"Praise, Thanks, Life: you've got to give...everything to the King"

thought one:
"Emotions. Can you trust them?"

What a stupid question. Of course you can, just as you can trust your nerve endings to tell you when something is hot. Better phrased would be: "Can you trust your emotions to rule your will?" No, of course not. But they're not supposed to.

It's all about function. What is the function of emotions? Do they have one, or should we just hate the useless little expenditures of energy?

Emotions are the nerve endings (brain synapses?) of the soul. They tell you your soulish responses to life. They function as catalysts for the will to decide things unthinkable to the unaffected rational mind.

~Anger and sorrow: protest the injustices/ fallenness of life
~Happiness: appreciates the evidences of God's grace in life
~Worry/ frustration: acknowledgement of finitude, messed upped-ness of society
~Enamourment: thrill of God's ingenuity in human-creation and approval of His super-interesting plan for the propagation of the species
~Shame: demonstrates understanding of cultural norms and consciousness of failure to perform
~Fear: recognition of the very real possibilty of pain/ unpleasant events
~Nervousness: response to perceived inferiority and/or unfamiliarity of experience/ level of uncommon demands or sobriety

Are they "wrong?" Me thinks that to be a nonapplicable question as well. They indicate your heart... the state of your soul. If they are inappropriately applied, it means your HEART is inappropriately aimed. Maybe your soul needs to be fixed, but don't think that either ignoring OR obeying your emotions is the fixer.

We don't always have our will decree based on our body's responses (eg: hunger, thirst, tiredness, discomfort) but we do take note of those things, and attempt to deal with them as necessary; why would we think that just because we feel something emotionally, we need to act on it? A person may feel depressed, but how on earth does that justify treating others badly? If you would not satisfy every physical craving, why would you allow the feeling of anger or frustration to dictate to your will and action of anger or frustration?

just because we feel X, we do not have permission to do Y or treat others likeZ...

the soul emotes -> the mind processes emotions -> the will determines actions

Don't DENY emotions- good, bad, or ugly. ANALYZE them. Ask God, make cross references with Scripture. "Hmmm, this is the message my soul is sending me. These little messengers might mal-affect my will in the near future... Does my soul need realignment? What actions should I take until I have time to realign my soul?

I realize I know nothing of psychology and little on life, but I really do want to know: what ARE these little buggers? What do I do with them? Must they determine my actions? Am I immature for expressing them at all? What does it mean to be human, yet healthy?

More to come...!