InSidE oUt

The View from a Ship

Why did God give us feelings? Wouldn’t life be easier if we lived without them? Wouldn’t we be able to accomplish so much more without feelings getting in the way? Can you imagine a life without guilt, anxiety, fear and the mother of all feelings – pain. Of course, on the flipside, a life without feelings would be a life without love, affection, pleasure, joy and happiness. But how much of those things do we really feel on the larger scale of things. It seems to me that most of us live more of life with the ugly side feelings than with the good.

But you could argue that our experience of feelings is entirely subjective. You feel as good or as bad as you want to. Happiness is a choice, they would say. But what do we do if we can’t find the strength to make that choice, sometimes in the face of irreversible pain. Is it a lack in our willingness or in our ability?

So many of the greatest minds, men and lives testify to the fact that it was the hardest times in their lives that made them who they were. For instance, Malcolm Muggeridge said he had learnt more from pain than from all the success of his illustrious journalistic career. But not everyone shares that view of pain with any form of eagerness. Opponents would say that pain is nothing short of being absolutely meaningless.

All I know is that when I have felt good, emotions seemed like a gift from God and when I have felt bad, they seemed to be a curse upon men. The value of emotions is priceless in times of pleasure and worthless in times of pain. So why feel?

I think that some form of the answer lies in the fundamental assumption that joy and pain can co-exist. While the weight of emotions take their toll on a soul that is weary it is the joy that comes from knowing God and His good purpose that keeps our ships from sinking.

I think that the reason God gives us feelings in spite of the possibility of intense pain is the same as one of the reasons that a ship goes out to sail in spite of the possibility of sinking – because it places its faith in a captain who will guide the ship even through treacherous waters and perhaps because the view alone is worth it. The best of feelings is greater than the worst of pain; and when you have a captain who has promised to lead you home, the joy outweighs the pain.