5 Remedies for Sorrow According to St. Thomas Aquinas

Understanding Sorrow and Emotions

• 💡 Sorrow is a natural human response to bad things, a deprivation of good, and feeling it is essential for a full human experience, going hand-in-hand with joy.
• 🧠 We can be shamed for negative emotions like sadness, but Aquinas and Conrad Barrs emphasize that these emotions are humane and necessary, not something to be suppressed.
• ⚡ Modern neuroscience identifies threat responses (fight or flight) that keep us in an elevated state, preventing us from resting in the good or bad, and highlighting the need for emotional affirmation from relationships.

Aquinas's Five Remedies for Sorrow

• 🎯 Pleasure: Engaging in pleasurable activities can offer rejuvenation for a weary soul, similar to how sleep rejuvenates a weary body. This can provide temporary relief and breathing room to address the root cause of sorrow.
• 😭 Crying: Expressing sorrow through tears is a direct way to release pent-up pain. Aquinas suggests that holding sorrow in intensifies it, while allowing it to escape disperses the soul's focus, lessening the inward sorrow.
• 🧠 Contemplation of Truth: The greatest pleasure, according to Aquinas, comes from contemplating truth, especially divine things and future happiness. This intellectual and spiritual engagement can provide profound consolation and meaning, even amidst suffering.
• 🛀 Bodily Remedies: Activities like sleep and baths restore the body to its natural state, which is opposed to sorrow. These remedies offer pleasure and rejuvenation, acknowledging the interconnectedness of the body and soul.
• 🤝 Sympathy of Friends: Experiencing the concern and love of friends provides pleasure and affirmation, signaling worth and support. This relational connection is crucial for processing pain and reducing sorrow, as it demonstrates genuine care and shared experience.

The Role of Relationships and Modern Challenges

• 📱 The rise of AI and technology can lead to isolation and a replacement for genuine human connection, blurring the lines between friends and acquaintances and potentially causing deeper sorrow.
• 🚗 Modern societal structures, like car-centric towns and transactional interactions, can exacerbate isolation and reduce opportunities for meaningful human connection.
• ❤️ Authentic relationships and community are vital for healing and well-being, offering a crucial counterpoint to the increasing isolation and transactional nature of modern life.
• 🙏 Embracing faith and a larger narrative, such as God's providence, can help individuals endure suffering and find meaning, transforming difficult experiences into opportunities for growth.