Emotional Creatures

Admit it, we are all emotional creatures.

One time in class, a young woman expressed her frustration with her inability to express her true feelings in a public business setting because of her fear that men (and even other women) may criticize and disregard what she was saying, because she was expressing herself "emotionally". She then said that she felt she should rather be silent then to have her words disregarded. Immediately I spoke, expressing my frustration with her silence but the greater frustration with her feeling belittled because of her natural emotional reactions.
Why is it considered a sign of weakness to express emotion in todays society? We are all aware that we are emotional beings and yet we fight that natural instinct. Why is it that society encourages our negative (even destructive) forms of emotion; pride, competitiveness, anger, and sarcasm but discourages humility, gentleness, compassion, and vulnerability? Why are these seen as a sign of weakness?

If you know or if you don't, I am going to tell you now, I am a VERY emotional person.

I've never viewed being emotional as a sign of weakness, but I think I have been told and structured to think of is as irrational; that I needed to second guess my instinctive emotion before expressing it because it's probably just my over sensitive nature and not actually logical to feel the things I'm feeling. Women probably understand this emotional doubt more than men, but this second guessing is something we have all done and have been told to do.
I'm not here to affirm your reactionary quality; taking a moment to think before reacting, acting, and speaking is always a good idea. Always. But that is different from second guessing the rationality of your emotions.

Here is the cool part:

Our God is an emotional God. He created us out of emotion, in response to His emotions. He took His beautiful, diverse, emotional characteristics of the Father, Son, and Ghost and divided them into two beings He called Man and Woman. He purposefully assigned these characteristics to each in reflection of who He is and who He wants us to be. In His completely rational mind, He formed us in His emotional image to be emotional beings.
That being said, emotions are not sinful.
Often times as Christians we are told to not feel some type of way about certain things, leading us to believe our emotions are sinful. This is poop. Emotions in of themselves are not sinful, it is what we choose to do with them where they are in danger of becoming sinful.
That is what sin does; it takes what is good and beautifully designed by God and poisons it for it's destructive use.
When it comes to our initial reactionary emotions, there is nothing wrong with having those feelings; it is natural. What tends to be wrong is how sin grips these emotions, harnessing them for foul intentions and then justifies these intentions in our minds leading us to react, act, and speak in sin.
The Iverson clan has been emotionally constipated in the past. It wasn't that we were discouraged to have them, it was that we weren't encouraged to express them properly and acknowledge the beauty of these God given and God made characteristics but recognizing where sin might have gripped them.
When my older brother married his wonderful wife, I remembering being blown away at how open she was with expressing herself. She cried, she got frustrated, and was open about sharing all of these raw emotions with her new family. I remembering being quite overwhelmed and unsure how to respond. So we teased her and called her oversensitive. How I have grown to admire this sister of mine. To this day she is true to her emotions, to expressing her God given sensitivity, to being vulnerable and raw with both her beautiful attributes as well as the ugly ones. Never have I met anyone who has been so free in their emotional expressing. And though for years I myself criticized and judged these characteristics, I have come to respect and admire her boldness in utilizing this freedom.
As I watch my 4 year old niece grow and learn about the broken world around us, I delight in seeing her sensitive heart hurt for our hurting planet. She cries because animals are mistreated, she's worried for trees in the Amazon, and she hates that we as humans are abusing the power and responsibility God gave us over His creation. She is sensitive to death and rejoices in life; this is rarely seen today. I pray this beautiful sensitive soul is never caged in shame, that she will always feel this freedom to hurt in the midst of brokenness and rejoice in what is good.

Friends, this is a freedom that we have as well. Our Creator WANTS us to utilize and express the attributes and characteristics that He has given us; characteristics that reflect Him. He wants us to respond to the pain in the world with tears, He wants us to be angry at injustice, and He wants us to be joyful in the beauty of His people and creation.

This is one of my favorite spoken words, presented at a TED Talk by Eve Ensler. This is directed towards girls/women but speaks truth to all. For females, it's the empowerment of being unashamed for the centuries of the belittling of our emotions. For all, it is the affirmation of the value of being an emotional creature.

I love being a girl.
I can feel what you’re feeling
as you’re feeling it inside
the feeling
before.
I am an emotional creature.
Things do not come to me
as intellectual theories or hard-shaped ideas.
They pulse through my organs and legs
and burn up my ears.
I know when your girlfriend’s really pissed off
even though she appears to give you what
you want.
I know when a storm is coming.
I can feel the invisible stirrings in the air.
I can tell you he won’t call back.
It’s a vibe I share.

I am an emotional creature.
I love that I do not take things lightly.
Everything is intense to me.
The way I walk in the street.
The way my mother wakes me up.
The way I hear bad news.
The way it’s unbearable when I lose.

I am an emotional creature.
I am connected to everything and everyone.
I was born like that.
Don’t you dare say all negative that it’s a
teenage thing
or it’s only only because I’m a girl.
These feelings make me better.
They make me ready.
They make me present.
They make me strong.

I am an emotional creature.
There is a particular way of knowing.
It’s like the older women somehow forgot.
I rejoice that it’s still in my body.

I know when the coconut’s about to fall.
I know that we’ve pushed the earth too far.
I know my father isn’t coming back.
That no one’s prepared for the fire.
I know that lipstick means
more than show.
I know that boys feel super-insecure
and so-called terrorists are made, not born.
I know that one kiss can take
away all my decision-making ability
and sometimes, you know, it should.

This is not extreme.
It’s a girl thing.
What we would all be
if the big door inside us flew open.
Don’t tell me not to cry.
To calm it down
Not to be so extreme
To be reasonable.
I am an emotional creature.
It’s how the earth got made.
How the wind continues to pollinate.
You don’t tell the Atlantic ocean
to behave.

I am an emotional creature.
Why would you want to shut me down
or turn me off?
I am your remaining memory.
I am connecting you to your source.
Nothing’s been diluted.
Nothing’s leaked out.
I can take you back.

I love that I can feel the inside
of the feelings in you,
even if it stops my life
even if it hurts too much
or takes me off track
even if it breaks my heart.
It makes me responsible.
I am an emotional
I am an emotional, devotional,
incandotional, creature.
And I love, hear me,
love love love
being a girl.