“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” ~ Helen Keller
In the 1970s, there was a hit song titled “Feelings” put out by Morris Albert.¹ Comedy writers had a field day with this song over the years, and people who remember the song still refer to this song mainly in a humorous way. By the time the 70s arrived, people were going out of their way not to feel raw emotions. King alcohol, along with a variety of drugs, especially psychedelics, were readily available to help aid in the quest to escape and experience euphoria. Why deal with the multitude of human emotions when controlled substances can set you free.
In the 21st century, nothing has changed, only the type of substances we put into our system. People readily turn to worldly things to escape their feelings, e.g., alcohol, drugs (prescription and street drugs), sex, food, video games, social media, music, games, recreation, puzzles, work, power, more stuff, etc., in hopes to suppress the feelings that living on a worldly plane deliver.
What worldly vices do you turn to for comfort and escape?
Do you believe it’s possible to be free to feel and successfully process the vast array of raw emotions the human body produces without the aid of foreign substances?
The only way to be free to feel is to cleanse your soul by sharing your secrets, hurts, habits, and hangups with another human being. When we keep our feelings and actions in the dark, they become our secrets, and we are as sick as our secrets. To become happy, joyous, and free, we must confess our past to someone else despite how dark and painful it may be. The temptation to only share our junk in the privacy of our hearts with God will not satisfy the soul. God requires public confession to walk this land in peace and harmony. The whole world doesn’t need to know our entire life story, but somebody does.
There are two approaches to addressing our feelings. First is the worldly approach, which involves evading our feelings by consuming and abusing worldly substances of some facet or another. The second is spiritual nature, where we learn to practice spiritual principles in all of our affairs. When we get real we get free. Discovering our true self is a process, but the best news ever is this process delivers liberation from the bondage of self and the freedom to feel at last.
My Creator, I desire to be free to feel on Your terms, not mine. I am tired of running and attempting to hide my feelings. This vicious cycle has separated me from You and my fellows. Would you please liberate my life so I can be free to feel, love the person You created me to be, and practice loving others as myself? In Your Spirit and Name, I pray these things. May Your will not mine always materialize, now and forever. Amen.
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