October Practice: Examining your Emotions
meeting God and His invitations to you in your feelings...
I’ve mentioned in previous posts about a practice, called OWN UP, that has been significant to me along my journey with God.
I try to use it regularly (at least once a week) to process what’s behind the strong (and sometimes not-so-strong) feelings that emerge in me.
If you’re anything like me, you might have spent a lot of time believing that certain emotions or feelings are “bad.” Usually it’s the uncomfortable ones or the ones that (when out of control or acted on) can hurt others.
I’ve been on a journey of learning that emotions aren’t bad. They are clues or indicators that, if you pay attention to them and examine them with God, can reveal a lot about what’s going on inside of you. And they can point to your desires and invitations from God.
This OWN UP practice has been significant in helping me grow in noticing and processing my emotions with God.
It comes from Marilyn Vancil and her book Self to Lose, Self to Find. This book is about the Enneagram and she offers the practice in that context, but you can absolutely follow the steps even if you aren’t familiar with the Enneagram or your type. (If you are familiar with the Enneagram, this chart explains the core motivations of each type that could be helpful as you work through the process)
The OWN UP practice is meant to help you process through strong emotions and the situations that triggered them. It takes you through the steps of:
Observing (noting your reactions without explaining or justifying)
Welcoming (Receiving your experience with openness and without judgment and welcoming Jesus into the process)
Naming (Identifying your underlying inner experience and motivations)
Untangling (Loosening and relaxing the main source of suffering)
Possessing (Noticing and receiving what emerges as you let go)
She has a very handy journaling worksheet available with questions to process through at each step. Think about checking it out and using it this month to process through your emotions (big or small) with God.
(Also, if you want to dig deeper into the world of feelings and how God might be working in them, check out The Voice of the Heart by Chip Dodd)
And may you encounter the God who loves you as you make space in your schedule and your soul.