October 31, 2010 (floating on feelings)

“Where there is no 'moral gravity' –
that is, no force that draws us to the center –
there is spiritual weightlessness.
We float on feelings that will carry us
where we never meant to go;
we bubble with emotional experiences
that we often take for spiritual ones;
and we are puffed up with pride.
Instead of seriousness, there is foolishness.
Instead of gravity, flippancy.
Sentimentality takes the place of theology.
Our reference point will never serve
to keep our feet on solid rock,
for our reference point,
until we answer God’s call,
is merely ourselves.
We cannot possibly tell which end is up.
Paul calls them fools who
‘…measure themselves by themselves,
to find in themselves
their own standard of comparison!’”
- Elisabeth Elliot