Yesterday the dog ran from me, chewing away at something she plainly knew that she shouldn’t have. By the time I managed to catch her, it seemed to be gone and I assumed it was a stray bit of paper. But moments later she coughed up a mangled paper clip.
Anxiety and second thoughts often accompany new adventures, but they are also the companions of new mistakes. Distinguishing between the two can be important.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean that it is a good idea.
The dog’s furtive behavior wasn’t the behavior of someone on a new adventure. It was the behavior of someone doing something she knew she shouldn’t do.
Our emotions can be spiritual friends, alerting us to risks that threaten our wellbeing. Instead of ignoring them, running from them, or letting them wash over us, it is important to ask our emotions why they are there and what they have to say about the choices we are making.
The dog couldn’t do that, of course. But we can.
Ouch! This one hit too close to home! Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should!
I seem to remember St. Paul’s saying something like this. Good advice. Think what he might have added if he had had a dog! New frontiers in theology.
Whenever I want something so much and have a nagging feeling inside myself I want to turn it off because it stands in the way of my getting my way about “whatever” and so it may be that is true of others also. I never thought of our emotions being our spiritual friends. What a novel idea. I’ll try to take my sunglasses off and face my spiritual friends honestly. But what about those emotions that aren’t so good? Your answer is the same for them also and that is to face them and if they be not godlike to rid them from within myself by the grace of God.
Thanks for this wonderful article.
Carol Lawson