Anxiety and fear; Passion and Love

......just a little addition to the section of the journey inwards I am trying to describe. An emotion might be considered to be ephemeral, in that it is a passing experience. However, that would, in my view, be to trivialise what is a real and can be a profound experience. Beyond emotion, nevertheless, is 'feeling'. Now feeling may not have sensation as emotion does. For example, I might (and indeed do, frequently...) experience anxiety. The sensation of that emotion passes after a brief interval. Sometimes, anxiety lingers for a longer period. At a deeper level lies 'fear' which is not so much separate from anxiety, but is distinct from it. So I might be aware of an underlying fear but may not necessarily be feeling anxious. Likewise, I may experience the emotion of sexual arousal or exhileration and warmth in friendship. The feeling, which is so much deeper on the journey, might be described as love. What is more, there might be the feeling of love without the sensation. So on this part of the journey inwards, I become aware of 'feelings' and let them be. I have feelings, but I am not my feelings. So I move onwards or inwards beyond even my feelings, simply by recognising them and letting them be.... without any judgement or analysis... This is the journey 'with' Christ to the Christ of the inner life by means of letting go and as I tried to indicate in my last blog, by wsay of 'unknowing'....

I shall not be able to post a blog for a few days.... But I shall return... Please don't go away.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles.