The origin of the word emotion is from the Latin emovere which means to stir, to disturb, to move out or move through. So, to experience emotions is to have inner movement. (MacNutt lecture 2009). God designed us to express our emotions in healthy, reflective ways and to enjoy a full life of properly ordered and energized emotions. This is an essential and beautiful living energy of the soul, like a river continually changing its course. We need a structure to channel the river, and that is our soul. The voice of our emotions is: “I’m stirred” or “I’m moved by.” The false alternatives are to be either unmoved, stoic and repressed or neurotic and overly emotionally expressive in our reactions. If we weaken this voice because of repression, we become ill within, unable to access our emotions and be moved by them appropriately. These emotions will f ...