Page:Psychology and preaching.djvu/96

 78 PSYCHOLOGY AND PREACHING

unpleasantness resulting from interference with a vital process of the organism by indulgence of a pleasant habit follows rather than accompanies the disturbing act. The pleasure afforded by the indulgence completely drowns out the organic protest at the moment; but after the pleasure is gone, the organism reacts, to the general discomfort of the transgressor. A momentary activity which runs counter to an habitual process is likewise felt as decidedly disagreeable, although the activity may be such as to give great pleasure by reason of its coincidence with some other tendency. The feeling-tone is mixed. Thus by reason of the varying and often conflicting influences of natural vital processes, habits and current activities, it comes to pass that few of our experiences are without mixed feeling-tones. However, our feelings are so variable, and usually are so complicated and blended, so difficult to follow by introspection in their manifold transformations, that a detailed analysis of the physical and psychical conditions of the compound feeling- tone is quite impossible.

But it is of great practical importance to bear in mind that pleasantness and unpleasantness simply represent the stimulation and the arrest of the vital processes characteris tic of the actual status or activity of the organism at a given time. Feeling has an indispensable function to perform in the life of an organism. The significance of that function may be greatly over-estimated or greatly under-estimated; and the knowledge is not of more importance to any one than to him who undertakes to guide the development of the religious life. The function of feeling is, first, to advertise, to put the organism on notice that a given experience either quickens or represses subtile vital processes going on in it. In the second place, its function is to influence action. There is never any action that is, intelligent, voluntary action without feeling. To be without feeling is to be destitute of preferences, values, standards, motives to be entirely indifferent to all possible considerations alike. It is apparent, however, that while feeling plays a most important

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