Getting Your Soul in Order

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One

Three Powers of the Soul  

We have a soul which is comprised of three powers: The Intellect, the Feelings, and the Will. 

Here is how the soul was designed by God to work. The intellect perceives or becomes aware of reality through the five senses, the imagination, or the memory. The intellect then presents its perception of reality to the feelings as “this is right and good for me” or “this is wrong and bad for me."

The feelings respond to what the Intellect presented with, “I like this,” prompting the will to choose it or “I dislike that,” prompting the will to avoid it. The will chooses the apparent good and avoids the evil.

This is how the powers of the soul were meant to work. Thinking should inform our feelings which prompt our choices. Thinking should rule our lives, not feeling. Feelings are meant to be good servants but if left in charge they become very bad masters.  

Two

Original Sin has wounded the three powers of our soul 

The intellect has been darkened, so that we suffer from ignorance, confusion, and intellectual laziness. It takes a lot of effort to really think things through. It’s easier to feel. So, we let the intellect go to sleep and let our feelings determine behavior. 

We let feelings rule our life. We are ruled by likes and dislikes. That might be ok except for the fact that, because of Original Sin, we tend to like what is bad for us and dislike what is good for us. 

Our willpower has been weakened. Even when we know what we should do we find it really hard to just do it. So this is our problem, after Original Sin…disordered feelings are causing us to choose and say and do things that are bad for us. 

But that does not mean feelings are bad. They are a necessary power of the soul. 

Remember how the soul works: Thinking should tell our feelings what to like and dislike. Then feelings prompt the will. The will chooses what is good for us and avoids what is bad for us. That is why we have to get our feelings in order. 

We do so by exercising our intellect and our will through mental prayer and a resolution.

Three

We can change the way we feel by thinking and by acting 

First, we can change the way we feel by how we think.

Let’s say, for instance, you really dislike someone. Your bad feelings for him are making it really hard. Begin with your thinking. Think and talk about his good points, his virtues, and maybe especially the gifts he has that you don’t. If you think and talk about the person in those terms long enough, you’ll be constantly reminded of how much there is to appreciate about this person, and you’ll actually begin to appreciate him and it’ll be easier to treat him charitably. 

In this way, thinking changes feeling. Use this strategy to avoid evil. 

Say you want to gossip about someone, you can picture in your head how awkward it’ll be if what you’ve been saying gets back to them. Or you can use St. James’ image, about how a small flame – gossip – can burn down a whole forest of good. 

Whatever image works to help you realize how deadly gossip is, use that, focus on that, picture that. And eventually your desire to gossip will fade.   

If we think about the pleasing aspects of what’s good and the displeasing aspects of what’s bad our desires will change, prompting the right action. 

This is why “thinking” in Mental Prayer is necessary for our transformation.  

Four

We can also change the way we feel by how we act

Most people don’t start out liking exercise, but if they make the choice to exercise when they don’t feel like it and if they keep at it, they begin to like it and they start to look forward to their morning run. Their feelings toward exercise change.

People usually don’t start out enjoying prayer, but if they make the choice to pray anyway when they don’t feel like it, and if they keep at it day after day, they get to the point where they can’t do without it. Their feelings toward prayer change.

The same goes for abstaining from bad behavior. If you have a bad temper, you’ll want to say horrible things when you get angry. But if you resist the urge to lash out and choose to hold your tongue, the anger will fade and the desire to be undisturbed by others will grow. 

Use the principle of Check and Command. When the wrong emotion begins to take over, like anger - check it, like a hockey player – checking an opponent into the boards. Check the anger that is getting out of control, stop it. 

Then command the right response.

If you do the right thing, over and over, even if you don’t feel like it, eventually you begin to like it. It becomes pleasing to the emotions and then we have a good habit. 

If you resist the wrong feelings and do the right actions long enough, the bad desires will fade, the right desires will grow, prompting you to the right actions.

This is why the “Resolution” flowing from mental prayer is essential if we are going to change. 

Five

We need to use our thinking and action to change our feelings but we can’t do it alone – we need Jesus.

Go to Jesus in your time of prayer each day. Tell him the feelings that are overwhelming you. The feelings of anger, fear, resentment, lust, laziness, greed, or whatever they may be. Then with him think about the pleasing aspects of what’s good and the displeasing aspects of what’s bad. And make the resolution to do that.

Slowly slowly, day by day, our desires will change, prompting the right action.  Then every time you find yourself under the power of some great temptation, immediately fly to Jesus. Say to Him, “I can’t, but Jesus you can, so you must do it for me.”

Then remove the source of your temptation or remove yourself from the source.