Three Powers of the Soul
one
Yesterday we meditated on what it means to live an authentic human life.
To be authentic we can’t just follow our heart, our feelings because following our spontaneous impulses can be disastrous. Imagine acting upon every feeling that came over us…Yeah, not good! So today, let’s get a good grasp on the whole person – not just the emotions, but all three powers of the soul
We have a soul which is made up 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
With Original Sin, the three powers of our soul have been wounded.
a. The intellect has been darkened, so that we suffer from ignorance, confusion and intellectual laziness.
1. It takes a lot of effort to really think things through.
2. It’s easier to feel.
3. So, we let the intellect go to sleep and let our feelings decide what we do.
b. We let feelings rule our life.
1. We are ruled by likes and dislikes.
2. That might be ok except for the fact that, because of Original Sin,
a. we tend to like what is bad for us
b. and dislike what is good for us.
c. And because of Original Sin, our will power has been weakened.
1. 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 the what is 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.
· The feelings then propel the will to choose what is good for us and to avoid what is bad for us.
o Choices are always meant to be prompted by feelings
That is why we have to get our feelings in order. And we do so by exercising our intellect and our will
three
We can change the way we feel from the direction of the intellect and from the direction of the will.
First, we can change the way we feel by how we Think
a. Let’s say, for instance, you really dislike someone. Your bad feelings for him are making it really hard.
b. Begin with your thinking.
i. Think and talk about his good points, his virtues, and maybe especially the gifts he has that you don’t.
ii. 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.
iii. In this way - Thinking changes feeling.
c. Use this strategy to avoid evil.
i. Say you want to gossip about someone
ii. You can picture in your head how awkward it’ll be if what you’ve been saying gets back to that person.
iii. Or you can use St. James’ image, about how a small flame – gossip – can burn down a whole forest of good.
iv. Whatever image works to help you realize how deadly gossip is, use that, focus on that, picture that.
v. And eventually your desire to gossip will fade.
d. 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.
four
We can also change the way we feel by how we act
a. Most people don’t start out liking exercise,
i. 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 exercise, they start to look forward to their morning run.
ii. And their feelings toward exercise change
b. People usually don’t start out enjoying prayer,
i. 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.
ii. And their feelings toward prayer change
c. The same goes for abstaining from bad behavior you’re inclined to.
i. If you have a bad temper, you’ll want to say horrible things when you get angry.
ii. 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.
d. If you do the right thing, over and over,
i. even if you don’t feel like it
ii. eventually you begin to like it
iii. it becomes pleasing to the emotions and then we have a good habit.
e. If you resist the wrong feelings and do the right actions long enough,
i. the bad desires will fade
ii. the right desires will grow
iii. prompting you to the right actions.
five
We can change our feelings – but not by our effort alone. We must go to Jesus
a. Go to Jesus in your time of prayer each day
i. Tell him the feelings that are overwhelming you
1. The feelings of anger, fear, resentment, lust, laziness, greed, or whatever they may be
ii. Then with him think about the pleasing aspects of what’s good and the displeasing aspects of what’s bad
iii. And make the resolution to do that
iv. Slowly slowly, day by day, our desires will change, prompting the right action.
b. Then every time you find yourself under the power of some great temptation – immediately fly to Jesus
i. Beg him for help
ii. Remove yourself from the temptation the best you can - walk yourself out of it
1. Temptation often comes from some form of resentment or self-pity
2. So immediately start thanking Jesus for very specific things
3. By turning toward Jesus in gratitude we turn away from temptation and conquer it
4. Conquer temptation by gratitude