I heard over the news, on this southern tip of Africa, that Kylie Jenner had become the world’s youngest teenage billionaire. And it’s all done with make-up. I thought how appropriate it was that her cosmetic business and celebrity status should make her a star for the age. It really is a sign of the times that she and her family should be so ‘successful’. I’m not detracting from her business acumen and the penchant for publicity that her family displays, or the number of ‘likes’ that she scores on social media, but I think that the whole scene needs interrogation.

It reminds me of Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, in which Daisy, one of the shallowest characters ever created, said that her ambition for her daughter was that she should grow up to be ‘a beautiful little fool’. Except that Kylie is nobody’s fool, but a product of this century, nearly a hundred years later. 

We need to ask ourselves: ‘What do we find admirable?’

Whatever happened to humility, the love of use, and attributing all the good things of life to the Lord? They do exist, but finding them in popular culture is becoming exceedingly rare. Strutting self assertion has taken centre stage.

I find myself emotionally overwhelmed.

It’s not the first time, but rather than go into the reasons why, I decided to find out what it really means to be emotional and how you then get to the point of overwhelm as well as what to do to let go and free myself from this overwhelm of emotions.  So I started out by looking at what ‘Emotions’ and ‘Feelings’ are to help me understand why I become overwhelmed.

Emotions and feelings are words used interchangeably to express more or less the same thing. Feelings or emotions can be defined as how something or someone makes us feel.  However, as I have learned over the years, they have some distinct differences.

Emotions are physical and instinctive. Emotions generally prompt the body to react to some kind of stimulus: threats, rewards etc.  Emotional reactions to these stimuli are generally the same amongst people although the reaction may vary slightly depending on the individual or the circumstances.

While emotions are associated with bodily reactions to stimuli, feelings are sparked by emotions and coloured by our own personal experiences,beliefs, memories and thoughts linked to that particular emotion.  In other words, a feeling is the product of your brain’s perception of an emotion and assigning meaning to it.

From our own loves and selves, we would only be evil and no longer even human. But the Lord is constantly flowing into us with His Divine Love and Wisdom and drawing us towards Him and heaven. We are predestined for heaven. We are born into evils of every kind and yet we are predestined for heaven.

“All reason shows that man must be regenerated, for he is born into evils of every kind derived from his parents; and these evils have their seat in his natural man, which of itself is diametrically opposed to the spiritual man. Nevertheless man is born for heaven; although he does not enter heaven unless he becomes spiritual, and he can become spiritual only by means of regeneration.”

True Christian Religion 574

I think there are a lot of people in the world who sincerely try to be good. There are people choosing to do evil, but I think a lot of people are trying to follow the Lord or at least trying to do good to the neighbor.

“Do not fret – it only causes harm.” (Psalm 37:4)

The political scene at the moment, in both my home country (USA) and my adopted country (UK), is rather bleak. Their citizens’ futures are uncertain. It’s a bit scary for the likes of me. I’m trying hard to take the long view, and to trust that the Lord is keeping an eye on things. I fear that times might get a lot worse before they get better, despite my confidence that the Lord will ensure goodness eventually comes out of whatever situation arises (in the broader world too with its own multitudinous troubles). Maybe, as with personal regeneration, my two countries will have to reach absolute rock bottom before they can learn better ways of working and begin to climb back up. It will not be an easy journey.

With no inclination to become a politician, I’m focusing on things I can do, trying to be an optimistic influence rather than a pessimistic doom-monger in my little corner of the globe: smile at those I meet; be kind, friendly, and helpful where I see need; play with my grandchildren; take part in my community; find fascination and beauty in the natural world; recycle and reuse as much as possible. “Trust in the Lord, and do good; … and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3, 4