Deep breath… hold… and release…
So, here we are, again, with another evangelical Christian organization in the headlines due to assertive positions on gay issues. Curious response InterVarsity, the Christian campus ministry and publishing agency, gave to Time’s article outing their recent actions regarding staff who affirm the LGBTQ. According to InterVarsity, they aren't firing people for supporting gay marriage, just asking those to come forward with their honest views and leaving with one months severance and some encouragement for finding a new job.
If you’re reading this, your bio-psycho-social makeup is in full flux right now. Our fight or flight response happenings in the amygdala are triggered by such social controversy and it takes our attentive resistance to calm it down in the prefrontal cortex, the area of decision-making.
Here’s the thing: InterVarsity has the right to operate under their belief system as they so choose as a non-profit. We’re Americans in a democratic society with a kaleidoscope of diversity, and we tend to like the coziness of organizing by our distinctions. With a thick, black line through a nuanced issue that’s clearly grown since InterVarsity’s inception in the 1940’s, they are trying to make those distinctions with the least amount of pain as possible.
Nevertheless, I’m pulling out the "feelings" word chart to help clarify all that's stirred within those whom this controversy effects. Because putting words to feelings leads to mindfulness, and mindfulness helps us let it go and reduce the tension affecting our body, mind, and spirit. Research shows naming our feelings allows us to become more self-aware, enabling us to make conscious decisions for our actions and reactions, rather than succumb to our instinctual defaults.
So, pick some or pick all. You have to own something first before you can release it.
Because putting words to feelings leads to mindfulness, and mindfulness helps us let it go...
alienated
angry
anxious
appalled
apprehensive
ashamed
caution
concerned
confused
irked
irritated
depressed
disgust
dismayed
distant
distrust
downhearted
edgy
exhausted
flustered
frustrated
guarded
guilty
heartbroken
hesitant
hurt
indifferent
insecure
leery
mistrustful
outrage
repulsed
resentful
reluctant
sad
self-conscious
sensitive
shame
skeptical
stressed out
stunned
surprised
suspicious
tense
ticked
torn
troubled
turbulent
unnerved
unsettled
wary
weary
worn out
