[Pearls Episode 140: Preparing for Sunday.]
This Sunday’s scripture challenges us to give thanks in all circumstances.
One of the things that gets in our way of giving thanks is how we perceive our circumstances.
If we truly recognize that “God works all things to the good, for those who love Him” – then everything in our life can be seen as “good,” so long as we’re staying close to God. And then we give thanks for everything.
But as we come packaged, thanks to the fall, our emotions aren’t on board with that script. Our emotions are often attracted to things that are not good for us and repulsed by what is good for us – thus St. Paul says, “ I do what I do not want, and do not do what I ought.” What’s more, our unruly emotions overwhelm our higher powers (spiritual powers) of intellect and will.
Let’s take a cookie example (don’t care for cookies? Insert your own indulgence…). Let’s say it’s just before lunch, so a cookie would spoil our appetite. And, let’s say that we happen to be on a diet. And, let’s say we also had decided to fast from sweets.
And then… a coworker offers us a homemade chocolate chip cookie – chunks of chocolate and the cookie part has that perfect texture that looks like it came off a baking magazine. There are four overall ways we can respond:
- Totally fallen:
- Disordered Emotions charge in – “That looks delicious! Me want!”
- Darkened Intellect says “YES – cookies really are nutritious and if I only have one it’s sort of like fasting because I really want three”
- Weakened Will says, “YES – let’s do it. And if one is good, two is better!”
- Improved intellect
- Disordered Emotions charge in – “That looks delicious! Me want!”
- Illuminated Intellect says, “NO – it’s empty calories, and we’re fasting”
- Weakened Will says, “Intellect schmintellect. Those emotions really know how to live. Down the hatch!”
- Improved intellect and will
- Disordered Emotions charge in – “That looks delicious! Me want!”
- Illuminated Intellect says, “NO – it’s empty calories, and we’re fasting”
- Strengthened Will says, “I hate to say it, but the Intellect has a point. No cookie for you!”
- Emotions are sad.
- Perfected intellect and will and mortified emotions
- The cookie offer FIRST goes to Illuminated Intellect (our emotions don’t even factor in yet) and the intellect says, “no.”
- Our Strong Will doesn’t hesitate to act on the clear assessment of the intellect and decides, “no.”
- Only then do Properly-Ordered Emotions kick in and support our intellect and will – we are happy because we made a virtuous decision to say “no” to the cookie.
Most of us live in a reality where our intellect and will struggle with our emotions. It’s as if there are two of us. Which is not healthy (most agree that one of me is enough!). Often the problem is our unruly emotions. At the risk of being politically incorrect, we must kill them off. In fact, we have a word for that – mortification. We’re really just killing off the disordered part of our emotions. Which is how St. Paul could say, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ in me.”
This Sunday gives us the opportunity to reflect on circumstances where we struggle giving thanks. Quite likely we’ll find our emotions are leading us astray. And since we’re supposed to give thanks for all things, we can be thankful for the opportunity our fallen emotions give us to grow in virtue!
Of course there are other situations in life, far more serious than sweet treats, that we struggle to accept as “good” and we’ll look more at those on Monday.
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life