Part 5, Chapter 7
Emotions. We are full of emotions whether we are aware of it or not. Sometimes are emotion gets the better of us. Sometimes we do things with our emotions that we shouldn’t. We need to know our emotions and know how they are working on us. For if we don’t, we can say or do things that we never intend. St. Francis De Sales gives the beautiful image of lute. Still, it is probably better for us to think of a guitar since that is used more in our day. If our guitar, which has 7 strings, is not in tune it will play a horrible sound. “Love, hate, desire, fear, hope, sadness and joy” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 196) are our strings. Our strings are our emotions which have an enormous impact on our spiritual life. Being aware of our emotions (passions) helps us to be in tune with God. “We must tune them afresh with the help of his grace, and the counsel of our spiritual father” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 196). When we know which emotions are pulling at our heart strings, we can than bring them to God and work on them. Unchecked emotions will lead to a song that is horribly out of tune. And when we are horribly out of tune, we are not living the devout life.
