To suppose that people do not feel things because they do not scream and yell and fill the air with their cries, is simple nonsense.
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To feel trouble deeply and yet submit to it patiently is what is required of a Christian.
J.C. Ryle, quoted in Faithfulness and Holiness by J.I.Packer, p.24, 26
Thursday, July 09, 2009
J.C.Ryle - feeling things
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1 comment:
Sounds a little like English stiff-upper-lip kind of thinking to me! Yes absolutely we should endure suffering with patience, but I don't think there's anything unChristian about a good cry/rant/yell if that's what's needed. It seems from the Psalms and the Prophets that God can take pretty much any honest emotion that is thrown at Him, and for me that has been one of the most freeing things about going through tough times as a Christian.
But I guess the major point of the quote isn't that you shouldn't express emotion visibly but that we should have the pastoral acumen to realise that deep emotions are there even when not expressed so extravagantly - a hard thing to do but so necessary. Thanks for sharing (and glad to know you're reading the book I gave you!)
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