Sidestepping Emotional Injury

“Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it forgoes revenge, and dares to forgive an injury.”

~Edwin Hubbell Chapin.

The fallible human being is prone to being injured. Indeed, we’re injured in many different forms, these ranging in consequence from physical incapacity to emotional devastation. One is seen quite visibly; the other is perhaps only best felt, or ‘seen’ from within, although we can also often see the results of the hurt as they affect the lives of those affected.

Strength in Weakness

It is a broad and widely-known biblical truth that there is more strength to be had in weakness than there is real strength in strength.

That is to say, in the expression of faith via weakness and relying on our faith in God instead of our human strength—by way usually of surrender to God—we derive great portions of strength often by the way things work themselves out.

Here we’re sidestepping the emotional conundrum and giving it to God. In return we get patience for the calamitous moment.

The Result is Strength

One thing our faith shows us is this: we do not see the results of it until afterwards. We sow in faith as we reap in our ongoing obedience.

And, yet again, we do not see the rewards until afterwards.

In this context we won’t recoil like a cobra when someone stings us. Instead we go to the higher mind and resist the temptation (as best we can) to even think bad things. We want a nobler frame of mind, and this informs our hearts and gets us back on track emotionally.

The issues of reality in this life mean it’s going to be a fact for us that we’ll be hurt; that people will do things that might injure us.

So, in line with that, we plan for it and we plan for the kindly and grace-filled response where compassion intercedes for even the undeserved. Certainly we’re doing this for ourselves as much as we’re doing it for them.

A Key Consideration...

We should all remember that our susceptibility to emotional injury—without recourse to cases of raging abuse; those for which logic cannot generally resolve—can most times be commensurate to our allowance of that hurt to fester within us.

Let us leave it at that.

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.