| Emotional
Intelligence Can Be Learned
By Arlene VanHove
Robert C. Roberts in "Spiritual and Human Emotions," writes
"Whatever else Christianity may be, it is a set of emotions. It is
LOVE of God and neighbor. GRIEF about one's own waywardness, JOY in the
merciful salvation of our GOD, GRATITUDE, HOPE, and PEACE. So, if I don't
LOVE God and my neighbor, ABHOR my sins, and REJOICE in my redemption,
if I am not GRATEFUL, HOPEFUL, and at PEACE with God and myself, then
it follows that I am ALIENATED from Christianity."
The author makes it clear, to experience the fullness of our FAITH we
need to be in touch with our emotions. Similarly, to experience the fullness
of LIFE we need to be in touch with our emotions. Unfortunately, our culture
has often see emotion as flighty and fuzzy and something not to be trusted.
This view causes us to lock within ourselves, a process - self-awareness
- that ultimately can set us free from harmful, destructive or painful
behaviors.
Our society needs a paradigm shift. In reality, emotions are about feelings
and impulses to act. The root of the worse "emotion" is "motere",
the Latin verb "to move," plus the prefix "e-" connotes
to "move away," suggesting there is a tendency "to act"
implicit in every "emotion." We only have to observe children
or animals to see this work out.
Daniel Goldman in "Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more
that "IQ," believes emotion to mean: a feeling and its distinctive
thoughts psychological an biological states, and a range of propensities
to act." And so, "emotional intelligence" is about applying
intelligence to our emotions which includes processing them and acting
or responding in healthy ways.
Road rage, air rage, school shooting, gang wars, ethnic violence, domestic
violence, ongoing conflicts in interpersonal relationships at school,
work or at home are some of the symptoms of a lack of emotional intelligence.
It does not have to be this way. Theorists have discovered the components
that make up emotional intelligence. They can be learned, practiced and
measured. We do not have to be alienated from our FAITH nor form our LIFE!
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