Friendship, Emotions and Me

From Henri Nouwen, purveyor of all things spiritually introspective.

"Our emotional lives move up and down constantly. Sometimes we experience great mood: swings from excitement to depression, from joy to sorrow, from inner harmony to inner chaos. A little event, a word from someone, a disappointment in work, many things can trigger such mood swings. Mostly we have little control over these changes. It seems that they happen to us rather than being created by us.

Thus it is important to know that our emotional life is not the same as our spiritual life. Our spiritual life is the life of the Spirit of God within us. As we feel our emotions shift we must connect our spirits with the Spirit of God and remind ourselves that what we feel is not who we are. We are and remain, whatever our moods, God's beloved children."


I guess I've been dealing with this a lot lately. I have been struggling with my emotions and my desire for meaningful friendships with other women of God, and it is easy to let that control my spiritual walk as well as my emotional life. Being so far from the support of family and friends who have known me my whole life makes it even harder to see the silver lining on this Waco chapter of our lives. While my husband is amazing and I have some wonderful friends here, there is something precious about feeling "known" by another feminine soul that I long for and miss.

But I know that Nouwen is right. What I feel is not who I am. Though I feel lonely I am never alone. Though I feel forgotten there is one who never forgets. Though I feel hurt and unimportant there is One who binds my imagined wounds and values me enough to give His life for me. And though I feel afraid I am not in danger. My prayer is that the truth of these statements would seep into every part of my soul, offering hope and comfort.