Emotional Honesty

יומא דף סט ע"ב  

אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: למה נקרא שמן אנשי כנסת הגדולה? שהחזירו עטרה ליושנה.
אתא משה אמר (דברים י) "האל הגדול הגבור והנורא" אתא ירמיה ואמר "נכרים מקרקרין בהיכלו איה נוראותיו?" לא אמר נורא.
אתא דניאל אמר "נכרים משתעבדים בבניו איה גבורותיו?" לא אמר גבור.
אתו אינהו ואמרו "אדרבה- זו היא גבורת גבורתו שכובש את יצרו שנותן ארך אפים לרשעים ואלו הן נוראותיו שאלמלא מוראו של הקב"ה היאך אומה אחת יכולה להתקיים בין האומות"

Yoma 69b 

Ribbi Yehoshua b. Levi said: Why were they called 'Men of the Great Assembly'? What was so great about them? It was because they reinstated God's glory. Moshe Rabbenu originally referred to Hashem as "HaEl HaGadol Hagibbor vehaNora- The Lord, the Great, the Mighty and the Awesome" (Devarim 10:17).
Yirmiyahu came around a few hundred years later and asked, "The enemy is frolicking around the holiest site of the Temple- where is Hashem's awesomeness?" In his description of Hashem, Yirmiyahu cut out the word "Nora" (Yirmiyahu 32:18).
Daniel came around a few years after that and asked, "The enemy is enslaving His children- where is Hashem's might?" In his description of Hashem, he cut out the word "Gibbor" (Daniel 9:4).
Came the Men of the Great Assembly and explained: Hashem's might is demonstrated by the fact that he restrains himself from intervening before the time is right. Hashem's awesomeness is demonstrated by the fact that he keeps his nation in existence even when scattered around the world. They reinstated the full phrase into our prayers- HaEl Hagadol Hagibbor vehaNora. 

The approach of Yirmiyahu and Daniel seems provocative at first- did they really deny that Hashem was Awesome or that he was Mighty? A"A explains as follows: Yirmiyahu and Daniel never doubted Hashem's traits for a minute. However, although they recognized them on an intellectual level, they were unable to feel them on an emotional level. They saw tragedy all around them, and they had trouble reconciling their experiences with what they knew to be true. And, although they knew it to be true on an intellectual level, they could not incorporate these phrases into their prayers because they could not relate to it on an emotional level. 

May we always experience intellectual and emotional honesty in our prayers and in every other way which we choose to relate to Hashem.