S
scameter18
Guest
One of the biggest difficulties I encounter in my daily life is emotion. Coming unbeckoned and not leaving until it feels like it, emotion is essentially uncontrollable, and sometimes even makes you act in ways that contradict your will or choice, and that if under control you wouldn’t. But obviously, choice and action are the essence of morality in Catholicism. For me at least, attempting to avoid sin and be charitable is made incredibly difficult by emotion. I understand that this is due to sin in the world and is an “indirect good”, as it leads to the salvific grace and highest glorification of God through Christ.
I’m not asking why emotion is as it is. My question is: how should and can we deal with it, to gain some control over our minds? We are tempted continuously and have a weakness toward it by our damaged flesh. But emotion is not temptation so much as something in our brain that makes us more vulnerable to temptation, lessening our control and leaving us prey to any urge or whim - including sin. And when speaking of emotion, I primarily mean potentially-destructive emotions such as anger or despair, but I also mean emotions which can be good or harmful such as romantic attraction, curiosity, ambition, confidence, etc.
From reading the saints, especially St. Francis de Sales, I’ve noticed their teaching that these harmful emotions should be avoided, even in their apparently righteous forms as these can lead to the negative forms easily, especially with anger. Further, the saints and the Bible also teach to be selfless, to be meek, humble and compassionate, as well as nonjudgmental and forgiving, and even not to hate, worry or despair. And while I understand these are voluntary cultivations of negative emotions, those emotions can lead to cultivation, just as temptation can lead to sin, except emotion has the power to overpower you. So I’m asking again: is there any way to gain more control over your mind and to somehow overcome these emotions?
I’m not asking why emotion is as it is. My question is: how should and can we deal with it, to gain some control over our minds? We are tempted continuously and have a weakness toward it by our damaged flesh. But emotion is not temptation so much as something in our brain that makes us more vulnerable to temptation, lessening our control and leaving us prey to any urge or whim - including sin. And when speaking of emotion, I primarily mean potentially-destructive emotions such as anger or despair, but I also mean emotions which can be good or harmful such as romantic attraction, curiosity, ambition, confidence, etc.
From reading the saints, especially St. Francis de Sales, I’ve noticed their teaching that these harmful emotions should be avoided, even in their apparently righteous forms as these can lead to the negative forms easily, especially with anger. Further, the saints and the Bible also teach to be selfless, to be meek, humble and compassionate, as well as nonjudgmental and forgiving, and even not to hate, worry or despair. And while I understand these are voluntary cultivations of negative emotions, those emotions can lead to cultivation, just as temptation can lead to sin, except emotion has the power to overpower you. So I’m asking again: is there any way to gain more control over your mind and to somehow overcome these emotions?
I can’t answer for all the emotions, but for lust, one way to control that is: constantly remind yourself (whenever you start sliding into lust) about the hassles of relationship, because lust issues from what I call a “keyhole perspective,” i.e. you “see” only the sexual stuff, forgetting that it takes place in terms of a relationship (of course, properly, marriage), which is fraught with headaches and heartaches. That reorienting of your mind will quickly put a damper on your lust. Practice it often enough, and your lust incidents will shrivel to very few (not necessarily zero).