Editorial June 10, 2019 Issue

A solid basis for emotional well-being

Larissa Snorek

“Just notice them and be curious,” my friend said as the glow of sunset told us we’d been sitting in this Parisian cafe much longer than anticipated. But the engaging conversation had kept us there. We’d been talking for hours about spirituality and mental health.

Her comment referred to emotions. We’d been realizing how we had learned to label certain emotions as good or bad, positive or negative. And this shaped and limited our ability to be honest with ourselves and others by suppressing certain emotions and highlighting others. And yet, as has become increasingly evident in society today, suppressed emotions tend to come out in other ways, often affecting our health and well-being.

But there’s also a reason not to act on every emotional impulse. Self-control and self-possession are key to functioning as individuals and as a society. The way we deal with our inner world affects the way we live in the outer world. So rather than muting or dulling our emotions, we can learn through Christian Science how to balance feelings with thoughts before they turn into emotional responses. This “sweet rhythm of head and heart” (Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 160) promises we won’t become overwhelmed by our feelings and unable to function in society. Nor will we live primarily in our heads with a disregard for genuine feeling and affection. Instead, we can feel a spiritual balance that comes out from our true nature, which isn’t a mixture of good/bad, positive/negative. It’s an unopposed goodness—joy that doesn’t come and go, but is rooted in the unchanging nature of God.

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Bible Lens—June 10–16, 2019