From the collection of her letters, The Habit of Being, pgs 99-100, ht WH:
I can never agree with you that the Incarnation, or any truth, has to satisfy emotionally to be right (and I would not agree that for the natural man the Incarnation does not satisfy emotionally). It does not satisfy emotionally for the person brought up under many forms of false intellectual discipline such as nineteenth century mechanism, for instance. Leaving the Incarnation aside, the very notion of God’s existence is not emotionally satisfactory anymore for great numbers of people, which does not mean the God ceases to exist. M. Jean-Paul Sartre finds God emotionally unsatisfactory in the extreme, as do most of my friends of less stature than he. The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it emotionally. A higher paradox confounds emotion as well as reason and there are long periods in the lives of all of us, and of the saints, when the truth as revealed by faith is hideous, emotionally disturbing, downright repulsive. Witness the dark night of the soul in individual saints. Right now the whole world seems to be going through a dark night of the soul.
There is question whether faith can or is supposed to be emotionally satisfying. I must say the thought of everybody lolling about in an emotionally satisfying faith is repugnant to me. I believe that we are ultimately directed Godward but that this journey is often impeded by emotion. I don’t think you are a jellyfish. But I suspect you of being a Romantic.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhEQ066WDAA&w=600]
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5 responses to “Flannery O’Connor on Emotional Jellyfish and the Repulsiveness of Truth (and Incarnation)”
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Flannery O’Connor’s awesomeness knows no bounds. 🙂
O’Connor has been such a significant factor in my understanding of grace. I may have always been stuck in a works-righteousness cycle if she hadn’t violently busted me out from the loop. I started reading the Bible under the eyes of grace after I read O’Connor. To her, I am indebted.
Any specific grace-infused O’Connor stories you’d recommend to a newbie? I’m at a loss where to begin.
Try “Revelation”…
http://unfoldingflanneryoconnor.blogspot.com/2011/05/full-text-revelation-by-flannery.html
I completely disagree with: “A higher paradox confounds emotion as well as reason and there are long periods in the lives of all of us, and of the saints, when the truth as revealed by faith is hideous, emotionally disturbing, downright repulsive.”
Jesus went through the “dark night of the soul” and everything “hideous, emotionally disturbing, downright repulsive” SO WE DON’T HAVE TO. If anyone is going through these things, He is the one to rescue us. And He wants to do it immediately! That’s the good news! That is the *truth*–and not only is it “easy to stomach,” it’s utterly beautiful!
If we wear the Name of Jesus, we are called to spread the Good News in every way we can to those who are hurting (even Christians): Jesus has made the way for all of us to be FREE from every torment, every trial, every heartache. He is the deliverer and healer. He loves us like no other. He is the answer to every dilemma. If we are in a pit, He will lift us out. If we are overwhelmed by evil, He will crush evil and bring us out.
THIS is the truth we are called to share: the power and love of Christ to remove us out of the clutches of evil and torment, to bring us to a place of healing, peace, restoration, and new life.