The Presence Of Emotion

Emotion, like every aspect of reality, is often misunderstood.  It tends to be regarded in one of two contrary ways: its importance is usually either overstated or trivialized.  Both of these errors are deadly.  Treating emotion as if it holds a greater power than the intellect is an asinine blunder that can destroy a person's worldview, but failing to appreciate emotion can produce emptiness.  In conditions of extreme emotional pain, some might even wish to be permanently rid of their feelings.  I suspect that few (if any) would find a completely emotionless existence fulfilling.

Without emotions of any sort, it would easily seem as if there is no immediate incentive to continue living, much less to endure a life of perils for the sake of distant objectives.  Emotionalism is a destructive plague, but emotion itself drives many people forward, as the depth of human feelings can be an enchanting and empowering thing.  People pursue emotional fulfillment because experience without emotion resembles a kind of blank consciousness.  It is difficult to find motivation within a mind devoid of all emotions; some sort of emotion is almost always involved in a decision to continue living.

Emotion should be savored by Christians, who should wholeheartedly live out the theological ideas that emotion is good (Genesis 1:31) and that Christian life can be exceptionally fulfilling on a personal level (John 10:10).  A love of God and truth might naturally be accompanied by emotional passion.  Furthermore, there is nothing anti-rationalistic about celebrating the full spectrum of human psychological feelings, as there is nothing exclusive about emotional and intellectual depth.

Enjoying human existence without some degree of emotionality is a challenge.  Vibrant feelings, therefore, are worthy of the attention of those who seek to enjoy their existences.  Emotions must be controlled, yes; this does not mean that they must be ignored or silenced.  Christians should be among the first to relish and emphasize emotions, since they are an integral component of what God fashioned human life to be.  Emotion itself is not an enemy of reality.