November 13th, 2008
A Remedy for PMS?
I have been a shrew of late. And if the calendar tells me anything, it’s that I should be much more careful with my schedule and my stress levels for the next couple of days than I have been for the past couple. I need to design the day in ways that reward and protect me, and do not weaken my hold on whatever shreds of self-control I might have in my grip.
And I need to be much more careful with my words.
I need more pluck. So I shall consider these wise words, and put them into practice… and have some chocolate.
There are certain things we must not pray about – moods for instance. Moods never go by praying, moods go by kicking. A mood nearly always has its roots in the physical condition not in the moral. It is a continual effort not to listen to moods which arise from the physical condition, never to submit to them for a second. We have to take ourselves by the scruff of the neck and shake ourselves, and we will find that we can do what we said we could not. The curse with most of us is that we won’t. The Christian life is one of incarnate spiritual pluck. Unless we train our emotions they will lead us around by the nose, and we will be captives to every passing impulse or reaction. But once faith is trained to control the emotions and knows how to lean resolutely against weaknesses of character, another entry way of doubt is sealed shut forever. Much of our distress comes not because of sin but because we are ignorant of our own nature.
— Oswald Chambers