1 Faith
2 Facts
3 Feelings
Behold, the order in which all things must be considered! This is how my old pastor told us to view every situation. Faith was held superior (and separate) to all other forms of knowledge. And feelings or emotions… well, what were they good for anyway? I could go into the intricacies of the platitude, and all of the fallacy in it, but I’ve gone far enough for what I want to talk about.
I remember so many different situations, we were all struggling to “just keep going” (a platitude for another entry ;P), most of us just wouldn’t admit it to ourselves. On a very consistent basis, someone would be going through a hard time. Instead of helping this person through it or giving them any real advice, the candid answer was “remember: faith, facts, THEN feelings.” Always with the emphasis on the “THEN feelings,” to subtly suggest to the one struggling: “quit being such an unspiritual, emotional person”. It’s so ridiculous.
Faith, facts, feelings. We can’t separate these.
This is my warning to anyone, wherever you are, whatever you’re involved in… if the only help an organization can give you is advocating stricter adherence to that organization, just get out.
