To-day's question of the day: Is my experience of God based more on knowing or on feeling? How might I begin to merge the two?
Wow! Two for one. Question!Question!, if you will.
...I don't think I can offer a short answer for these. I don't even know if I can put into words an answer of any length at all... Am I making this deeper than it is??
I know, objectively, that God is. He is the First Cause. Everything that we know as 'the world' or 'the universe' was put into existence by Him. He was not created, His triune nature is unfathomable. He is. He was, and He is to come. There are none like Him.
With respect to feelings, I must say I am cautious here. I know we are endowed with emotions and to try and separate us from these would be folly. But the emotions are not indicators of quantities of grace bestowed by God. We don't feel the best, when God is gracing us the most. It doesn't work like that.
Feelings can be indicators of spiritual growth and even possession by the Spirit, but they aren't necessarily. Even when I feel that I deserve the weeping and gnashing of teeth Christ describes, I know objectively that I am a child of His, and He is waiting lovingly for me in the Sacraments - like the father of the son gone wild. But because I know this, it doesn't mean I will feel elated, or 'spirit-filled' or even joyful.
To begin to merge the two, I must not be a slave to my emotions. I must remember what I know, and in the end, remember what I believe. He wants to commune with me much more than I could ever imagine wanting anything. I need to remember this. I need to remember who I am in Him, no matter how I feel.
To God be the glory.
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