Breaking that emotional bond

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A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor's.
(Richard Whately)

Forget about the wrong things people do to you. Don’t try to get even. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18)

Most of us can easily recall the last meal we prepared or purchased for ourselves. Many can recount the nice gifts they received on their birthday or anniversary. Others will bring to memory the nice things said about them at a celebration in their honor. How many of us can remember the last 'bad thing' done to us or said about us? God tells us to forget about the wrong things people do to us, but for some reason we hold onto those memories quite easily. 

We might want to let go of whatever it is that has been 'done wrong' against us, but whenever we try to let go, we find ourselves drifting backward into our memory of the emotions attached to that 'event'. Maybe the amount of emotion attached to the event plays a part in how 'memorable' it is. Let me learn to cook some gourmet dish from scratch and I bet there is a certain set of emotions that make that moment in time memorable. Let me get in a car crash, complete with screeching tires and crumbling metal and I bet the emotions attached to that event leave a lasting impression.

If emotions play such a huge part in how we 'form' and 'hold onto' certain memories, maybe the way for us to let go of the 'wrong things done to us' is to ask God to help us 'interrupt' the emotional triggers that send us down the pathway to that bad memory. It could just be as God breaks the 'emotional bond' behind that emotion that we finally begin to realize our 'neighbor' needs our forgiveness as much as we need to let go of whatever it is we are holding onto. Instead of being 'triggered' by the emotions to recount the 'bad memory' time and time again, we might just find God has us pray for our neighbors! 

We aren't going to 'get over' a bad memory as long as we keep nursing the 'emotional trigger' that stirs up all those negative feelings once again. Maybe we can be truly free of those emotional bonds God's intervention, but until we ask, we will never know. Just sayin!

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