Emotion and Education

Basing our decisions on facts rather than on feelings

Mark 5:1-20 

When Jesus got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, crying out in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!" (He had been saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of the man!") He asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "Legion is my name. There are many of us." And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. And they pleaded with him, "Send us into the swine. Let us enter them." And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. And people came out to see what had happened. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, "Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you." Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

          Sooner or later we all have to make big decisions, such as marriage, priesthood, career choices, or where to eat in Fort Smith. But what drives that decision: is it your emotion or your education; is it based on feelings or on facts? Do you remember the 1994 movie titled “Speed,” with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock? They are thrown together by fate on a bus loaded with a bomb. They barely survive bus and start to fall in love. Sandra says to Keanu, “You’re not going to get mushy on me, are you?” He answers, “Maybe. I might.” She says, “I hope not, ‘cause you know, relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last.” She was cautioning him to avoid emotionally charged decisions, especially falling in love. We can base our decisions our emotions or our education, on our feelings or on the facts.

          In the gospel today, we meet a man who has an emotionally-charged experience, and he must make a decision about a very important relationship, namely, discipleship, falling in love with the Lord. He’s possessed by “Legion,” literally one hundred demons. Jesus heals him by casting the demons into a nearby herd of swine. I always chuckle when I hear that passage because I recall Archbishop Fulton Sheen who joked, “That was the first recorded case of deviled ham in history.” Upon being freed from spiritual slavery, the man is overjoyed and ready to become Jesus’ disciple. But our Lord, like Sandra Bullock, cautions the man, saying, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” In other words, realize that “relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last.” Don’t base your decision to be a disciple on an emotional high, but go home and study this new life, learn to pray, grow in Christian virtues, first learn to love your family. Base your discipleship on education, not emotion.

          Think about the decisions you make: are they driven by emotion or by education? People take me to lunch and always ask, “What do you feel like eating today?” That’s a reasonable question, but I always answer: “Let’s pick a place that is run by a parishioner.” Let’s decide on facts, not feelings. How much time did you take to study, pray and discern before you got married? Or were you so madly in love that emotions drove the bus (usually loaded with a bomb!)? That’s why the Church asks you to wait 6 months, and take pre-marital counseling classes. Education over emotion. It is not by accident that college tours are conducted by the prettiest cheerleaders on campus! Emotion and education! Maybe you chose the college that’s closest to home – or the one farthest from home! – based on emotions rather than on education. I fear so much of the political rhetoric – from the right and the left – is fueled by feelings rather than facts.  How often do we decide something (like attending Mass) simply by saying, “I don’t feel like it”?

          My favorite quote by President John Adams is while he was defending British soldiers in Massachusetts (not a very popular decision). He wrote: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” Facts are very handy things, whether you’re trying to be a good attorney, or a good Christian.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!