Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets. New York: HarperCollins, 1962, p. 333.
Is it more compatible with our conception of the grandeur of God to claim that He is emotionally blind to the misery of man rather than profoundly moved? In order to conceive of God not as an onlooker but as a participant, to conceive of man not as an idea in the mind of God but as a concern, the category of divine pathos is an indispensable implication. To the biblical mind the conception of God as detached and unemotional is totally alien . . .
The grandeur of God implies the capacity to experience emotion. In the biblical outlook, movements of feeling are no less spiritual than acts of thought.
2 comments:
The Greeks had an idea of God as an unmoved mover, But in the Jewish and Christian traditions God is deeply moved by the plight of human beings. The great Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel refers to the “divine pathos,” God’s ability not only to feel emotions, but to feel them in a greater way than we can even conceive of. God is deeply concerned about the world and can suffer with us.
Our culture often suggests that we try to divorce ourselves from our emotions, that they somehow contaminate our judgment. It is important to control our emotions and give them their proper role and place, but in the biblical tradition, we are asked to serve God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might, and this includes our emotions.
Loving God, help me to love you with all of myself, bringing even my sometimes unruly and unattractive emotions to serve you and the world.
Step 1 of Emotions Anonymous states: We admitted we were powerless over our emotions, and our lives had become unmanageable.
Dearest Higher Power, whom I have come to know especially as One who is interested in restoring my sanity, I turn over to You all my emotions. Some of these feel good, some bad, some neutral. I like to feel the good ones, avoid the bad ones and observe the neutrals. By turning them all to You, I ask for clarity about how to manage my life, even as I receive your git of serenity in the midst of them all, as i learn to live peacefully with unsolved problems.
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