Emotion and Truth

Well, it has been a couple of fun filled weeks and I really don't know where to start. There have been several occasions where I felt motivated to write something, but just never really got to it. I have been realizing that most of my inspiration for writing something comes from my family or what is going on with the church. I guess that makes sense as those are the two areas that I draw my inspiration from. So anyhow, I have also found that with the changing of the weather a shift takes place in my general emotional state. I guess that could be a dangerous thing if I didn't recognize it, but it is true. Looking back, I realized that the coming of summer often effects my emotional state. I think the reason for this is that over the years huge events of change have often occurred at the beginning of summer i.e. a major breakup with a girl that I thought was "the one" :) , saying good-bye to my family when I moved out at the age of 16 (not realizing that things would forever be different after that), my wedding to my beautiful wife (June 16th 2001). So anyway, add to that the stress of the past month and it makes for a great rollercoaster of emotion and moods. I guess I sound like I am the one that's pregnant, and not my wife :)

One of the things that I appreciate the most during overly emotional times like this is truth. Truth is absolute and is not dependent upon our circumstances, emotions, or ability to acknowledge it. However, when we do, truth becomes the lighthouse in our storm. The Truth becomes the foundation by which we can stand strong regardless of our circumstances or feelings. I guess the whole reason that I am even thinking about this is because I have been spending a lot of time observing that our culture is increasingly being driven by emotion and abandoning truth. Everywhere we look, we are being taught to let our emotions be our guide, not truth. This is radically different than it was a generation ago. I read in a book somewhere how they used to sell cars based on MPG, and storage space, and facts. Now car commercials are all about experiences, like using your car as a fog horn when you get lost in your canoe. Like any of us will ever need to use our SUV for that purpose. But that image, the image of adventure is what sells the car. It is a play on our emotional tie to an experience, or our desire to connect with "that kind of person". We want to be in the same category as the person who gets lost in the fog because they are so adventurous. We know that we maybe aren't that daring, or even that athletic, but we can drive the same car as them.

When led by emotions we become the next statistic. Maybe we fall into the category of "Christians who don't go to church because the weather is nice", or "Church members who only show up for the cookouts and potluck lunches, but not to help at the garage sale". Ouch, I know it hurts, but I have heard that before...the Truth hurts. I guess that is why we are so quick to run to emotion instead. Or maybe the statistic is "the pastor who had an affair with his secretary", the list of failures goes on as we see more and more of society driven by "how we feel" and not the Truth. The prophet Jeremiah wrote in Jer. 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?"

I guess he knew where an emotion driven culture would lead.