Inside Out: A Glass Case of Emotion

Where Liturgy Meets Anchorman: An Exhale for ALL THE FEELINGS

I spent the last week solo parenting my youngest three kids, which means there was a lot of running around and not a lot of, well, writing time.

(I apologize this edition of Year of Breath didn’t land bright and early in your inbox, but I know that you, of all people, understand the tug-of-war that comes with parenting pressures and expectations!)

My oldest son ventured off to his first middle school camp experience, and my husband drove a 15-passenger van packed with middle schoolers for four hours into Wisconsin (while pulling a giant church trailer) and then stayed as a volunteer. The things we do for our kids!

My youngest kids were sad about not being old enough to attend camp, so I got the wild idea to make it extra special at home. I don’t think I sat down by myself before 11 p.m., but there was a dusting of childhood magic on our ordinary days of cousin sleepovers and weeknight swimming lessons.

One of our special outings was going to a matinee screening of Inside Out 2. (I recommend it!) A line toward the movie's beginning stood out to me so much that I had to turn down the brightness on my phone and type it out right there in the theater so I wouldn’t forget.

The character Joy takes Sadness’s hand and says, “Where I go, you go.”

We hold so many emotions all at once.

We joyfully blow out the candles on a birthday cake as our loved ones gather around us, singing, and we feel a twinge of sadness.

We cheer on our child’s little league game one minute, and the next, we see yet another horrific headline blast through our phones and nestle into our anxious hearts.

Jesus gives us a perfect picture of how to hold the many tensions of life. At this very moment, a baby is taking their first breath, and someone else is taking their last. The sun rises, casting warmth and light, and in another part of the world, the sky darkens. A couple holds hands and says, “I do,” while another marriage dissolves with a final signature. A child makes the team, and another goes to their room and cries. A pregnancy test result brings rejoicing for one and sorrow for another. We live in an ocean of beautiful and terrible; we live on a planet that cries out like a laboring mother. If we want our children to follow the way of Jesus, we must look inward and ask our beating hearts if we’re willing to do the same. Will we bear witness to the pain while staying soft to the sacred?

Every Season Sacred

As I’ve spent more time deep in the trenches of 24/7 time with my kids this summer, I’m basically Will Ferell from this scene of the cinematic masterpiece Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

I get the feeling I’m not the only one who has felt stuck in a glass case of emotion this summer.

We revel in sunshine and then deal with sunburns. We hike in the woods and then grapple with bug bites. We’re in the middle of summer, getting itchy not just from mosquito bites but from a restlessness that won’t be soothed with calamine lotion. All of this while political tensions boil over, threatening to scald us as we look to November.

We want a better world for our children. We want a better world for all of us.

We hold joy and sadness, delight and agony, anxiety and peace like a captured butterfly, feeling its wings flutter inside our cupped hands.

This week, maybe the best we can do is acknowledge the kaleidoscope emotions that dwell inside us.

Joy and sadness hold hands, going with us wherever we go.

Borrow this Prayer

My book Every Season Sacred has two short prayers for every week of the year: one oriented toward kids and families and the other for adults and older families. (It’s normally $23 and is on sale on Amazon for $15 right now!)

O God who is present to every sorrow and every joy, we come to You.

As sure as the tides that rise and fall, You are with us in the pain and the beauty of our lives.

You are near in our tear-soaked faces and our deepest belly laughs.

You are in the crashing waves and the still waters.

Help us to remember that in all seasons, You are good, and we can trust You.

In the rhythms of our days and the push-pull of our lives, give us the grace to sit in the tension, holding on to the hope that You are our Redeemer, Restorer, and Rescuer.

Amen.

Recommended Reading

When you're tangled up inside, it's hard to find clarity.  Yet so many of us guilt-trip or gaslight ourselves instead of working our way through complicated feelings. You should be a good friend, even though you feel hurt by past betrayals. You should be content, even though you feel lonely or unfulfilled. You should just have faith, even though you feel discouraged by unanswered prayers. I had the honor of reading an early copy of Dr. Alison Cook’s fantastic book I Shouldn't Feel This Way: Name What’s Hard, Tame Your Guilt, and Transform Self-Sabotage into Brave Action.

My endorsement: “I highlighted my way through this illuminating book and I'm grateful for how it speaks into my life as a parent, wife, neighbor, and friend.”

My writing friend

Anjuli Paschall

has a brand new book of prayers for every feeling releasing into the world at the end of August. Feelings are messy, and we all have different strategies to deal with them — usually controlling, avoiding, or indulging them. But what if you allowed yourself to follow your feelings in prayer instead of trying to run from them? Feel: A Collection of Liturgies Offering Hope for Every Complicated Emotion is a truly beautiful collection that you can preorder now!

My endorsement: “In this thoughtful, soulful collection, Anjuli helps us name, make space for, and move through our feelings.”

This Week

May this week’s Year of Breath offering help you feel a little less alone. Keep reading for some breath prayers to borrow, music to listen to, reflection prompts to consider, and weekly phone wallpaper to download.