Galatians 5:22-23
Recently I got some bad news in the mail. News that could have really upset me and gotten me down. As I considered this, I asked myself "What's the point?" You see, no matter how bad I decided to feel, the news wasn't going to change. I've already written about choosing our response to stimuli, even very bad stimuli, and how our humanity is based on just that: the ability to choose our response. So I decided that I was going to feel good anyway.
The fruit of the Spirit, as Paul wrote to the Galatians, is good feelings, or feeling good. Feeing good is feeling the Spirit. I want to feel the Spirit. I want to dwell in that environment.
Remember the bit about the yellow energy and the blue energy, or the positive and negative energy that surrounds us? By choosing to feel good, or choosing to dwell in the light of the Spirit, I attract more good positive energy into my life. And energy is everything.
You may ask, even if bad news hasn't entered your life recently (and kudos to you if this is the case... you obviously are able to avoid late evening network television - i.e. "the news"), "How can I feel good when there is so much sorrow and evil and badness in the world? And especially since the Democrats have taken control of Congress? (or "How can I feel good as long as George Bush is President?" ... pick your argument.)" My answer is this: Go ahead and feel bad about it. Dwell on it. Stress over it. Be my guest. And after a day or a week or a couple of months of feeling that way, see if anything's changed. If it has, please call me, or email me. Because I believe that you can't feel bad enough to make anyone else feel good. In fact, if you feel good -- if you choose to feel good -- you have a greater chance at making a positive impact on exactly those things that were making you feel bad.
So if a family member has recently died, go ahead and mourn. It's a sad occasion. But don't dwell in that state. Look back with fondness, for no matter how depressed you may get, you're not going to bring that person back. Celebrate the life lived, and the lives that you and others are still living. If you lost your job, concentrate on finding a new one -- or better yet, experiment with other ways of making a living. If your child was recently arrested, feel sad about it if you like, but realize that your feeling bad isn't going to change what happened. Much more effective would be to think positive thoughts about your child, concentrate on what you love about him or her, and move forward.
You can't get sick enough to make another person well. You can't feel bad enough to eradicate any of the suffering in the world. You can't get poor enough to eliminate poverty. So think big. Think positive. Feel good. Feel the Spirit. It's your choice.
Recently I got some bad news in the mail. News that could have really upset me and gotten me down. As I considered this, I asked myself "What's the point?" You see, no matter how bad I decided to feel, the news wasn't going to change. I've already written about choosing our response to stimuli, even very bad stimuli, and how our humanity is based on just that: the ability to choose our response. So I decided that I was going to feel good anyway.
The fruit of the Spirit, as Paul wrote to the Galatians, is good feelings, or feeling good. Feeing good is feeling the Spirit. I want to feel the Spirit. I want to dwell in that environment.
Remember the bit about the yellow energy and the blue energy, or the positive and negative energy that surrounds us? By choosing to feel good, or choosing to dwell in the light of the Spirit, I attract more good positive energy into my life. And energy is everything.
You may ask, even if bad news hasn't entered your life recently (and kudos to you if this is the case... you obviously are able to avoid late evening network television - i.e. "the news"), "How can I feel good when there is so much sorrow and evil and badness in the world? And especially since the Democrats have taken control of Congress? (or "How can I feel good as long as George Bush is President?" ... pick your argument.)" My answer is this: Go ahead and feel bad about it. Dwell on it. Stress over it. Be my guest. And after a day or a week or a couple of months of feeling that way, see if anything's changed. If it has, please call me, or email me. Because I believe that you can't feel bad enough to make anyone else feel good. In fact, if you feel good -- if you choose to feel good -- you have a greater chance at making a positive impact on exactly those things that were making you feel bad.
So if a family member has recently died, go ahead and mourn. It's a sad occasion. But don't dwell in that state. Look back with fondness, for no matter how depressed you may get, you're not going to bring that person back. Celebrate the life lived, and the lives that you and others are still living. If you lost your job, concentrate on finding a new one -- or better yet, experiment with other ways of making a living. If your child was recently arrested, feel sad about it if you like, but realize that your feeling bad isn't going to change what happened. Much more effective would be to think positive thoughts about your child, concentrate on what you love about him or her, and move forward.
You can't get sick enough to make another person well. You can't feel bad enough to eradicate any of the suffering in the world. You can't get poor enough to eliminate poverty. So think big. Think positive. Feel good. Feel the Spirit. It's your choice.
2 comments:
of course I agree with what you've written here, but I need to make this point:
satisfaction never changed anything.
feeling unhappy, or unsatisfied, is a good thing, to the extent that it moves us to do something.
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