Feeling and Thinking: Balancing Both

[Anonymous]

The following thoughts came about as a result of the conversation about wayfarer’s indoctrination post and another conversation I am having with a friend about spiritual experiences:

I have never “felt” anyone in spirit in my life – never felt a spiritual presence of someone near me. The closest I have come is when words or thoughts come into my mind that I classify as revelation.

At the most fundamental level, I do not have a “feeling” orientation; rather, I have a “thinking” orientation. Being part of a church and surrounded by people with predominantly feeling orientations, I had to come to grips with my “oddity” at a very young age, so I have an advantage over people who have to face it later in life. Being different in a very fundamental way has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

There is an obvious theme of balance between feeling and thinking in our religious tradition and theology (especially in the Doctrine & Covenants), but individuals tend to emphasize what is natural to them and discount what is not – which is ironic, given what we say about the “natural man”. I think a huge part of giving up the natural (wo)man is seeking and finding balance (e.g., “a middle way”) – and balance between experiencing God in one’s heart AND mind is a great example of that. I just don’t think that kind of balance needs to be a 50/50 mathematical split – or a combination of classic, common experiences in either category. It just needs to be a conscious effort to understand the play of the heart and mind in one’s own life and to nurture both parts of what we see as a soul – while acknowledging and valuing others’ efforts to do the same, even if the balance that works for them at any given time differs from the balance that works for us at that same time.

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