Paul's Passing Thoughts

   Right feelings follow right action. What we feel in the midst of any action is irrelevant to the big picture. I get a tremendous amount of joy and satisfaction in meeting the needs of those I serve in the health industry, but that doesn’t mean I experience joy in doing the individual acts that are part of my job description. When I am helping a client meet a need via a process that robs them of all of their dignity, that act does not give me joy; the joy comes later in knowing that I helped the client fulfill a need. In eternity, many of the tasks we presently perform will not even be necessary.

   In regard to the Protestant notion that motives are validated by the feelings felt during the act; like all orthodoxy, it defies scriptural common sense, and in this case, the paramount loving act of the ages. Christ despised the shame of the cross, but obeyed for the joy ahead.

   In regard to matters of liberty that your conscience is presently uncomfortable with, don’t do it. Never violate your conscience. Come up with alternatives that your conscience is presently comfortable with. Violating conscience undermines assurance although you have assurance. We want our feelings, or more accurately, wellbeing, to match what we have.

paul