This is very important and fundamental. The urge in many places is to fill up the church-goer with an experiential high, which only differs from drug highs in being non-chemical. The result is very similar: the impact is ephemeral and intense. And, as Canon Toon points out, it is also a useful way of avoiding open and humble contact with God. We emphasize silences in our services, allowing the congregation to feel the presence of God. This is the ancient practice and at least one perhaps unanticipated consequence is a over-riding sense of peace. One is not emotionally stimulated, but feels strengthened.
Then again, there is a time and a place for being emotionally stimulated in religion. It is just not usually a liturgical time or place.
In Christ,
Deacon Paul+
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