage with these God given emotions. These emotions do not define you or your faith (for if faith was based on feelings we would all be sunk!) but rather are emotions that have been given for your good. When emotions are pushed away we are left numb and detached. When they are the guiding star of our lives we become impulsive and entangled. We must understand and engage so we can handle our moment by moment emotions in a way that is reflective of the Saviour who created them. Each one of us, both men and women, need to take time to understand and engage with these God given emotions. Take the opportunity to do so by reading this short book for the benefit of your relationship with your Father in Heaven and with those around you. After all, perhaps many of your friends would echo Tantor's (the elephant from the Disney Tarzan movie) frustration in saying "I've had it with you and your emotional constipation!"
This book is available to buy online from the Covenanter Bookshop for £9.99 at the link below.
