Who Just Stares at a Fire Alarm? Emotions as Signals for Learning During Doubt

This article was contributed by Ryan Daley '13 in the spring issue of The Magazine of Gordon College.

Imagine for a moment that you are sitting at your kitchen table on a winter morning. You are sipping your preferred beverage. No one is bothering you. Suddenly this serene moment is shattered by the shrill sound of a fire alarm. You don’t smell smoke, so this disruption catches you by surprise. 

There are at least two unhelpful responses in this scenario. First, you could ignore the fire alarm and go about your morning. Second, you could locate the offending alarm and stare at it. It is fair to say that most people would describe these behaviors as odd at best and dangerous at worst. Unfortunately, these are often the ways people respond to the emotions that arise in the face of spiritual or religious doubt. We either ignore or fixate on their presence. And yet, if we consider the purpose emotions play in these contexts, another approach might emerge. 

Emotions as signals for learning

Emotional responses often act as signals for learning in the life of the individual. The shame, fear, or anger that arises in the context of doubt are no different. Doubt reflects a moment of uncertainty. It provides a tension between our prior understanding of reality and how reality actually functions. As with the unexpected fire alarm, our negative emotions signal our unwilling participation in this temporary space.

Once negative emotions arise in response to doubt, we can let them go. They’ve done their job. They’ve alerted us to a change in our environment. We can acknowledge these emotions and move on to address the doubt. Finding a resolution to doubt can feel incredibly important, which might make it difficult to move on from these negative emotions. Fortunately, we don’t have to do this alone. 

People don’t usually walk on water 

The story of Jesus walking on the water with the apostle Peter provides an example of how we might consider doubt within a community. In the book of Matthew, this story begins with Peter and the other apostles on a boat. As they awake to see Jesus walking on the water, they assume he is a ghost. 

When Jesus identifies himself, Peter asks Jesus to welcome him onto the water as proof. After Jesus obliges, Peter walks out, becomes afraid, and begins to sink. Peter’s emotional response is reasonable. Jesus shifted his understanding of reality. People don’t walk on water. And yet, there they were. If we only focus on Peter’s fear, we might miss the lesson from Jesus’ actions. 

During Peter’s anguish and descent into the water, Jesus catches him and asks why he doubted. At this point, Jesus could have rebuked Peter and cast him aside, as we often do to those struggling with doubt. Fortunately for Peter— and for the rest of us—our God seeks communion with humanity, even during our moments of doubt. Rather than casting Peter aside, Jesus climbs into the boat with Peter and the other apostles. 

Walking alongside those who doubt 

Jesus’ actions teach us to join in community with those who doubt. We don’t need to resolve doubt for those in our community. Rather, we are to walk alongside those who find themselves unsettled by this learning process. We can help them move beyond the negative emotional signals so they might reconcile their past and present understanding of God, their reality, or the irreligious community. 

Negative emotions, just like the fire alarm, are tools. Reframing them as signals for learning can encourage religious and spiritual flourishing as we journey in life together.

Ryan Daley ’13, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of psychology. His research examines how memory for social and emotional information can be used to provide insight into the evaluations we make about ourselves and other people.