Daily Devotionals

'Every Day Light' with Selwyn Hughes

Devotional: April 21st

For Reading and Meditation:
     Isaiah 9:1-7

We continue meditating on the word "pure" as used by Jesus in His sixth Beatitude. I discovered when researching this theme that the word "catharsis" - meaning to cleanse or make pure - is derived from the same Greek root as the word "pure". In psychology, the word "catharsis" is used to describe the feeling of release and cleansing a person experiences in the presence of a trusted friend or counsellor when they empty out many of their repressed feelings or ideas. In the right circumstances and under the right conditions, a person who does this often feels purged, renewed and released. I have seen this happen myself on countless occasions when counselling. A person comes with deep hurts, and when they are sure they are in the presence of someone who understands them, someone they can trust, they open up their repressed feelings in such a way that afterwards they sit back and say: "I feel so different. It's like someone has reached deep down inside me and scraped my insides clean." What produces this feeling of purging and release? It is difficult to explain because the inner release a person feels is not obtained simply by sharing; it comes only in the atmosphere of mutual confidence and trust. When a counsellor shows signs of disapproval or shock, then no release (catharsis) is experienced. If, as mental health experts claim, this only happens when a counsellor is warm and accepting, as opposed to harsh and judgmental, then it becomes immediately obvious that in the presence of Jesus, the Wonderful Counsellor, we have the possibility of experiencing the deepest catharsis it is possible to know.

Blessed Lord Jesus, my Counsellor and my Friend, help me to open up the whole of my being to You so that I might experience a divine catharsis. I long not just to be clean - I long to be wholly clean. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.